"BATTLEFIELD EARTH" (2000)

The sky glows deep crimson as the sun starts to sink below the horizon, casting shadows over...

A small group of native people, clad in animal skins, congregat outside a remote cave. Their heads reverently bowed, while-~-

His gaze sweeps across the youngsters, drilling into their heads

Turns a sharp eye back to Jonnie, but still addressing the child

His rugged frame clothed in a puma hide, a kill-club hanging froz his belt. And although only nineteen, JONNIE, already has the look of someone who has already overcome a lifetime's worth of adversity. He immediatelv turns to Chrissv.

The clan closes their eyes in silent prayer. All except for-- CHRISSY

Her teenage ccuntenance offset by the maturity in her strong dark eyes.

The parson shakes his head as Jonnie secures an animal-skin sleep roll and extra kill-clubs to his snow-white horse, WINDSPLITTER.

The parson's ancient face burns with religious fury as he drilis his stare into Jonnie.

C}

'JONNIE (cont'd) While there may be other places we could | live where the food is more plentiful.

He lets that hang there, then gives Jonnie a pointed look--

Jonnie meets his rage with calm determination.

He turns to the rest of the clan, challenging--

And if he has any doubt in his voice, Jonnie does a good job of hiding it. Be hops onto Windsplitter and takes off--

Jonnie heads down the hill, turning a bend, where--

CHRISSY

Sits waiting for him on her horse, which like Windsplitter, is loaded with an animal-skin sleeping roll and kill-clubs.

Jonnie smiles, impressed by Chrissy's mettle. But shakes his head.

_ _ JONNTIE _. (finishing his thought) ~-I think you can handle yourself better than most men... Which is why you must

Stay and look after your younger brothers.

Chrissy looks at him, chagrined. It's hard to argue with that. A tough beat. Nothing left but to say good-bye...

And finally, struggling to keep her face a mask, Chrissy removes a shiny MEDALLION hanging from her neck.

.CHRISSY

This was given to me by my father when he died. He received it from his father.

(trying to hold

back the emotions) I'm not giving it to you. I'm lending it. So, you better not let anything happen to you out there...

. The young ones obediently stop at the bridge. They will not

She places the medallion around his neck, their bodies close || not touching. So much not being said...

The tribe's children race alongside Jonnie, excited by the

adventure he's going on. But secretly terrified by the death | they've been taught awaits him...

cross it. But Jonnie does, leaving the*tribe behind.

Chrissy's mask starting *o crack as she watches him disappear The first of the tears escaping down her cheeks.

As night falls, Jonnie rides across wide open plains. His eye tense, searching the gathering darkness for the first sign of

And he suddenly freezes. Seeing his first ever...

STAR

Hovering majestically overhead. Soon joined by other stars. Jonnie stares up in wonderment at these heavenly lights.

Jonnie steals through the grass, throwing his kill-club with blurring speed at an unsuspecting ANTELOPE.

Jonnie rides through a grove of conifer trees, the strips of dried meat now hanging from his sleeping roll, when he sudden] stops Windsplitter and silently dismounts--

Careful not to make the slightest sound, Jonnie slips behind ¢

ROCK FORMATION

Pulling his kill-club, Jonnie carefully peers out through a th tangle of brush,

Jonnie and Windsplitter move through a deserted housing develo passing TREES which grow up through the sidewalks and streets.

A faded piece of PAPER flutters by. Jonnie picks it up.

He can just make out a picture of a woman in a bra. The first time Jonnie has seen a photo, let alone women's undergarments.

More paper litters the ground nearby. Jonnie heads to then, passing a rusted TRAIN abandoned on its tracks.

Windsplitter abruptly stops. Nostrils flaring. Eyes on a HOU: The door knocked off its hinges. Windows shattered. Jonnie pulls his kill-club and silently shoos Windsplitter away.

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

Jonnie, who bolts away, desperately trying to outrun his de: | pursuer. Seeking higher ground, Jonnie races to the--

Train, and scrambles up the side of a rail car, then spins |

The grizzly has stopped chasing him and turns back to her Cl who scamper out of the house to play in the front yard.

Jonnie whirls around with club raised. Coming face to face \ TWO MEN The one doing the talking, CARLO, is wiry and intense-lookin«

In contrast to his ‘built-like-a-brick-shithouse' companion, we'll call ROCK for obvious reasons.

But the thing Jonnie probably notices first about the men ari SPEARS they both have aimed at his chest. *. oe

Carlo motions to the kill-club in Jonnie's hand.

Jonnie slowly lowers his weapon, but remains on guard. Rock silently directs his partner's attention to--

WINDSPLITTER

Who grazes near the train, waiting for Jonnie. Both men tak note of the antelope-meat Windsplitter carries.

Carlo turns a friendly eye back to Jonnie.

Jonnie hands strips of dried meat to Carlo and Rock, who reverently bow their heads, holding the food up to the heaven:

a

The snow really coming down now. Windsplitter follows our trio through a white carpeted parking lot, taking shelter inside a--

A brightly decorated plastic CHRISTMAS TREE stands among the rea: trees growing up through the floor. A CD of SILENT NIGHT loops endlessly from the few speakers in the mall that still work.

Our trio head into a department store, but Carlo and Rock freeze their tracks with sickened expressions.

_ CARLO -.-Whatever those poor bastards did, they must have really angered the gods.

Rock silently nods, appalled by the sight of--

MANNEQUINS lying broken on the floor. Many of these ‘frozen people' missing limbs, not to mention their genitalia. Nearby..

Jonnie stands, curious, in front of a large plate-glass window t! makes up an entire wall. Outside, he can see the snow falling, } when he tries to touch it, an ‘invisible force' keeps stopping h:

KABLAM! 4

In a sudden flash of light, Carlo is hurled back off his feet. His body crashes hard to the ground, twitches once, then falls deadly still.

And out of the shadows behind Rock steps a truly nightmarish figure. Like the parson's drawing of the monster, but worse...

Over nine feet tall with glowing amber eyes. Razor sharp talons on his claws. Thick bone-like structures for eyebrows and lips. The PSYCBLO aims his BLAST-GUN dead center on Rock and fires-- As Jonnie's KILL-CLUB flies through the air--

Knocking into the firing weapon, causing the shot to go wide. Jonnie and Rock take off through the store, bolting through a maze of aisles which lead them through a doorway--

Our guys sprint up the stairs. The sound of deadly pursuit getting louder behind them as they burst out onto--

The only way off the two-story building is to jump. And the frozen ground below doesn't make this too appealing an option.

Se

a ind them i the Psychlo rushing through the doorway behind | ’ seunie and Rock throw themselves off the side of the building--

Jonnie hits the ground, rolling to his feet--

Rock isn't as fortunate and lands at a bad angle, SNAPPING his on impact. He tries to climb to his feet, but the broken leg buckles, sending him collapsing back to the snow.

Jonnie turns back to help him--

He gives a loud whistle and...

Windsplitter gallops out of the mall. Hooves churning up a flr of snow as he races to Jonnie-- .

The Psychlo pauses to look down at... - ROCK, who trembles in terror. Pleading to the stars overhead-- ROCK

---Help me please. ‘I have lived ac devoted life...

But the twinkling lights seem indifferent to his plight.

Jonnie watches helplessly as the Psychlo slams down a lever on the side of the gun, then aims it down at Rock. KABBLAM!

A gaping hole blown through Rock's chest.

Connie strecgies 79 control Windsplizter. He finaliy gathers

she reins, and leaps .777 “ne saéaGie. Ready to vide. AnG then he sees “nat -ooxs Like insect. Thirty feet ong and ten Ieet hicn, wwe. tee: zice zo side. And smoozn. Sitting

squarely in tne middie or tne wide oath.

vonnie, turns Wincasoiitter and runs for open country. There's an earspiictting roar! vonnie Siances back, =O where the chinc

rises three feet apove the cround. And moves forward.

vonnie passes one corner, =hen another. The thing falling © behind.

He swerves Windsplitter up a sidestreet, reaches another corner and again turnes. He heads for the open country.

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

The thing somehow blocks the street ahead of him and then

goes on, planning to come up behind him.

He is trapped. There is no panic in him now. He slows the hard pounding of his heart. The thing to do is wait until the monster is right in the street behind him-then go over that barricade a fallen building had become.

He sidles Windsplitter back to get a good run.

The thing is roaring down the side path behind him. Now it is turning. He glances back. There it is, wisps of smoke coming out of its nostrils.

Jonnie put the heel to Windsplitter. He yanks on the lead rope.’ ,

And sprints at the barricade. Rough and full of loose stones. Dangerous. m .

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

...cthe thing rolling up to the very bottom of the barricade.

But he's over the barr:cade. “e hits tne street before him at a run and keeps running.

Jonnie swerves shrougn =: cnecxerdoard of paths, edging to the Open country.

Further and further. The buildings thinning. Open country between two structures to his right. He skids down off the embankment and races for freedom. Windsplitter puffing.

He strains his eyes, watching.

There it is!

It slides out from amona the buildings and starts straight toward him.

's a SHEET OF FLAME. Ahead of him the iding t. Its top slides slowly

locking it. Spattered with

And suddenly, _SH right-hand building expioces apar down and into the street anead, b dust, Jonnie hauls up short.

He puts the horse .p to a run.

The thing not only closes the distance but starts to pass. Jonnie swerves at right angies.

The thing banks into a turn and flashes by him, well ahead, turns and blocks his way.

Jonnie pulls up. He turns around and began to run away from it.

It let out a blasting roar, scorches by him and again stops,

- blocking his way.

Jonnie’s face tightens into determination.

Thong solid on his wrist.

Walking Windsplitter, he moves up ahead of the thing. It doesn't.move. He goes about a hundred feet.in front of the. thing. It doesn't move. He carefully spots the position of a slitted eye.

And whirls the kill club. And puts a heel to Windsplitter. They race straight at the thing. ,

The kill club, carried with the full speed of the running horse, whooshes down straight at the slitted eye.

The crash of impact is deafening.

Jonnie slows beyond the thing. It had not moved.

He trots Windsplitter back to the original position, a hundred feet in front of the thing. He turns and makes ready

for a second run.

He touches a heel. Windspiizter piunaes forward.

And then a great gout of yeliow blooms out from between the eyes.

Jonnie is struck a blow like all the winds of Highpeak rolled into one.

Windsplitter catches the full force of it. Up into the air go horse and rider. Down they come with a shuddering crash, against the earth.

IN_THE DARENESS : —_ } There's an ethereal, almost otherworldly WAILING. Then a stab of ae light and--

The shopping mall falls away below as we rise higher and higher above it. Like a soul returning to heaven...

But for some reason, we're looking down through prison-like BARS.

Jonnie's face, as he starts to come to. Disorientated, he looks around. A handful of men stare back at him, each one trying to hide how terrified they are. And PULLING BACK we can see... Jonnie and the men are imprisoned in a cargo cage suspended from the underbelly of a--

Which climbs up vertically into the sky with engines wailing,

then rockets forward with impressive speed.

a. . INT. CARGO CAGE -- CONTINUOUS

An icy wind blasts through the cage. But the cold is the least c Jonnie's concern as he spots Carlo lying motionless in the corner

A pair of young, scrappy-looking twins, MICKEY and SAMMY, give Jc a reassuring look. They shout to be heard over the howling wind-

And sure enough, Carlo groggily begins to stir. Relieved to see Jonnie. But then he looks around for Rock...

The Psychlo banks the transport vehicle around a mountain, revealing a massive TRANSPARENT DOME covering a large city below.

Getting closer, we can see Mile High Stadium. And behind it, the distinctive design of Denver International Airport....

The vehicle hovers down, and with the sound of a magnetic field disengaging, deposits the cage into the back of a flatbed truck.

The Psychlo lumbers in with box-shaped AIR-FILTRATION UNITS, eact with a thin tube attached to it. He starts to slide one of these tubes into Jonnie's nose, but Jonnie knocks the creature's paw as

The Psychlo growls, hurling Jonnie viciously across the cage--

JONNIE - |

Slams into the bars, sliding down to the floor, where the Psychlc . unceremoniously jams the tube up Jonnie's nose.

