VOYAGER

Written by Brandon Hanna

brandonnhanna@gmail.com

EXT.

CLIFF TOP - NIGHT

JOE CASSIDY walks out of the treeline and over to the edge of the cliff. He sits down at the edge and looks up into the night sky. Two moons shine down above him with a ring just below them, stretching across the sky. Close to the horizon, a galaxy is visible. JOE I wish you were here to see this. You would have loved it. We were right. Theyre out there. Im sorry. Im so sorry. INT. BALLROOM - NIGHT

JEFFREY PIKE stands at the podium in front of a large crowd of rich people dressed in fine suits, tuxedos and elegant dresses. He nervously shuffles through his speech notes and adjusts the microphone. His Mp3 player is plugged into the PA system. He turns it on and searches for something for a moment. An ambient, almost soothing static sound starts to play softly over the speakers. JEFF Feel free to dance to this if you want. We do sometimes. The audience laughs. JEFF (CONTD) What you are listening to is the sound of Planet LVX-4265. Catchy name, right? The audience lets out another soft laugh. JEFF (CONTD) This planet orbits a star just like ours. The distance from its star is very close to the distance from the Earth to our sun. Its a little bigger. It has liquid water, an atmosphere and temperate climates. We found this planet about a month ago. It definitely isnt the first planet like this weve found. There are plenty of other planets just like Earth in our galaxy. You cannot convince me that life does not exist out there. (MORE)

2. JEFF (CONTD) You cannot convince any of us. Look up into the night sky and gaze upon the stars. Most of those stars have their own systems of planets. There is intelligent life out there, life as advanced as us, more advanced than us. Theyre out there, probably asking the same question as us. Are we alone? We cant be alone. Why are we alone? Come on, explain it to me. Who can answer that?

Jeff pauses and lets the audience let out a quick applause. He uses the moment to take a drink of water. JEFF (CONTD) Thirty-six years ago today, NASA launched the Voyager One space probe. Its mission was to study the outer planets and leave our solar system. Last week Voyager 1 officially left our solar system and is now in interstellar space. Its out there, carrying a message to any intelligent, extraterrestrial life form that may find it. Our voices have reached the cosmos. What an achievement. Some of the greatest minds in the world created this message in a bottle. What if somebody out there has a message in a bottle waiting for us to find it? SETI has had a presence in Arecibo for years and thanks to your help, were going back! The audience applauds Jeff as he steps down from the podium. He shakes hands and personally thanks members of the audience and then walks towards the tables. Classical music starts to play. Jeff sits down with Joe and DARCI FLYNN, both drinking champagne. Joe gives Jeff a glass. JOE Nice speech, old man. Jeff takes the glass and sips on it. JEFF Yeah, thanks for writing it. hate this stuff. I

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JOE You like taking money but you hate accepting it? JEFF Who doesnt? JOE This is my girlfriend, Darci. just graduated from Berkley. JEFF Nice to meet you. Masters? She

DARCI Under grad. I want to spend a year with SETI before I go to grad school. JEFF Will you be joining us in Puerto Rico? Nope. DARCI Ill be in New Mexico.

JEFF Pretty short plane trip if you ever want to transfer. Looks like Alderez wants to talk to me. Ill catch you guys later. Have fun. JOE You too. DARCI Nice meeting you. Jeff gets up and walks away. JOE I need more champagne. Darci gulps the last of hers down. DARCI Me too. They get up and walk through the crowd towards the bar. JOE You know Im going to be in Puerto Rico for six months, right?

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DARCI Yeah. JOE So transfer. Dont you want to be with me? DARCI Dont you want to come to New Mexico? JOE Hell no. Ive been there, it sucks. Youre going to hate it. DARCI Come on. You know how hard I worked to get this position. You want me to just throw it back in Jacksons face after he gave me a break? JOE Im pretty sure hes used to it. They make it to the bar and get their glasses refilled. DARCI (Suggestively) You know, I dont leave for two more days, right? Joe gives her a long-lasting kiss. JOE Then we are spending two days in bed. Darci laughs. DARCI Room service on SETI? JOE Damn right. Joe gulps down his champagne. JOE (CONTD) Two more days together and then I wont see you for six months. DARCI Oh, quit your bitching!