The Psychlo drives the flatbed.transport truck with the cargo cagi it through an ENTRY PORT, complete with mammoth air-lock chambers Jonnie studies everything with the trained eye of a skilled hunte:

The dome covering Denver is so enormous, it has its own weather. And right now, a dark drizzle falls onto the city, which looks much like it does today, save for two things... :

A grimy layer of mining soot covers the place. And for some reason, most of the buildings have been painted purple. .

The Psychlo removes the tube from his own nose and leans out the window, taking a deep, contented breath...

Jonnie experiments with removing his own tube... But he immediatel has trouble breathing. Eyes going glassy. He replaces the tube a fast as he can. Carlo gives him a pointed look. — ,

The sounds of HEAVY INDUSTRY fill the air as the truck turns down street, passing a shift of PSYCHLO LABORERS trudging off with lunc pails to go work in the mines and smelting plants.

The Psychlo backs the truck up to a loading dock and HONKS. Several GUARDS head over with a PROCESSING CLERK as the Psychlo “Human-Slave Wrangler" swings open the cargo cage.

And now we can see that while this Psychlo is an imposing figure

at nine feet tall, he's actually a bit of a runt. The other Psychlos are all a good foot or two taller...

Including the clerk, who takes one look at Jonnie and the others and drills a hard stare into the undersized Psychlo "wrangler".

Jonnie studies the monsters closely, but from his P.0.vV., allt hears is an unintelligible machine-like clicking sound of theiz alien language. He turns a questioning eye to Carlo...

And even though Jonnie doesn't know what the Psychlos are argui! about, he knows one thing. They're not paying him any attentio: So he moves like a streak out the cage door. Carlo right behinc

But the wrangler isn't about to lose any more of his ‘cargo' anc whirls, snatching Jonnie, then lunges for Carlo--

But Carlo manages to twist out of reach of the creature's talons sprint away through the warehouse. The wrangler pulls his gun.

PSYCHLO CLERK

Don't kill it! - We can't use it if it's’ dead-- .

The wrangler gives him a snide, ‘How stupid do you think I am?', look. Jonnie watches from the ground as--

The Psychlo slides a lever above the blast-gun's trigger-guard into an yp position, then takes aim and FIRES--

Carlo is knocked flat as the blue-bolt Slams into him. His body lies motionless, but intact, on the ground.

The Psychlo holsters his fire-arm and scoops up Jonnie. Starts to toss him back into the cage but--

' : g

Jonnie has the weapon. And is pointing it straight at him. The wrangler sniggers. The same reaction from the other Psychlos...

It's like a ‘horse’ has somehow picked up a gun with its hooves. Only, Jonnie slides the weapon's lever into the down-position.

The wrangler is no longer laughing. He reaches down, coaxing Jonnie as if he was some kind of errant pet...

But Jonnie doesn't. So the wrangler lunges for it--

BABLAM!

Sa

The Psychlo Wrangler stares, stunned at the-- FIST-SIZED HOLE

Blown through his chest. He collapses, dead before he hits the ground. The other Psychlos freeze in stunned silence. Then...

Burst out in hysterical layghter. That has got to be the goddam funniest thing they've ever seen.

With the monsters busy laughing, Jonnie makes a break for it. Charging through the warehouse complex and out a doorway--

Where he barrels straight into-- TERL

Who unlike the Psychlo laborers, wears a senior officer's unifor adorned with impressive gold epaulets, denoting "Chief of Securi

His ever present assistant, KER, can't help but snicker at the m collision has splattered over his boss's perfectly pressed attir

But Terl doesn't seem to find it amusing. He shuts Ker up with. quick look, then rips Jonnie off his feet--

Holding the filthy ‘man-animal' out at arm's length, Terl marche inside the warehouse, demanding to ‘know-- .

The clerk immediately points to the dead wrangler.

; CLERK No joke, sir. I swear.. The man- animal somehow got his gun.. And when he reached for it, the man-animal shot him.

The other Psychlos nod, backing this up. Terl considers this, then picks the blaster-gun up from the ground...

And calmly hands the weapon to Jonnie. TERL

(to the clerk) Show me.

Rapidly losing patience, Terl snaps--

Knowing he's treading on dangerous ground, the clerk stares at Te: CLERK

..-But with all respect, sir, if I follow that order, I may get killed.

Terl returns his stare without blinking. TERL The regulations are quite clear. (dead serious)

If you refuse to obey the order, it's a

certainty that you will be killed The clerk swallows hard, then turns to Jonnie and... Lunges for the gun, trying to grab it before-- KABLAM! Jonnie blasts a hole through the clerk's chest

Terl stares in disbei:ef. But Jonnie's not finished. A bigger Psychlo leaps up and charges. Roaring.

Jonnie stumbles backward.

An enormous paw blurs in the air, coming at him. Talons rake the side of his face.

Jonnie has the gun in position, and fires at the huge chest. He punches blast after blast into it, driving him back.

Terl jerks the gun from Jonnie's hands, and sends a swipe across his chest that sends him crumbling to the ground.

TERL

- Well, I'll te camned.

A lively joint wher2 a bunch of Psychlo laborers let off steam playing LASER-BASH. Others consume libations while slapping and pinching the asses of the female Psychlo wait-staff who pass by.

Terl plops onto a stool at the bar, but before he can order, he's served a saucepan full of KERBANGO, a thick oily beverage.

Terl's eyes slit in suspicion. The bartender shrugs, keeping his voice casual as he continues...

Terl helps himself to a shot of kerbango, then explains--

The color drains from the bartender's face. Terl strolls off chuckling, quite pleased with how fun that was. .

A PSYCHLO TECHNICIAN, wearing rubber gloves and a germ mask over face, uses laser-scissors to cut the animal skins off of Jonnie.

The skins get tossed into an INCINERATOR. The technician then reaches over and yanks Chrissy's medallion from Jonnie's neck.

Jonnie tries to grab it back, but the technician swats him away like he was an insect, then holds up the object to see what was so damn important to the mnan-animal...

And we can now see Chrissy's ‘shiny’ medallion is a SILVER DOLLA

Nobody does. So the technician tosses it into the incinerator. As Jonnie watches Chrissy's medallion get consumed by the flames something deep and dangerous burns in his eyes.

A long line of humans, chained to stakes like leashed dogs, hunc a massive conveyor belt spewing out a constant discharge of crus rocks. The humans separate out the OAR, which they place into-- ‘ Psychlo-sized BASKETS, which wouldn't be too difficult for a

Psychlo to carry, but it's back-breaking work for the humans hauling them across a large field to a...

Psychlo Guards use rod-like devices to prod the slower slaves al with sinister blasts of raw electricity.

A GROOND CART

Glides by with Ker at the wheel.

Terl is in the rear, gazing at the humans with the indifference someone might have driving past a dairy farm full of cows.

With the platform loaded with baskets of ore, an ALARM sounds an the Psychlos immediately don protective goggles and ear-plugs.

The humans have no such gear to protect them as...

The HUM of large generators starts to fill the air. Growing louder as they work-up to full power and there's suddenly--

An EAR-SPLITTING explosion of sound and BLINDING FLASH of light as all the baskets of ore on the platform vanish.

A brief moment of quiet respite. Then the deafening roar and blazing light happens again. And this time...

Hundreds of PSYCHLO LABORERS suddenly appear on the platform, along with--

DISTRICT MANAGER ZETE

Who wears the finest of silk suits and carries a solid gold briefcase. Terl and Ker quickly greet him...

But the District Manager isn't listening. He's staring confused through the transparent dome at the snow-capped Rocky mountains.

He peers up at a fluffy cloud drifting across a clear blue sky.

_ DISTRICT MANAGER (cont'd) But it's got to be the ugliest crap~hole in the entire universe!

He finally manages to get the District Manager through security, then seizes the opportunity to introduce Ker.

; TERL (cont'd)

This is Executive-Assistant Ker. He's been fully trained to take-over as Security Chief, so there'll be no disruptions with my transfer--

Be takes one last sickened look at the humans, declaring--

A pair of Psychlo guards hold Jonnie down on a steel table as an IDENTIFICATION TECHNICIAN presses a--

SEARING-HOT IRON

Into Jonnie's arm, branding him with an ID number. Jonnie stares the technician in the eye, refuSing to acknowledge the pain.

Amused, the technician digs the burning iron harder into Jonnie's flesh. Jonnie's eyes bulge, but he remains steely silent...

The guards release Jonnie and shove him toward the next station, then turn and grab the next human slave in line, which is--

MICKEY. The guards drag the young twin, kicking and screaming, t« the branding table and pin him down as the technician lowers the iron toward the trembling youngster's exposed flesh--

Only the iron is no longer in his hands.

Wielding it like a weapon, Jonnie knocks the stunned guards away from Mickey, then pivots with blurring speed--

- . : . ° : te

As the technician howls in pain, a mass of guards swarm Jonnie, viciously clubbing him to the ground.

The obese PLANETSHIP waddles over, flanked by his smarmy-looking ASSISTANT. They shake paws with the District Manager, then lead him across the lobby. Terl and Ker follow.

. DISTRICT MANAGER ..»-How do you stand it?

He motions out a window at a tree-filled park.

He ushers evervone intn an aleawstne

And pushes the button for the BASEMENT. The elevator lurches dow The Assistant Planetship seizes the opportunity to...

(basks in the glory of)

And unless I'm mistaken, my idea has already saved the corporation well over six-hundred thousand credits--

The Assistant Planetship, crushed, manages a polite nod. Terl suppresses a smile. He likes the District Manager's style.

Jonnie, bloody and bruised, but alive, hobbles dow a steel | hallway with the other now branded slaves, when--

The Psychlos open up with HIGH POWERED HOSES.

A solid stream of water savagely blasts into the defenseless humans as the Psychlos hose down the dirty man-animals.

Terl and the other Psychlo executives sits around a conference té ‘in a windowless dungeon.of a room which has been painted purple.

He turns and offers Terl a friendly smile.

et TERL ’ (modestly) Thank you, sir. I've done my best--

(turning the ‘'dagger' ) With endless options for renewal. The options, of course, being at Home Office's discretion. Not yours.

Terl reacts like he was just given a death sentence. The District Manager leans forward, giving him a knowing look--

Jonnie, Carlo and the rest of the new ‘abductees' are issued baskets and shoved into line with the rest of the slaves.

pe | — Concerned by his friend's battered condition, Carlo admonishes.. wy, , .

In the background, a ground cart passed by.

Ker chauffeurs at the wheel. In the back seat, Terl lowers his voice, so only the District Manager can hear.

Ne

Leaving Terl with that thought, the District Manager strides up the platform, relieved to be leaving this crappy little planet.

eee

The place is packed and loud. The newly arrived Psychlo workers getting plastered on kerbango while losing money paw-over-fist i laser bash and other assorted rigged games of 'chance'.

Terl storms up to the bar. The bartender looks up, surprised.

And something suddenly snaps deep inside Terl. He grabs Ker, pulling him close, the words coming fast and furious--

Psychlo guards patrol the Denver Zoo, keeping an eye on the mas: humans locked-up for the night. Inside one of the many cages..

Jonnie, Carlo and several dozen men crowd around a small fire as

GAS TRUCK pulls up. A Psychlo quard inserts the truck's giant t through the bars, but instead of pumping out petrol...

The hose discharges a green sludge-like food substance into a trough. Jonnie starts over to the ‘dinner', but is stopped by FLOYD, a hulking brute of a man almost as large as a Psychlo. FLOYD You're new, so let me explain how things work. I eat first. Then my men eat.

His GANG steps forward. All big and dangerous looking.

The Psychlo finishes discharging the food and retracts the hose.

From his P.O.V., Jonnie and Floyd's confrontation is unintelligi like animals "talking" to each other in a zoo, as...

With his gang backing him up, Floyd explains to Jonnie--

Given how malnourished the ‘others' look, it doesn't appear that there's usually much food left.

With blinding speed Jonnie scoops up a flaming log from fire, and before Floyd can react-- ° 3 003 she

Jonnie SLAMS the club-like wood, full-force, into Floyd's face, dropping him hard to the ground. Only a moment later...

And other than a bloody nose, he shows no effect from the shot he just took. Jonnie smashes him again--

‘But this time the big brute is ready for it, so all it seems to

do is just piss him off. He grabs Jonnie by the throat and begins to choke the life from him.

Jonnie desperately tries to break-free, but Floyd is too strong. ‘He holds Jonnie out at arm's length, preventing Jonnie from getting at him as he continues to brutally’ strangle Jonnie.

And with his attacker finally close enough to reach, Jonnie's

hand rockets out, pulling the breathing-tube from Floyd's nose.

Floyd staggers back, struggling to breath. With his eyes going g: Floyd releases Jonnie and focuses on reinserting the tube as--

Jonnie locks his hands together and swings them like a baseball bat, delivering a tremendous blow to Floyd's jaw.

Floyd falls to the ground. And this time he stays there, out for the count. Jonnie takes mercy on the big man and sticks the tube back into his nose, then heads over to the trough...

But realizes everyone else is holding back, respectfully letting him eat first. Jonnie shakes his head, declaring--

The men all rush the trough...

The slop might be disgusting, but at least it's sustenance. And PULLING BACK, we realize we're watching this on...

A wall full of MONITORS showing live feeds from all over the dome city. On an adjacent wall--

A sign reads: YouR CHIEF OF SECURITY IS...

Ker despondently removes his picture from under the sign, and with an audible sigh, hammers Terl's picture back up.

And PULLING BACK yet again, we realize we're watching this on...

A lone monitor perched next to a bed, where Terl opens a large-- FOOTLOCKER

All neatly packed for what should have been his return home.

Terl almost looks like he's going to cry as he starts to unpack. But he suddenly stops. Sensing it...

His eyes instinctively going to the monitor, which shows--

Ker peering out the windows, making sure no one is watching, before reaching into his..

DESK

Inside the hidden false bottom of a drawer, Ker pulls out of a SURVEILLANCE PHOTO of a mountain range, and...

TERL'S DESK

Deposits the document at the bottom of an "In-Basket" on Terl's de but suddenly freezes as he can hear someone approaching the door--

Ker dives across the room back to his own desk, snatching-up a crossword puzzle, which he pretends to be working on as...

Terl marches in and heads straight to his desk, where he grabs the surveillance photo. Ker tries to play it cool.

: . TERL If you're going to lie to me, at least have the decency to do a credible job. (dead serious) So, I don't look like a complete idiot for having tried to train you.

He sharply jabs a talon toward Ker's secret hiding place. Ker's face goes death-white. How could Terl possibly know?

But then Ker suddenly realizes. His eyes probing the room as~-~

Given the look in Terl's eyes, Ker decides his best chance is to come clean, and to do it fast--

Terl glances at the photo, then gives Ker a knowing look.

He regrets it the moment he said it. Braces himself for the punishment he knows must be coming. But surprisingly...

Ker looks down, studying a miniature row of color bars at the very bottom of the photo. His face falls as he realizes...

A HAMMER suddenly nails Ker in the back, dropping him to the fl Terl swings again. This time harder. Savagely beating Ker--

Re ratiase +ho hammer with Tathal intent BnAd utithante haatitatian

But Terl reaches for the trigger and... Stops. Staring at the

Only Ker manages to scramble out of the way at the last minute. He grabs the hammer from Terl and scrambles to his feet--

But freezes as Terl pulls his BLAST-GUN. KER (cont'd) You can't shoot me! It's against

regulations. I'm not just some man- animal you can kill for sport--

gun, his mind racing...

Terl's eyes snap to the surveillance photo... Then to a monitor showing humans working in the mines... Then back to the gun...

Ker mistakes all of this for some cruel pause before his inevitable execution and continues to plead-- KER Please! I'll Make It Up To You, I Swear! Don't Shoot Me-- Terl looks shocked by the very suggestion.

He holsters his gun and throws a friendly arm around Ker.

Ker clearly has no idea in hell what Terl's talking about, but a: long as it involves not getting shot, he's all for it.

; TERL (con*'d) Tomorrow morning, we have to warn the - Planetship about the "mutiny".

The setting sun casts a shadow over CHRISSY, who sits on a rock, keeping a hopeful eye on the far side of the ravine. We get the feeling she spends a lot of time on that rock, watching and wait:

A WITHERED HAND grips her shoulder. She turns around to face thi Parson, who gives Chrissy a concerned look--

The feint sound of GALLOPING HOOFS. Growing louder as--

A flash of white is now visible on the far side of the canyon. Rocketing up the incline and over the drawbridge and...

Chrissy's smile instantly evaporates as she realizes Windsplitter

The Planetship and his Assistant are stretched-out on CHAISE- LOUNGES. But right now the Planetship looks anything but relaxec

Across from him, Terl and Ker sit on a chaise-lounge next to a sun-lamp. Terl and Ker have concerned looks on their faces.

| PLANETSHIP Which is why there will be no mutiny! (panic in his voice) I'm authorizing you to use whatever means necessary to stop it.

Terl nods, so far so good. Then continues...

The Assistant Planetship gives Ter) a snide look.

. 2 oes

ee

o a

A WAITRESS in low-cut garb slinks over with a tray of drinks, bui the Planetship waves her off, keeping his attention on Terl.

(quickly adds)

That. way we can boost production without increasing expenses.

The Planetship and his Assistant wait for the punch-line. But there isn't one. So they roar with laughter.

| PLANETSHIP | I'd be the laughing stock of the entire universe.

_ Exactly what Terl was hoping he'd say.

. TERL Which is why you should have me take some man-animals and equipment out to a remote area. It's better you don't know where... And I'll try to train them. (nonchalant shrug) Have them do some test-mining. That way, if it doesn't work out, no one will know.

ordinances in the pursuit of protecting said profits.

The Planetship chews on this. He can't argue with the logic. But shakes his head anyway, abruptly declaring--

And before anyone can say anything--

ee ise SR aR ee a api i

The Planetship JUMPS OFF the third floor railing. And nobody seems the least bit surprised by this. Probably because...

The first two floors have been turned into a Psychlo-sized swimm pool. But instead of water, it's filled with an Oily fluid. The Planetship rubs the sludge into his fur, squirming in delight.

; , Under the glow of first-light, Chrissy rides Windsplitter down t

THE DRAWBRIDGE

Which the sentries hold in a raised position, preventing her fro leaving. They do this under the supervision of the Parson. -..

She throws the club with perfect aim, knocking open-~

THE CATCH

On the pulley mechanism allowing the rope to unwind, lowering the bridge. And before anyone can react-- .

Chrissy gallops Windsplitter like a shot across the bridge, disappearing at full-tilt down the hillside. ;

A cold and brutal Psychlo march song plays over loudspeakers as a long line of exhausted and freezing humans are escorted at gun point out to the mines. In the rear of the procession...

The young twins, Mickey and Sammy, work their way over to Jonnie.

A Psychlo thrusts Jonnie forward with the butt of a gun, keeping him moving with the parade of human misery passing by--

TERL AND KER

Who enjoy their breakfast out on the heated patio of the Senior Officer Mess Hall.

He slaps a picture of PIONEER ONE onto the table. Ker shovels yellow meat into his mouth as he eyes the photo, dubious.

C) TERL

Because they were stupid enough to put a plaque on it with pictures of themselves. One of our deep-space recons picked it up. And here's the kicker...

Be points to the plaque visible in the photo.

TERL (cont'd)

The plaque was made from a rare metal that's worth a clanking fortune. And in addition to their pictures, the man- animals also included full directions to their planet. That's how we came here...

(loves this part) They invited us.

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

Terl gets up and heads out. Confused, Ker chases after him...

Catching up to Terl, Ker shakes his head.

And before Ker can respond, Terl heads into--

_ And settles in behind his desk. Ker follows on his heels.

ae

Terl leans back in his chair, rubbing a talon over his lips, pretending to be thinking this over. And finally...

.

plan?

Still reclining in his chair, Terl discreetly reaches under his desk and pushes a GREEN BUTTON. This isn't seen by--

Ker, who rising to the task, holds up the surveillance photo of the mountain range.

Ker nods, eager to prove he understands the whole plan. KER That's the beauty of it. Home Office doesn't even know the gold exists. So those corporate crap-heads will never know we stole it. It's the perfect crime.

He waits for Terl's praise... But instead Terl’ looks shocked. And in the gravest of voices:

TERL

Putting aside the serious violations of teaching mining to an inferior race and insulting corporate superiors, each one in themselves punishable by death, you just advocated deliberate theft of campany resources...

(resigned sigh). So my duty requires me to report you, even though you will be vaporized and I'll have to train a new assistant.

Ker's jaw is practically on the floor. Terl promptly pushes a RED BUTTON under his desk before--

-—_—_ - —~— -

Terl saunters over to a-- VAULT

Where he carefully positions his body to shield a KEYPAD from Ker's view, as he punches in numbers.

‘

The vault swings open. Terl reaches in past a shelf of Blast-Gu and spare air-tanks, popping a disc from a RECORDING MACHINE.

_ KER But I would never double-cross you!-

He files the disc away within a collection of other such

recordings housed within the vault, then shuts and locks the ste door.

Ker isn't happy about this, but what can he do? And to make things worse, he realizes...

(shakes his head) But since there's no way to smuggle a picto-recorder into his office without it being detected, how are we going to find out what he's hiding--~

a --You're the only qualified E-3 Level ~ Support Executive on this planet other than the Assistant Planetship. (matter-of-fact) So if something were to ‘accidentally’ happen to him...

~~ é a

Terl and Ker enjoy their lunch up in a guard tower overlooking the humans slaving away below. Between mouthfuls, Terl motions down to JONNIE, who struggles with a heavy load of ore.

With almost a sense of begrudging respect, Terl explains...

Ter] gives him a sharp look. Hasn't he been paying attention?

Ker looks at Terl like he's off his rocker.

Ker stares down at Jonnie, exhausted by the idea.

-_-_ —_— —-— —_—=——

Psychlo COOKS mix a disgusting green slop in giant tubs.

COOK . Sree eee

Wow the crap should I know?! (quickly adds--)

Ker dejectedly kicks a rock as he follows Terl up the street.

KER —- Whatever. It still sounds like a pretty primitive way to get leverage.

‘Ker can't argue with that, but still shakes his head.

Ker barges into the cage, and without warning, throws Jonnie, Carlo and Floyd into a--

TRANSPORTABLE CARGO CAGE.

Mickey and Sammy, trying to stay close to Jonnie, start to scramble into the cage, but Ker swats them away.

Ker secures the cargo cage to the back of a flatbed truck and tosses HEAVY JACKETS to our guys.

wes

Ker, wearing a breath-tube now that he's outside the dome, drive: the flatbed truck up a windy mountain road away from Denver...

Our guys huddle in their jackets as the cold Colorado air blows through the cage. Floyd shrugs, guessing...

Carlo looks to Jonnie for his take on the situation. But Jonnie's attention turns to the cargo cage door as--

The truck hits a small bump, causing the door to swing open a erack, betraying that it's not Jocked.

The flatbed truck rounds a bend, carrying a NOW EMPTY cage.

Our guys pick themselves off the road from where they jumped, an race away in escape, sprinting up a mountain path.

Terl and Ker, reclining in chairs with their feet u Pp On desks, we TRIO OF MONITORS showing our guys huffing and puffing up the mour

KER

They sure are slow. And it looks like they're slowing down even more.

Our guys make it up over a small rise, where Floyd suddenly cast: hopeful eye at a CABIN-LIKE BUILDING half-buried up ahead in the

|

—_— - —_ III RII RE SO

ww —

Carlo hates to take Floyd's side, but...

Terl proudly points to the monitors, which show our guys forcing open a door and heading into the snow-covered building.

The building is a long-abandoned SKI CHALET, caught frozen in time.. A thick layer of dust covers everything. In the corner..

The SKELETAL REMAINS of some people are scattered near a Christm Tree slumped over a pile of presents for a holiday never celebra

But Jonnie suddenly freezes. Grabs a CHAIR.’

He launches the chair straight at the--

CBRISTMAS TREE

Sending RATS scurrying out from among the presents. Jonnie dive: onto one of the larger rodents. Carlo and Floyd do likewise.

Carlo and Floyd rip branches from the Christmas tree for kindlin:

ra

q q

Carlo looks up in dread as he realizes what Jonnie’s thinking. Jonnie summons up every ounce of willpower he's got and ...

Forces himself to take a bite of raw rat.

Ker shakes his head, nauseated.

An armored Psychlo MARK II GROUND CAR hurtles above the ground’ as it comes screaming up toward--

Our guys, who charse past a faded ‘Welcome to Aspen' sign on their way around a bend--

But as they top the hill, they run straight into one of Teri's backup vehicles. Psychios piling out.

Jonnie goes berserk!

The first two Psychlo guards stood no chance. With one backward stride, Jonnie is behind them. He sends them slamming together like egg shells.

He catches the gun of one, as that Psychlo goes down and stamps his heel into the side of his skull.

He reverses the gun and batters the other Psychlo with shots from a range of three inches.

Jonnie drops on one knee, and blows the two last Psychlos who have exited the craft to bits.

Five other Psychlos fire in his direction.

Jonnie's gun is empty. He throws it down and picks up the other one. Flips the switch to kill.

Totally unmindful of the shots ripping up the ground, running low and firing as he goes, Jonnie races on. The others scattering around him.

‘He kneels behind a Psychlo body and sends a storm of shots

into the five. They crash back.

Jonnie pounds them into rolling bails of dead fiesh. Running, firing as he goes.

Where they abruptiy run out of ground. Standing at the brink of a massive chasm where a--

BRIDGE

Used to be. But neglect and repeated winter storms have washed ; it away into the bottom of a canyon almost too far down to see.

And to make matters worse, Our guys are surrounded on all sides by , sheer vertical mountain face, jmpossible to climb. They're trappe

This is directed at the look in Jonnie's eyes as he stares across the gorge...

The Psychlo Ground Car hurtles around the last bend and comes screaming out onto the clearing as--

Jonnie takes off on a dead sprint, going like hell for the edge of the cliff. Carlo looks away, can't bear the sight.

Jonnie doesn't let-up. ‘In fact, he goes faster. Every muscle straining as he races straight for the edge and--

Ee a

A PSYCHLO FIGHTER PLANE rockets up from the depths of the canyon, blocking Jonnie from jwmping--

Terl maneuvers the fighter plane to push Jonnie away from the edge of the gorge.

Terl locks our guys into the rear of the ground car as...

Ker stares across the canyon to the other side, trying to figure something out. And then it finally dawns on him.

Terl sighs, unlocks the cage and grabs Floyd and tosses him over the side of the canyon.

FLOYD

Screams in helpless anguish as he plunges to his death.

The remains of a sizable meal are scattered over a giant table ne: to a steel slab, where the ASSISTANT PLANETSHIP partakes in a nap.

A door bursts open and Ker marches inside and salutes.

He extends a REQUISITION FORM, which the still half-asleep Assistant Planetship signs, but then snidely instructs--

Ker nods, then trots out with the signed form. The Assistant Planetship scratches himself, then returns to his snooze.

The place is packed with its usual drunken debauchery. in the back, Terl and the bartender engage in a private conversation--

-— ~~ ~rr~w——~wy OS

- BARTENDER (resigned sigh) «--What do you want?

The Assistant Planetship finishes a pan of kerbango when a DOZEN more pans of the narcotic root are placed in front of him.

The Assistant Planetship, now smashed out of his mind, stumbles into his room to sleep off the kerbango...

A recording of the Assistant Planetship plays on a monitor: - ASSISTANT PLANETSHIP (ON MONITOR) You tell Terl, that unlike ‘certain individuals', I hold an important job--

Ker watches as Terl pauses the recording, then expertly imitates the Assistant Planetship's voice:

(genuinely impressed) How do you do that, sir? You sound just

like him.

Terl hits play again, mimicking the Assistant Planetship's expressions and gestures playing on the monitor.

Terl masterfully applies prosthetics »nd make-up to his face, thickening his eye bones and darkening the fur on his cheeks...

Until if we didn't know it was Terl, we'd swear it was the Assistant Planetship.

Terl, disguised as the Assistant Planetship, shakes his head.

The RESEARCH CLERK doesn't really care, but politely asks:

Terl's eyes slit, but he forces himself to stay in character.

The ‘Research Clerk shrugs, returning to the business at hand.

Terl signs a check-out slip, expertly forging the Assistant Planetship's signature, then...

Making a big production of looking around, making sure no one's

listening, Terl leans in with a conspiratorial whisper...

Ker barges in and snaps a LEASH around Jonnie's neck. Carlo gets same treatment. And as Ker reaches out to grab some more humans-

Mickey and Sammy, discreetly slip forward, positioning themselves to be selected.

Ker hands Psychlo-sized paint-brushes to Carlo, the twins, and mMeYWOOD, an older man with a friendly face.

~~ we Sow OT

Pointing to giant buckets of purple paint, Ker barks something in Psychlo, which the humans obviously can't understand.

HEYWOOD

They've made me do this before. Just follow what I do and you'll be fine.

He dips his brush into a bucket and goes to work painting a wall. Carlo and the twins copy his movements.

Terl roughly deposits Jonnie and the chair in the center of the room, then grabs a DISC from a pile and slides it into--

A LEARNING MACHINE

- Which unlike the utilitarian design of most Psychlo machinery, is

elegantly designed with sleek simplicity.

And once the disc is inserted, the machine emits a holographic im > of a CHINKO, which bows twice and puts its six sets of paws over . six eyes, then talks in English, albeit with a strange accent:

The holographic image bows again, then...

An intense bright shaft of BLUE LIGHT shoots out of the machine, striking Jonnie in the eyes...

A somber Psychlo war song plays from speakers as Carlo, Heywood and the twins paint the walls a fresh coat of purple.

Terl happily hums along to the music as he attaches some kind of RED-SQUARE to a choke collar. Ker is camped-out at his own desk, looking through some holographic pornography.

——_— we wwe

The blue light beaming at Jonnie'’s eyes clicks off. And staying in J e's Pac .

Terl leans down to Jonnie, speaking very slowly, extra-enunciatin each syllable... .

Jonnie can understand, but feigns a blank expression, pretending he doesn't. Terl dangles a DEAD RAT in front of Jonnie's eyes.

But Jonnie keeps up his blank-face routine.

Terl continues to ‘tease’ him with the rodent for a few beats, then pulls it away and restarts the machine, turning to Ker.

, TERL (cont'd) Obviously, this is going to take a while. We might as well go get ourselves some lunch.

Terl and Ker head out «he door.

The moment they're gone, Carlo’ charges into--

And tackles Jonnie out of the chair, ‘saving’ him from the blue beam bombarding his eyes.

Heywood appears in the doorway with a concerned look.

Carlo points to the Learning Machine with religious awe.

Before Heywood can protest, Jonnie reassures him--

Heywood is concerned, but moves back to a window, keeping a vigilant eye on the street outside as...

Jonnie inserts a new disc into the Learning Machine.

“INT. DENVER ZOO -- CAGE -- NIGET

In the corner of the cage, out of view of the others, Jonnie uses a stick to fervently work out mathematical equations in the dirt.

Carlo, Heywood and the twins watch, trying to make sense of the foreign symbols. Lo

Jonnie shakes his head, his eyes shining with the rapture of pure knowledge as he explains...

Ker shrugs between mouthfuls of his lunch.

TERL

---I'm not sure the man-animals did fire that probe into space.

Terl slowly sips a pan of kerbango as he explains.

_ een nen ern

' \ | ) t

Jonnie watching Terl and Ker on a monitor, while reading through a Psychlo FIELD OPERATIONS MANUAL.

In the rear of the room, the rest of the guys push and pull at the handle to the massive VAULT.

The Security-Chief should secure the field vault with an eight-—digit combination code of his selection. He should not write this code down, or tell it to anyone else. And he shouldn't simply use his Employee ID number, but be more clever than that.

Carlo gives Jonnie a hopeful look.

Jonnie digs through Terl's desk, coming up with a FORM.

His employee number is on this requisition form..

He returns Carlo's look with a shrug.

Jonnie nods, but then--

Guess

He inputs Terl's employee Id-Number in reverse order. A beat, the the entry light blinks green and the vault swings open.

Our guys enter. Jonnie's attention is drawn to the RECORDING MACHINE, while Carlo, Heywood and the twins check-out the Blast- Guns and spare Breath-Gas Tanks.

Terl and Ker march past Heywood, Carlo and the twins, who are all busy painting the walls, and head straight into...

This time, Terl dangles two dead rats in front Jonnie.

But Jonnie keeps up his blank-face routine. And is rewarded for it by being picked-up by the head and launched out into--

Jonnie skids across the floor, slamming into a wall. Terl impatiently marches over to him, pulling his Blast-Gun.

But Ker isn't willing to give-up hope of the gold and tries to sound convincing as--

He storms over and grabs a series of surveillance photos fram his desk. Jonnie discreetly signals across the room to...

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

He slowly reaches between Terl's legs and pushes the GREEN BUTTON, recording as...

He takes one last forlorn look at the photos, then lashes out in anger, delivering a vicious kick to Jonnie.

Be points his blast-gun down at Jonnie and--

Terl stares at Jonnie in amazement. The man-animal just spoke Psychlo. But to make sure he's not imagining this...

q O.V

The rest of the guys can't understand what Jonnie's saying, but they're shocked to realize...

He's speaking to the monsters in their machine-like language, as:

TERL

In an unprecedented public display of joy, hops up and down, pumping his arms in victory.

Terl, more amused than anything, clarifies...

Jonnie gives the signal. With a sudden flurry of movement--

Carlo, Heywood, and the twins pull BLAST-GUNS from behind their paint buckets. Jonnie keeps his attention on Terl.

But Terl's only reaction is to chuckle. TERL , You sure they even know how to use those things-- .

A COLLECTIVE CLICK as our guys slam the levers down on their gun to kill position. Ker immediately throws his arm up in surrende

And Terl is no longer chuckling. He looks around at the guns pointed at him and buries his head in his paws, and begins to...

Howl with laughter. Convulsing so hard, tears run down his face | TERL (cont'd) Can you imagine the official report? (gasps for air) Head of Security killed by man-animals!

Still laughing hysterically, he rears back to smack Jonnie. But Mickey jumps forward and FIRES his gun at Terl--

Only there's nothing but a CLICK. The weapon doesn't fire.

Sammy leaps forward and fires his Blaster. CLICK. His gun doesn't work either. Carlo and Heywood get the same result.

Terl, still laughing, follows through on his swing, sending Jonn flying across the room. Then explains to him with a smirk.

oe ;

Then he turns to take care of the others. Goes to smack Sammy--

But Mickey protectively grabs a LETTER-OPENER from a desk, and wi blinding speed, plunges the blade straight for Terl's chest--

Only as fast as Mickey is, Terl is faster, and he deflects the blow with his arm, sustaining a small cut in the process.

Terl then promptly relieves Mickey of the letter-opener and seize the trembling twin by the throat, holding him firmly in place as-

TERL

Next time you want to stab someone, let me show you how to do it right--

He raises the sharp blade high above Mickey's chest--

Terl pauses to consider this. Then turns and convincingly bluffs —

TERL

Then I'll vaporize you and get someone else to mine the gold--

In that one moment, Terl's whole world is turned upside down. Jonnie gives Terl a dangerous smile.

Rage burns openly in Terl's eyes, but he lowers the weapon and calmly turns to Ker.

- TERL --.I think it's time we showed our little friend here a thing or two.

A Mark II Ground Car is parked in front of the library. Locked in a cage in the rear of the vehicle--

Carlo, Heywood and the twins watch with concern as Terl drags Jonnie by a leash across the street and up marble steps.

O

Terl's usual deep throated voice sounds even more ominous as it echoes eerily in the library's expansive entryway.

He gives the leash a good hard jerk, yanking Jonnie down a--

Terl moves at his normal gait, forcing Jonnie to run to keep up.

He snaps the leash, whiplashing Jonnie into--

The shelves lining this cavernous tomb of a room are stacked full of books. An endless variety of subjects and titles.

He makes a big production of letting go of the leash, giving Jonnie full run of the place.

Because there's nothing that can help you.

He watches amused as Jonnie takes him up on his offer, pulling books from shelves. Terl can't resist calling after him--

Terl cracks-up, finding this particularly entertaining.

Mickey pensively shakes his head, fearing the worst.

A darkness hangs over the cage as everyone continues to stare uf at the library, where--

Terl is filing his talons. Across from him, Jonnie finishes looking through a large stack of books.

As Jonnie heads for the door, Terl steals a peek at the book he was just looking at. It's the Declaration of Independence.

But Terl can't read English. Unconcerned, he just shrugs,

- swatting the book across the room.

On’ a rise overlooking the domed city, a herd of grazing cows cas |

curious stares across the field as the Mark II Ground Car pulls

Terl emerges from the vehicle, followed by Jonnie.

- TERL You will soon be relocated to a new mining site. And if any of you get any bright ideas about escaping, keep in mind that while you rat-brains may not know anything about firearms, I certainly do. I just happened to be top marksman of my graduating class. And I can kill any of you at well over a thousand paces...

(to Jonnie) Tell them what I just said.

Terl waits for Jonnie to continue. And when he doesn't...

Jonnie nods. Terl is surprised, but shrugs and continues with t subject at hand. He pulls his Blast-Gun, explaining--

ae

Net

Be turns and FIRES into the middle of the-- GRAZING COWS

Killing several of the animals. The others take off in a panickec stampede of churning hooves. Terl continues to calmly fire-- .

Blasting the legs clean off the fast-moving animals. Sending them collapsing to the ground, BELLOWING in anguished torture.

Terl shows off with some trick shots. From behind the back. With his eyes closed. All with the same horrific result...

The field littered with a bloody sea of suffering animals thrashi around helplessly. Sensing something behind them, Jonnie turns--

A GRIZZLY BEAR emerges from an abandoned building. Nostrils | flaring at the smell of blood. And with a growl, he charges at--

Terl, who is too busy with his shooting demonstration, to notice.

But he does note the look in Jonnie' 8 eyes as Jonnie starts back: away. And misreading it as revulsion to the carnage on the fiel

The GRIZZLY slams into Terl from behind--

The fierce impact jars the gun from Terl's grasp as he's violent] MAULED down. And with the grizzly on his back, pinning him down, Terl is unable to get his own talons up at--

THE BEAR

Who is starting to do damage. Powerful claws savagely slashing into Terl's flesh as Terl remains unable to defend himself.

Jonnie scoops up the gun, switches it to stun position and FIRES. Knocking the grizzly flat by the shot. Carlo can't believe it.

Jonnie raises the weapon on Terl, who bloodied and bruised, sits himself up and gives Jonnie a friendly smile.

é

a cael

He switches the gun into kill position.

And for the first time, there is_terror in Terl's eves. He braci himself, waiting for the shot. He doesn't have to wait long... _

KABLAM!

Terl's eyes open wide in shock. i He hasn't been hit. The shot was directed at one of the sufferi) cows behind him, as Jonnie humanely ends the animal's misery.

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

Jonnie does the same with the rest of the herd. Terl has to smi |

at the irony of it...

He closes his eyes, bows his head, ready for his execution.

Jonnie stands there, the gun now sighted on Terl. His finger aching to pull the trigger. But he doesn't...

areal

vn ‘

TERL can't understand what the man-animals are babbling about.

But his eyes remain focused on the gun in Jonnie's hand, waiting for a chance to grab it--

But Jonnie keeps the weapon leveled on Terl's chest, as he continues to address the others...

JONNIE | I learned our history, today. Our ancestors built flying machines that went up into the heavens. I saw the pictures with my own eyes... . (re: the stars) . ; Those are planets. Like this one. They are not gods waiting to come and save us.

He waits a long beat for everyone to digest this, then...

JONNIE (cont'd)

And the great villages weren't built by. gods. They were built by people, just like us. Men and women who cherished one thing above all else. Freedom.

(impassioned) It meant so much to them, they'd fight to the death for it if they had to. In fact, many of them did.

Inspired, Mickey immediately steps forward.

His voice is a bit impulsive, but full of conviction.

His brother, Sammy, immediately joins him. Heywood also steps forward in solidarity. But Carlo isn't so sure...

——_ we we

-_———

JONNIE

I'm not sure, yet. But I do know we're not ready. We need to learn more about them. Like their weaknesses.

(concedes) And we're going to have to learn other stuff as well. I mean, we didn't even know the guns weren't going to work.

A long beat, then with the look of a man who knows he's going to regret this, Carlo steps forward, joining the others with a sigh

Terl watches as the damnedest thing happens... Jonnie turns to him, returning the gun to him, explaining it wit

In the blink of an eye, Terl shifts his demeanor back to his old caustic self-- .

That's the first intelligent thing you've said, yet.

He points Jonnie to the far edge of the field.

Terl proudly points down to the domed city below.

this. One of those outposts used to be the Chinko's planet.

Terl stares Jonnie straight in the eye, making sure he understand:

(sure of this)

So get it through your little excuse for a brain. There is no way a species as primitive as yours could ever defeat us.

He lets Jonnie chew on that for a beat, then concedes...

A SECOND Mark II Ground Car pulls up. Ker emerges from the vehicle and opens the trunk, pulling out--

: . Relief floods her eyes when she sees Jonnie. At least he's alive

But as hard as it is to do, Jonnie gives Chrissy an emotionless vacant look. Like she means nothing to him

And Chrissy senses enough to duplicate this look. Terl watches Jonnie very closely.

. TERL ee YOU don't know her?

He pulls out Chrissy's charcoal drawing of Jonnie.

Jonnie tries to hide the fear in his eyes at what Terl might do. He doesn't have to wait long to find out...

Terl holds up a CHOKE-COLLAR with a red square on it.

He secures the collar to Chrissy's neck, then pulls a REMOTE CONTROL.

Ker secures a second red-squared collar around Heywood's neck.

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

Terl nonchalantly tosses the remote to Ker. TERL As I said, J won't kill him...

Ker gives Jonnie an evil grin, then slowly pushes the button--

KABLAM!!

Heywood is no longer among the living. Terl and Ker laugh their asses off at the shocked betrayal on Jonnie's face.

Returning the humans to their cage for the night, Terl stares at Mickey and Sammy. Impossible to tell the twins apart...

The two young brothers watch with growing concern as Terl motions to them, while asking Jonnie something in Psychlo.

to stab him. A look of knowing terror in Mickey's eyes.

| |

Mickey nods, accepting his fate, whatever it may be. He turns--

But Sammy has already stepped forward, sacrificing himself. to Terl. Mickey, stunned, tries to stop him--

Terl grabs Sammy and Jonnie and marches away.

Terl straps Sammy to the teleportation platform, then calmly drags Jonnie down to--

Terl punches commands into a console. Over the hum of the generators coming to life, Terl explains to Jonnie...

He points Jonnie's attention to a monitor, beaming back images o

teleportation platforms on the HOME PLANET OF PSYCHLO as...

With a THUNDER-CLAP of sound and a BLINDING FLASH of light... Sammy disappears from the platform--

And appears on one of the countless teleportation platforms stretched out under a radiant purple sky.

Sammy can't breath the air. Starting to suffocate.

Panicking, the youngster desperately undoes the strap tethering him to the platform and tries to run to safety, but--

The mich larger planet's immense gravitational pul] crushes him to his knees. His eyes bulging, he stares out at a--

NIGHTMARISH SKYLINE

RITE RET TERR TERE TSE Pe OMEN DUNE PON CRE Set NE Op LS i A eS ie a

a

Endless rows of factories belching fire crammed between office buildings thousands of times taller than the World Trade Center.

SAMMY

Lets out a gasping plea for help as his spine starts to crack under the atmospheric weight. And the last thing he sees are...

PSYCHLO WORKERS

Crowding around him in curious amusement. As if observing an ansect cooking in a microwave. Until...

' The young twin literally IMPLODES. His body caving in on itself

mercifully ending the suffering.

Jonnie rips his eyes away from the abominable scene playing on the monitor. In contrast...

Terl views it to its bitter end, clucking the whole time with enjoyment.

A bunch of Psychlos crowd around the bar, ‘consuming kérbango, | including the RESEARCH CLERK that Terl checked out the discs fro

Ker joins the group, shaking his head despondently.

Everyone is surprised by Ker's un-Psychlo like grief.

The group nods, now understanding.

The Psychlos give a collective ‘He got what he had coming,' shrug, then return to their kerbango as...

The research clerk leans over to Ker, nonchalantly inquiring: RESEARCH CLERK

Just wondering. How exactly did they find out he knew about the mutiny?

ad

KER : He was on a remote rim star planet, not unlike this one, where just like here, they secretly record and archive all conversations.

This is news to the research clerk.

A guard tosses Jonnie back into the cage. Mickey tentatively approaches him, afraid to ask the question, but has to...

Jonnie stares at him. A long, difficult beat. Then finally--

Before he can continue, Mickey exhales, relieved. -MICKEY . «.-Thank god, because I thought ‘for sure — he was going to kill him.

Jonnie continues to stare at Mickey, his heart breaking. But for the life of him, he just can't bring himself to tell him the rest

Terl hurries down a hallway. A pair of GUARDS snap a salute and immediately open a door, allowing him into--

' INT. PLANETSHIP'S LIVING QUARTERS -- CONTINUOUS

Ker and the research clerk are in the room with the Planetship.

PLANETSHIP

--It's my assistant! He's the bastard planning the mutiny.

Terl does an impressive job of acting shocked by the news.

The Assistant Planetship doesn't have to act. se is shocked.

——- so —- = —- =

y

Terl slips a disc into a machine, playing a recording of...

Terl, convincingly disguised as the Assistant Planetship, leaning in with a conspiratorial whisper to the Research Clerk.

The Assistant Planetship shakes his head, pointing to the person who looks just like him on the monitor.

He holds up the sign-out sheet, bearing Terl's perfect forgery. of. the Assistant Planetship's signature. ON THE MONITOR...

Terl, in the guise of the Assistant Planetship, looks around, making sure no one's listening, before ‘confiding’...

RESEARCH CLERK

I don't think the fat-ass could run any pianet--

The Research Clerk immediately turns to the Planetship, insisting.. RESEARCH CLERK I only said that, sir, to trick him into telling me the plan, so I could

immediately come and warn you of it!

The Planetship gives a gruff nod and continues to watch as...

ON THE RECORDING, Terl continues...

The Assistant Planetship stands alone in front of a door to the Planetship's office. He nervously calls down the hall--

Terl, Ker and the Planetship watch from behind a protective blast shield positioned a safe distance down the corridor.

The Assistant Planetship sighs. Then closes his eyes and braces his body, as if that could samehow protect him from an explosion.

And he slowly cracks open the door. Nothing happens.

A flash of light and a deafening blast as a CATACLYSMIC EXPLOSION blows the Assistant Planetship and much of the hall into oblivion.

Psychlo workers hose down the last of the fire from the explosion Ker follows behind as the Planetship strolls by with Terl, who is adamantly shaking his head, pretending to be distraught.

y OO ETSETP

~-You're out of your skull if you think I'm going to wait for Home Office to process a requisition for a new E-3 Level Executive Assistant!

Terl and Ker share a secret look of victory. |

Jonnie sits alone in the corner, For the first time, he looks defeated. He doesn't even bother to look up as...

Terl cheerfully strides up, snaps a leash around Jonnie's neck and yanks him to his feet.

Jonnie nods numbly. There's no more fight left in him.

Ker, in his new office, struggles through a crossword puzzle. Hi |

quickly hides it as the Planetship sticks his head into the room

The Planetship nads, both surprised and impressed...

And heading down the hall, the Planetship mutters to himself. PLANETSHIP ---Should have had my assistant vaporized a long time ago.

He heads into an elevator and the doors close with a bing-~-

As soon as Ker hears the noise, he immediately steals into the adjoining office--

And goes to work, snooping through the Planetship's personal files

(> . Jonnie half-heartedly pushes buttons on control panel to a od HOLOGRAPHIC FIGHT SIMULATOR. But all he manages to do is...

Crash into a simulated mountain.

' | He holds up the REMOTE to Chrissy's explosive collar, then restarts the simulator.

Jonnie is back to sitting alone with a despondent look.

Carlo and Mickey slowly approach. Nothing is said for the

longest time. And finally, Jonnie looks up at Carlo.

; JONNIE

‘ You were right. I should have shot the

monster when I had the chance... (quietly)

That way, Sammy and Heywood would still

You didn't kill them.

Jonnie gives him a haunted look--

Carlo shakes his head, trying to hold back the anger.

And we need you. You speak the monsters' language. You know things about them.

Jonnie looks around at the others in the cage, who are now staring at him. And he sees something on their faces he's never seen before. Hope. The longest of beats, then...

But not one person is deterred. Carlo gives Jonnie's words back to him--

(pointed)

And that ain't exactly living either.

This voice belongs to one of the human slaves pressed against the bars of the next cage over, listening to what's going on in Jonnie's cage. And from the next cage over from that...

The human slave turns and calls to the second voice-- HUMAN SLAVE Someone in that cage knows how to speak the monsters' language. And he's going to help us fight them--

Someone from the next cage asks what's going on...

And the news is met with the same ardent reaction. We PULL BACK t

The message passing from cage to cage, until the whole zoo erupts © a DEAFENING ROAR. The battle-cry resounding defiantly in the nigh

C) INT. SECURITY HEADQUARTERS ~- THE NEXT DAY

It's a whole different Jonnie. Attentive and focused as his fingers fly over the simulator's control panel.

Terl watches, impressed. Then holds up the remote to Chrissy's explosive collar, gloating...

Jonnie nods, letting Terl believe what he wants to.

| Everyone in Jonnie's cage crowds around him as he draws letters | in the dirt, teaching the others to read and write. Jonnie

passes the stick to Carlo, who carefully starts to write letters ' of his own.

| |

The Planetship strolls into his office, but freezes in his track What the hell are Terl and Ker doing in his inner-sanctum..:

But then he sees the files all neatly laid out on his desk. He looks at them, the life draining from his eyes.

The Planetship shakes his head, feebly trying to explain...

~—-— wre w--

] - But Terl drops a heavy tome orto the desk with a resounding clang

Ker hands the Planetship a huge sheaf of requisition and order forms, along with a pen to sign them.

He pats his Blast-Gun, underscoring the threat.

A SUPPLY CLERK stares incredulously at a requisition form.

TERL

That's not even the crazy part.

(holds up an

order form) He's ordered me to take a group of man- animals with the equipment out to a remote area to see if they can be trained to mine. Can you imagine that?!

(helpless shrug) An order's an order.

A BOWLING WIND cuts through a large steel cage containing Carlo, Mickey, and some twenty other men, along with an assortment of mining machines and equipment. The cage is suspended from the underbelly of a--

PSYCHLO CARGO-TYPE AIRCRAFT

Which hurtles over the majestic Rocky Mountains. Following behind, Ker is at the helm of a smaller fighter-plane.

Terl keeps a careful eye on Jonnie, who is piloting the aircraft. An ALARM suddenly blares through-out the cockpit--

Blue sparks are starting to pop throughout the cockpit.

For the first time, there is genuine fear in Terl's eyes. He immediately points to a meadow visible. below--

Jonnie punches buttons on the control panel, landing the aircraft.

Terl motions Jonnie to the cargo cage as Ker 1 1e fig! 13 the meadow nearby. g 9 ands the fighter in

operation.

As the threat hangs there, Terl checks his time-piece.

The men have been assembled out on the meadow, when there's an thereal, almost otherworldly WAILING from above as--

A PSYCHLO RECON DRONE

Hurtles overhead. One of the drone's high-tech CAMERA-LENS rotates to stare down at our guys.

A TRANSMISSION RECEIVER spits out a SURVEILLANCE PHOTO taken fre the recon drone, depicting Jonnie and the others staring up intc the sky. Ker hands it to--

Terl, who gives the surveillance photo to Jonnie.

; TERL Tell them that even though I won't be at the mining site, I'll be able to keep an eye on you... (admonishes ) And anyone who isn't working hard will be ‘replaced', if you know what I mean.

He pats his blast-gun, making sure Jonnie understands, then turn and climbs into the fighter as Ker pilots it up and away.

Jonnie and the men start back to the cargo aircraft, but Jonnie instantly whirls. Eyes scanning the underbrush in the tree line

He grabs a PICK-AX from the mining equipment, holding it up as a weapon. Following his lead, the rest of the men do likewise as.

The bush moves. And out from behind it steps--

A wild-eyed figure with the look of someone who has survived a long time alone in the wilderness. Ignoring the ‘array -of weapon pointed at him, the ROGUE stares at Jonnie in complete awe.

ROGUE © How'd you do it?

ROGUE

Make that monster go away without killing you.

Jonnie gives him a friendly smile.

The rogue sizes up Jonnie and the rest of the men, then nods as he's reached some important decision, and returns Jonnie's smile

— = — ee

i d our guys Jonnie lands the cargo-aircraft at the mining site, an now including MASON, begin hauling the equipment into the shelte

of a cave.

Carlo looks up from the list he's been studying with a worried

expression-- , CARLO

If we work around the clock, we'll be lucky to mine enough gold to fill half that cage... There's no way we're going to be able to do that and get all this stuff done we need for the revolt.

The cargo aircraft lands on top of the shopping mall where Jonnit ' and Carlo were first captured by the Psychlo wrangler.

Jonnie and a small group of men emerge and race inside the build

Jonnie and a group of his men move through the store, scavenging WALKIE-TALKIES and RECHARGEABLE.BATTERIES, while--

Mickey and Sammy lead a separate team through a gun shop, collecting weapons, and--

Carlo and a third squad scrounge up supplies, including SPOOLS 0 THIN WIRE.

Jonnie shows his group basic engine mechanics as he rebuilds the motor on a small, gas-powered generator. Nearby...

Mickey and Sammy's team assemble crude, but effective-looking homemade bombs from the mining equipment.

With the generator, now reassembled, Jonnie fires it to life.

The men burst out in applause as electricity flows to a line of battery rechargers.

Jonnie pilots the aircraft. Carlo is in the navigator's seat. Behind him, Mickey shakes his head--

Jonnie banks the aircraft around. And now, staring at them through the cockpit window is...

THE STATUE OF LIBERTY

Watching over a completely empty harbor.

The same with the city of Manhattan. The entire island is a

| literal ghost town. Nothing moves. Hovering overhead--

Jonnie studies the map, realizing.

A wailing sound grows louder as the RECON DRONE passes overhead, cameras spying down on the mining site, where...

Hidden from view in the cave, two of Jonnie's men have stayed behind and now pull on a series of thin wires, which run through

a pulley system and out to...

Twenty DEPARTMENT STORE MANNEQUINS, all decked out in mining gear and holding shovels and pick-axes. As the wires are pulled...

The mannequins move like marionettes, looking like they're hard at work mining the gold. ,

Terl grabs the surveillance photo as soon as it spits out from the transmission receiver. He gives a satisfied nod.

~-- ~- ———— SH

That has got to be the stupidest thing Ker has ever heard.

The fierce desire is palpable in his voice.

The cargo aircraft is parked next to the Library of Congress.

Books on uranium are spread across a table as Jonnie unfolds a

. RADIOACTIVE-SITE Map of the United States. . He traces his finger ,

toa mountain in Colorado which bears the radiation symbol] of a | triangle inside a circle... , JONNTIE ; Here's where we're supposed to be mining the monster's gold. That symbol means — radiation. Which is caused by uranium.

He moves his finger to an area in New Mexico.

. MICKEY . ---It has the same symbol.

Do you guys know the names of the places where you're from?

; MICKEY A village called Los Alamos...

CARLO

An island in what used to be the country of Pennsylvania...

_ Jonnie finds Los Alamos and Three Mile Island on the map. And oom sure enough, they both have the radiation symbol.

Carlo and Mickey don't understand. Jonnie explains...

JONNIE

From what I've been able to figure out, many years ago, the monsters attacked our planet with a deadly gas. Almost | everyone died, except a few who made it into underground shelters. When the air cleared, these people came out, but were then hunted down by the monsters.

_ (points to the map) Only a few mist have made it to the safety of these remote areas with radiation where the Psychlos couldn't go. And we're descendants of those people.

— ee ee

Mickey nods, realizing this is good news.

. 7 JONNIE mi .They'd be safe from the monsters.' . (the bad -ews) oO But radiation isn't good for humans, either. That's why a lot of people in

our villages get sick and don't live as long as they should.

He stares at them, making sure they understand.

JONNIE (cont'd)

So if we don't take back our planet, our people can't leave these areas or they'll be hunted down. But if they stay in these areas, over time, more and more of them will get sick and die...

(the grim reality) Either way, the last of humanity will slowly but steadily become extinct.

The aircraft lands next to FORT KNOX. Our i ; . emerge, carryin large Psychlo equipment cases, and head inte the building...” 9

JONNIE

From what I read in the library, the gold here is stored in lead-lined vaults to protect it from the radiation in case of a nuclear war...

(beat) And that lead would keep the monsters from detecting the gold.

Our guys stand in front of an imposing vault.

CARLO _ 7 ---¥YOu sure we're going to be able t get through this? Jonnie and Mickey fire-up a Psychlo LASER-DRILL. JONNIE : One thing you got to give those monsters, their mining equipment is highly effective.

“They attack the vault with the high-tech drill.

It cuts through, like a hot knife through butter.

As the screaming bit, is pulled smoking from the hole, a gold ~ light streams out.

HIGH ANGLE

Jonnie and the others descend over the mine area. But it looks very different.

There are looks’ of concern on their faces.

A light shines down from the present edge and confirms it. The fissure, thirty feet back from the old edge, had simply

_ opened and fallen into the gorge..

Jonnie races back to the hundred feet deep shaft edge. He looks around, flashing his light. .

Jonnie approaches the hole more closely. Until he sees the Slide marks of the cross timbers that had supported the hoist cage over the hole. .

| |

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

Jonnie races back to the hundred feet deep shaft edge. He looks around, flashing his light.

Jonnie approaches the hole more closely. Until he sees the slide marks of the cross timbers that had supported the hoist cage over the hole.

LATER

The place is broadly lit now with lamps the relief crew had put on poles. Carlo and the others pay out the line of a bucket rigged to crane cable...

---Jonnie and three others are lowered to the bottom of the hole.

They swing picks at the rocks, filling buckets that are instantly shot aloft to be replaced by empty ones.

LATER

The crew has been changed. Twice. But Jonnie is still down there.

They work in a blur of speed. Another crew arrives. Jonnie stays.

Finally, he hears a distant whisper of sound. He holds up his hand for silence.

VOICE (very faintly) .-.air hole...

Jonnie grabs a LONG MINE DRILL. He socks the rock drill point into it, and signals the man on the drill motor.

They buck the drill into it with the pressure handles. And with a high scream the drill goes through.

| ’ ' i '

LATER

The place is broadly lit now with lamps the relief crew had put on poles. Carlo and the others pay out the line of a bucket rigged to crane cable...

...vonnie and three others are lowered to the bottom of the hole.

They swing picks at the rocks, filling buckets that are instantly shot aloft to be replaced by empty ones.

LATER

The crew has been changed. Twice. But Jonnie is still down there.

They work in a blur of speed. Another crew arrives. Jonnie stays.

Finally, he hears a distant whisper of sound. He holds up his hand for silence.

‘VOICE (very faintly)

Jonnie grabs a LONG MINE DRILL. He socks the rock drill point into it, and signals the man on the drill motor.

They buck the drill into it with the pressure handles. And with a high scream the drill goes. through.

They feed the hose through the drill hole and turn the air compressor on. Air from the drift squeals back past the sides

_ of the hose and into the rescue crew's faces.

LATER

They have managed to clear the top of the rockfall and drag men out.

Passing them to the top, silently in the hoist buckets. A dust- and sweat-covered Jonnie is the last one up.

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

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

Jonnie stands next to a cargo cage half-full of GOLD BARS as he waits for Terl to land his aircraft and climb out.

Terl is impressed, but also instantly suspicious.

Terl doesn't look convinced until he runs a hand-held COMPOSITION ANALYZER over the gold. It checks out as the real thing.

Hiding his glee, Terl turns back and growls at Jonnie--

Not bothering to wait for a response, Terl loads the glorious gold into his aircraft.

Jonnie and the rest of the men have reassembled back at the cave.

But Jonnie doesn't look the least bit concerned.

The group nods, trying to match Jonnie! 8s confidence as Jonnie

gets down to business, opening a MAP of Denver. He points to the zOO in the middle of the city.

No one seems too happy about the comparison. But Jonnie nods...

Mickey excitedly jumps in again, beating Jonnie to the punch-lir

All eyes spin to Carlo, who gives a confident thumbs-up.

His eyes sweep the group as he explains...

JONNIE (cont'd)

Everyone's going to train how to use the monster's weapons. Then we'll sneak you in to blend in with the rest of the people who escaped from the zoo...

(beat) So when Carlo takes out the first wave of monsters, you guys'll jump out and grab their weapons, then set-up an ambush for the second wave of monsters who will be wearing breath—masks.

Excitement spreads through the group. The plan actually has a chance of working. But then Jonnie adds...

JONNIE

Right. A stage-two alarm means the monsters alert their Home Planet. And moments later, thousands of troops and gas drones will be teleported here.

(levels with them). There's no way we could fight that. We'd all be dead within seconds.

The group's excitement instantly turns to confusion.

Everyone stares at him. He must be joking. But he isn't.

Jonnie and a handful of men emerge from a Strategic Weapons Vault carrying out crates of conventional explosives, as well as...

A Cruise-Missile NUCLEAR WARHEAD.

Mickey restlessly pokes around, exploring the classroom as Jonnie and Carlo huddle over a tech-manual.

The nuclear warhead sits on a table in front of them.

In the back of the room, Mickey points to an old PHOTO of a BATTALION OF CADETS, all with their hands to their foreheads.

He salutes, showing Mickey, then gets back to the business at hand, continuing to read from the manual--

Jonnie and Carlo both take deep breaths, then pick up tools and gingerly go to work on the warhead--

Terl rips the lid off of a coffin and yanks out the dead Psychlo dumping the corpse to the ground and kicking it out of his way.

He repeats the process with another coffin, uriceremoniously flinging the corpse to the ground, then fires up a LASER DRILL and blasts away, carving FALSE BOTTOMS into'the caskets.

With the nuclear warhead now partially dismantled, Jonnie and Carlo carefully remove a lead plate with surgical precision.

Great.

Still whistling his war song, Terl begins filling the false

bottams in the coffins with his beloved gold.

Everyone congregates around the map of Denver one last time as Jonnie finalizes the battle plan...

He points to a section of the city away from the park.

Mason points to the nuclear warhead.

Mickey slowly raises his head. A darkness in his voice.

Jonnie stares at Mickey, his heart breaking. But this time, Jonnie has no choice. He has to tell him.

Mickey returns Jonnie's look without blinking.

MICKEY ; I know. : That's why I want to go.

(quietly) So, I can be with him again.

A long beat. Then Jonnie finally nods, giving Mickey his wish.

- EXT. DENVER -- EMPLOYEE RECREATION HALL -- THAT NIGHT

Ker comes strolling out of the bar, when a figure suddenly steps out of the shadows in front of him.. It's JONNIE--

Terl got leverage on you so he wouldn't have to share the gold.

JONNIE .

It sure is interesting some of the discs one can find in Terl's personal vault.

Pet

, Se

Ker's eyes light-up at his sudden good fortune. He pulls his blast-gun and orders--

| JONNIE --I'm afraid we can't just give it to you. But you can trade for it. Ker, chuckling at Jonnie's stupidity, re-pulls his Blast-Gun. KER I don't think so, crap-brain! Because if you don't give me the disc, I'‘1ll--

At Jonnie's signal--

CHRISSY immediately hands the disc to someone in her cage, who in turns hands it off to another person, this continues until...

The disc reaches someone at the edge of the cage, who pitches it |

‘hrough the bars into--

Ker tries to point his gun at the humans in warning, but the process is repeated too fast for him to follow as...

A human chain moves the disc from hand to hand, cage to cage, until before Ker knows it, the disc disappears from view around a corner.

Ker turns back to Jonnie with a friendly smile.

Ker uses a special tool to remove the explosive collar from Chrissy's neck, then trades the collar for the disc.

Because the gold is almost ready and I thought you might want some incriminating evidence on your friend, Terl.

Too bad...

Ker doesn't have to think about it. He immediately trades the zoo key for the second disc. As soon as Ker is gone... .

Chrissy gives Jonnie a confused look.

‘There's an unspoken tension between them. The first time they've

alone since he left their village. Chrissy tries to cover it with

. She nods,

of beats.

but there's still something not being said. The longest And finally, Jonnie struggles to find the right words.

() . JONNIE (cont'd)

a And we need to do this not only for our own freedom, but for the possibility of a life for the children.

Chrissy looks at him and starts to ask something, but doesn't. Be returns her look, clarifying...

They embrace. Each of them knowing it might be the last time.

Terl-comes strolling into the office, but suddenly stops in his tracks. EVERY MONITOR in the room is playing a recording of-- ..

a

\

Ker smugly pauses the disc, FREEZING the guilty evidence.

Terl stares at him. And without hesitation:

Ker remains on guard. He's not about to fall for any traps. But Terl seems genuinely happy, if not downright ecstatic.

—_ TERL (cont'd) ) ~ You finally figured out how to get proper leverage on someone. (MORE)

Ne

Ker can't believe it.

A frozen beat.

Ker's face immediately goes death-white.

He pulls his Blast-Gun and slides it into kill position--

Terl opens his desk drawer and calmly pulls out-- THE BARTENDER'S SEVERED HEAD

Then Terl has to lower the gun with a sigh.:

This is going much better than he thought.

Terl tosses the head to K

Ker looks from the head to the desk drawer to Terl, realizing Terl had this planned all along. His body slumps in defeat.

Terl raises his blast gun.

He fumbles a disc out of his pocket and hands it to Terl.

As Ker chews on this, Terl reminds him--

- TERL (cont'd) And while you're thinking, remember all the hard work we put into getting leverage on the Planetship. A process, I might add, that you were quite resourceful in helping with.

The life drains from Ker as...

Ker is dead long before he hits the ground.

oN EXT. DENVER Z00 -- CONTINUOUS

A pair of sentries make their usual nightly rounds, when they hear a strange noise. Turning, they catch a glimpse of--

‘A LONE HUMAN SLAVE ' Racing away up a path and disappearing around a corner.

The other guard shrugs, unconcerned. After all, man-animals aren't that fast. So they calmly walk-jog after the escapee--

With the escapee now in tow, the guards head back to the zoo. One of them shakes his head in amusement--

The words freeze in his throat as they turn a bend and...

Every single cage is empty. Not a human in sight. The. only sound

the eerie creaking of open cage doors swaying gently in the night.

KLAXON HORNS crank-up, wailing into the darkness.

TERL finishes loading the coffins full of his precious gold onto a cart as he barks into his radio--

The TELEPORTATION SUPERVISOR hangs up from a radio call--

See!

} ;

TELEPORTATION SUPERVISOR

Those security guys at the zoo have got to be the biggest crap-heads! What did they do, leave all the man-animal cages wide open?!

(point to several

of the guards) All non-essential personnel are to go over and help with the round-up.

The selected guards grumble about having to go, and...

Join the steady flow of other Psychlos responding to the call. But no one's in too big of a rush. It's just a man-animal escape.

Chrissy and the escaped humans watch as the Psychlos move in on

them with ROPES, ELECTRIC PROD-STICKS, and NETS.

_The supervisor instructs one of the two remaining guards.’

The guards share a knowing chuckle.

Still chuckling, he shuffles off to a SQUAT BUILDING.

' INT. NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM -- CONTINUOUS

Keeping a careful eye out the window, Mickey keys a RADIO.

MICKEY (INTO RADIO)

There's three monsters remaining...

Two are staying at the platform. One is

heading into a building to the east-- (checks his map)

Which is the latrine.

Across from the teleportation platform, Jonnie whispers to Mason. JONNIE I‘ll take the two at the platform. You take the one in the latrine--

Mason nods and they silently divide up, slipping through the night like shadows.

The guard heads inside the latrine, hollering to the occupied stall

One of the stall doors opens and a Psychlo stumbles out, pulling up his pants. He looks more than a little green.

A second Psychlo emerges from another stall, not looking any better. They trail after the guard, who heads back for the door. -

The supervisor shakes his head, complaining to the remaining guard. TELEPORTATION SUPERVISOR --.-Ilf any of the man-animals get broken in the round-up, you just know the brass will use it as an excuse to justify cutting our pay again-- _A KILL CLUB flies through the air, smashing into his head.

The fierce impact jars the Psychlo forward, but doesn't kill him. He spins around to see what the hell just hit him as a--

the first guard can react, Jonnie pulls a-- BUNTING ENIFE

And slits his throat.

Carlo lands the aircraft on the apex of the dome and jumps out with an armful of EXPLOSIVES.

r

The second guard comes strolling out of the latrine as a-- PICK AX-BLADE

Slams deep into his chest. Mason pulls his knife to finish the monster off, but freezes at the unexpected sight of--

TWO OTHER PYSCHLOS

Heading out of the building. One of the Psychlos immediately pulls his blast-gun and FIRES at-- ‘

Mason, who tries to leap out of the way. But the shot blows off he of his leg. Sending him crumpled helpless to the ground as...

The Psychlo aims his gun dead center between Mason's eyes and-~- JONNIE'S KNIFE

Screams through the air, imbedding deep in the Psychlo's throat.

An enormous paw blurs in the air, coming at hin.. Talons rake - the side of his face.

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

The first guard, pick-ax still buried in his chest, clings to life as he manages pulls his radio...

Jonnie flashes inside, knocking away the radio, then slits the Psychlo's throat.

An ALARM suddenly goes off on a long console. A COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER checks it, then spins to his SUPERVISOR--

t ,

Sa

The supervisor hurries over.

From his look-out position, Mickey spots a group of armed Psychlos sprinting toward the teleportation platforn.

Jonnie. pulls his blast-gun, waiting for the Psychlos to come into, .-

range. As they do, he OPENS UP FIRE--

One of the Psychlos goes down. And another. The remaining three scramble for cover, returning fire--

BLASTER-FIRE screams all around Jonnie, pinning him down as Carlo's voice suddenly comes over the radio--

CARLO'S VOICE (FROM RADIO)

The explosives are set! How long ‘till I can blow the dome--

Carlo finishes planting five sets of explosives in a DIAMOND- SHAPE around the dome's apex, when he whirls as--

A PSYCHLO CRAFTlLands on the dome behind him.

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The three Psychlo Guards run from cover to cover, working their way to set-up a cross-fire on Jonnie. From one of their radios--

One of the Psychlo's pulls his radio to respond--

Jonnie tries to draw a bead on him, but the shot is obstructed. So Jonnie grabs a ROCK and throws it behind--

The Psychlo, who keys his radio-- ‘ PSYCHLO This is Response Team Leader at the

teleportation field--

He instinctively turns toward the sudden NOISE of the rock

- landing behind him, inadvertently stepping out of his cover--

Which is all Jonnie needs. KABLAM! He drops the Psychlo. The other two monsters open up fire on--

Jonnie, who returns their fire, but his gun suddenly xyuns dry with a revealing CLICK...CLICK...CLICK...

Hearing this, the two Psychlos immediately charge the bunker.

Jonnie desperately searches for another weapon. But all he has is his knife. Which won't do much good against...

The two Psychlos storming into the bunker, turning their blast- guns on him at

Jonnie nods, speaking a little slower than usual. JONNIE That's right... Which should make it obvious that I've been trained as part of a secret high-level operation... The two Psychlos exchange a look, then pull their radios. JONNIE (cont'd) Although, before you radio your superiors, maybe there is one other thing you should be more concerned about.

RABLAMI | One Psychlo goes down in a‘bloody heap as-- .

Jonnie has stalled them long enough for MICKEY to sneak down into position. The remaining Psychlo turns his gun on the young twin--

But Jonnie jumps the Psychlo from behind, slashing its throat with his hunting knife.

Jonnie and Mickey load the NUCLEAR WARHEAD onto the platform, then--

Jonnie races over and enters the activation sequence into the console. The high-pitched HUM fills the air as the generator-

.Gynamos start winding up. Growing louder as...

(a buzzing sound)

Teleportation in twenty... In nineteen...

A heavily armed PSYCHLO SECURITY RESPONSE TEAM has deployed from the aircraft and is firing at--

Carlo, who is forced to dive back into his own--

And take off. One hand gripping a DETONATOR, Carlo watches as the Psychlos move to investigate the explosives set around the dome's apex below. CARLO (INTO RADIO)

If I Don't Blow The Dome Now, I'm Not

Going To Be Able To--

The drumming of the generators reverberates through the air as the automated voice finishes the countdown to teleportation...

Jonnie turns, double-checking that Mickey, the nuclear detonator in hand, is on the platform along with the warhead.

(a buzzing sound) Teleportation Sequence Canceled.

And before Jonnie can react-- TERL presses a Blast-Gun against the side of his head.

An eerie stillness as the generator-dynamos slowly fall silent.

The Psychlos on the dome have already disarmed one set of the explosives surrounding the apex, and are removing another as--

Carlo hits the detonator--

Nee

KABBOONM!!! The Psychlos are blown to bits. But with only three of the five explosive packages in place, the dome SPIDER-WEBS...

But doesn't collapse.

Keeping his gun trained on Jonnie and Mickey, Terl keys his radio.

Terl locks eyes with Jonnie as he calmly responds--

Jonnie returns the stare in helpless anguish ‘as--

A collective roar of enthusiasm goes up from the Psychlos as the

orders are relayed. They toss down their nets and ropes and draw their blasters, setting them into KILL-POSITION, then--

Fire on the unarmed humans. Chrissy urgently pulls her radio. CBRISSY (INTO RADIO) They're Opening Up Fire On Us! What's Going On With The Dome-- CARLO'S VOICE (FROM RADIO) ~-Hold On, I'm taking It Out!

Carlo pilots the aircraft, sending it screaming full-speed right for the spider-web of cracked glass surrounding the dome's apex--

The aircraft BLASTS straight into the dome. The jarring impact causing the high-tech glass to BUCKLE... ,

But the dome's structural integrity remains intact.

The blood bath continues as the Psychlos blast down the unarmed humans like targets in some amusement park game.

Chrissy desperately grabs a BRANCH from the ground and throws it like a kill-club--

The impact knocks the Blaster-Gun out of the paw of a Psychlo, who is surprised a man-animal was able to do that...

Let alone a female man=-animal. Chrissy and the Psychlo both dive for the weapon. .

KABLAM!

Chrissy's the one who comes up with it, blasting a hole through the monsters chest, then spins, firing on another Psychlo.

One of Jonnie's trained men springs forward out of the crowd, grabbin the weapon from the fallen Psychlos, then joins Chrissy in firing on-~

The other Psychlos, who realizing they're under attack, aggressively return fire, catching the rebel fighter in a cross-fire, tearing him

to shreds. The Psychlos then turn their weapons on Chrissy, as--

Carlo tries to reverse the aircraft, but the engine impotently grinds, mortally damaged in the collision.

The TORTURED SCREAMS of people dying below can be heard over the radio. And Carlo knows he has no choice...

He reaches behind him to an impressive collection of EXPLOSIVE DEVICES and grabs a GRENADE, pulling the pin.

He tosses the grenade back with the other explosives and stares ahead with grim determination, continuing the countdown to his own death.

The grenade DETONATES. Setting-off the rest of the explosives—

The aircraft EXPLODING in a MASSIVE FIREBALL. The powerful blast is finally enough to completely shatter the weakened dome--

Chrissy is under intense fire from all directions. She's forced back against a side of the building, trapped as the Psychlos move in for the kill, firing relentlessly at her, when from above...

A sky-full of snowflake-sized pieces of glass rain down, shimmering like ethereal spirits dancing in the night air.

But as beautiful as it is, the result is deadly to the Psychlos. Without breath-masks, they drop to the ground, convulsing--

In contrast to TERL, who calmly pulls a breath-mask from his pocket. As he secures the mask, he explains to Jonnie with a smirk--

. TERL . . Lo If I were you, and thank-Psychlo I'm not, blowing up the dome would have been my move as well...

The rest of Jonnie's men grab the weapons from the now dead monsters and join Chrissy in taking position to ambush the second wave--

Terl keeps his gun trained on Jonnie and Mickey, while calmly keying his radio--

‘TERL (INTO RADIO) Uplink a red-alert to Home Planet. (matter-of-fact) It's time we eradicate these pitiful man-animals once and for ali.

Terl plucks the NUCLEAR WARHEAD off the teleporter and nonchalantly tosses it into the field behind him...

OO)

Then loads the coffins full of his precious gold onto the platforn.

The Communications Supervisor finishes punching an authorization cod into the console and slams a KEY CARD into a slot and turns it--

Under a perpetual purple sky, the Home Planet's automated response system immediately goes to work. Towering ROBOTIC ARMS load--

All in full-on battle gear, swarm onto the platform.

Terl finishes loading his gold onto the platform, then | keeping the

With the weapon trained on Jonnie, Terl backs up to the control bunker. Mickey can‘t keep the panic from his voice.

JONNIE

--We're going to let him start-up the teleportation sequence...

(fierce resolve) Then no matter what happens to me, just make sure you and the nuclear weapon are on the platform.

The high-pitched HUM of the generators start to fill the air as--

Terl punches in the last of the commands for teleportation.

(a buzzing sound) Teleportation in twenty...

Jonnie charges off the platform. Terl spins and FIRES at him--

But Jonnie manages to dive clear of the shot, then pivots with blurring speed and throws his--

Who tries to twist out of the way, but the knife slams deep into his shoulder. Terl pulls it out as--

Fueled by primal rage, Jonnie is able to knock the’ much-bigger Psychlo to the ground, jarring the gun from Terl's grip.

But Terl is bigger and stronger. He pins Jonnie down and savagely tears into him with his razor-like claws--

Jonnie lunges up and grabs Terl's wounded shoulder with both hands. Squeezing and twisting as hard as he can, Jonnie wrenches Terl off of him. But the victory is short lived as...

Terl rolls over and is now able to get back onto his feet.

But: Jonnie hangs:.on and stays focused on the monster's weak spot.

Digging one hand into Terl's wounded shoulder, while PUMMELING at it in a mad blur with the other, inflicting what damage he can--

Hissing in pain, Terl swats Jonnie back to the ground then grabs his blast-gun and stands, towering over--

Jonnie, who can see behind Terl, where...

Mickey struggles with all his might, just managing to boost the nuclear warhead back onto the platform.

a

Jonnie locks eyes with Terl, trying to keep him from noticing Mickey scrambling onto the platform with the nuclear weapon.

Terl aims the gun straight down between Jonnie's eyes.

JONNIE

--I know. But I'm begging you.

(pleads) With the gas drones coming, is there any way to spare one human life... Because you were right about the young lady you put the collar on. I do know her.

(quietly) She was to be my wife.

Terl can't believe Jonnie's stupidity. Chuckles with glee.

Terl raises the remote with one paw, the other pointing the blast-gun down at Jonnie, who stares him straight in the eye.

Terl plunges the remote's button. Obviously not realizing that--

When Jonnie grabbed his shoulder, he had clasped the explosive collar from Chrissy under one of the gold epaulettes and--

BABOON

- Blood gushing from his shoulder where it used to be connected to an arn.

Terl is too stunned to react as-- Jonnie dives to the ground, grabbing the blaster-gun still connected to what's left of Terl's arm.

The humming of the generators grows louder. AUTOMATED VOICE (FROM CONSOLE) In five... In four... In three...

Keeping the blast-gun on Terl, Jonnie turns to check on--

Mickey pulls out the nuclear detonator. A sense of deep pride at the mission he's about to perform. As the countdown finishes--

Mickey turns and gives his friend Jonnie a SALUTE.

Jonnie salutes Mickey back with eyes full of respect. The field suddenly rocked by a DEAFENING ROAR and BLINDING LIGHT, and-- —

Mic) the warhead 1_cofti 13 E he platform.

With the GAS DRONES and shock troops all loaded for earth, the countdown for teleportation is at...

, ADTOMATED VOICE (FROM CONSOLE) Teleportation in five... In four...

At the far end of a seemingly endless row of platforms--

MICKEY appears, along with Terl's coffins and the nuclear weapon.

The Psychlo workers in the vicinity laugh at Mickey's fate. But Mickey stares at them without blinking--

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The Psychlos obviously don't speak English and have no idea what he's saying. But they crowd around in morbid curiosity as...

The planet's overwhelming gravity crushes Mickey to the ground. The young twin's eyes bulging, he announces to the crowd-- |

This cracks up the others. With his final moment of life, Mickey pushes the detonator button... ,

As the countdown to earth's destruction finishes--

KKKAAABBBBBLLLLLAAAAAAAMMMMMMM I Iii iii

The GAS DRONES and SHOCK TROOPS vaporized into oblivion--

Along.with everything else in the path of the mushroom cloud . slamming through the city like a tidal wave. of pure destruction.

Blasting apart countless Psychlos and their buildings. And after the initial blast subsides, the radiation reacts with the air

Causing the AIR TO EXPLODE in an instantaneous chain-reaction spreading out faster than the eye can see, as...

The atmosphere is literally burnt away from the planet.

A blinding white flame expanding out until it surrounds the mammoth planet.- Burning with searing intensity until--

SLOW FADE °

An aircraft lands at the fort, and Jonnie and Chrissy emerge. Mason, sporting a finely-crafted wooden leg, steps up to greet them.

Jonnie nods as they head into the fort.

Mason leads Jonnie and Chrissy down a long armored hallway and through a thick vault door, to where--

Terl, a stump where his arm used to be, downs a shot of kerbango in his new ‘living quarters', which have been painted purple for him. He stares at Jonnie through the steel bars.

Terl stares at her in amazement, then eyes Jonnie.

JONNIE

We figure it might come in handy if those other Psychlos ever decide to come by for a little ‘visit.

JONNIE ~ Which make you useful to us. After all, you did graduate top of your class.

Terl stops laughing. His eyes narrowing into slits as Jonnie holds up a DISC.

On Terl's look of complete and utter defeat, we...

FADE TO