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JOE Im not bitching! DARCI Yeah you are. Drink more. bitch less. Youll

The bartender refills Joes glass with more champagne. JOE (To the bartender) Can you just give us a bottle? The bartender gives Joe a half full bottle. JOE (CONTD) Lets see if we can get our table back. Joe and Darci walk around until they find an empty table. They sit down. LINDSAY WIGHT comes over and sits down. LINDSAY Whats up? JOE Hey Lindsay! Darci, this is Lindsay. Lindsay, Darci. LINDSAY Youre the Cali girl that Joes been going nuts about this past year? DARCI Soon to be New Mexico girl. LINDSAY Oh! Youre working with SETI now? DARCI Yep. LINDSAY Sweet. How long are you working in New Mexico? DARCI Dont know. Just got my papers today. LINDSAY Find a way to come down to Arecibo and work with us! (MORE)

6. LINDSAY (CONT'D) You dont really want to spend the summer in the desert! I gotta go!

Lindsay leaves their table, stumbling a little and finishing off her champagne. JOE If you dont come down to Puerto Rico, Im gonna sleep with her. DARCI Please... Shes out of your league. Prepare to be friend zoned. JOE Is that a challenge? DARCI Lets see if you can handle me first. Lets dance! JOE (Mumbling into his drink) I can handle you just fine. Meanwhile, closer to the bar, Jeff is speaking with CARLOS ALDEREZ, a supervisor at the Arecibo Observatory. CARLOS Your team will have control of the observatory Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Saturdays wont be fun. Lots of tours will be coming through on the weekends. Try not to interrupt them. I give the tours. JEFF Four days a week? generous. Thats pretty

CARLOS Not that generous, actually. Wednesdays will be half days for your team. And this schedule is subject to change. More funding might be coming in for Cornell. Not sure about your guys funding. SETI is losing more popularity these days.

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JEFF People are more worried about banks going out of business and the wars these days than scientific advancement. Just look at the state of NASA. Damn it, were going to lose dish time? CARLOS Looks like it. JEFF Why the hell are they getting more funding? CARLOS Well, theyre more respected than you. JEFF (Sarcastically) Thank you. CARLOS Theyre studying solar activity. Strange activity with the sun, I didnt get a whole lot of details. JEFF They need Arecibo to study the sun? Its only ninety three million miles away for crying out loud. Just make sure we dont get completely shut out again. CARLOS Yeah well, I do like you guys a hell of a lot more than the stiffs from Cornell but you know thats not up to me. Its the execs and the money rolling in. The lights dim down. Couples are on the dance floor, slowdancing. In the crown, Joe and Darci are dancing together. Darcis head is resting on Joes shoulder. DARCI You know I dont like having to leave you. You were a thousand miles away all throughout school, I dont want this again.

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JOE Ill talk to Jeff. pull some strings.

Im sure he can

DARCI I just joined, I dont want to piss anybody off. You wont. you. INT. JOE Theyll be proud of

HOTEL BAR - NIGHT

Joe and Jeff are sitting at a table alone close to the bar. There are a couple people sitting at the bar and a few more scattered around sitting in tables but the place is pretty quiet. Joe and Jeff are both drinking dark beers. JEFF Were splitting the place with Cornell. We get three and a half days in the control room per week. Seriously? JOE Thats bull shit.

JEFF Were lucky we get to go at all. We barely got enough funding together on time. JOE Really? How much did this stupid ballroom extravaganza cost? JEFF Didnt cost us anything. One of our supporters with deep pockets covered the bill. Nice. JOE Who?

JEFF Some science fiction writer. JOE (Sighing) A freaking sci fi writer? Are you kidding me? Good to know the public still takes us seriously.

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JEFF (Laughing) We should take some cues from the Army and work with Hollywood. JOE Do you think our team is big enough? Three people working the worlds largest radio telescope? JEFF Well, thats pretty much all we could afford, so yes. Theyre talking about sending a new guy down, though Im not too sure about it. Well see. You ever been to Arecibo? JOE Yeah, a tour. The server comes and sets the check down on the table and heads back to the bar. Jeff finishes his beer. JEFF My glass is empty. Checks on you.

JOE Yeah, no problem. You think theres any chance of Darci making it down to Arecibo? JEFF Ill see what I can do but dont get your hopes up. Everybody in SETI wants to go to Arecibo. See you later. Jeff gets up and leaves. JOE (To himself) Oh, and yeah, Im done after Arecibo. Im done with SETI. Theyll probably kick us out before our time is up too because who takes us seriously? Sci fi writers? Im sick of this job. Joe finishes his beer, lays some cash on the table and walks out.

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INT.

JOESS HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT

Joe walks into the studio hotel room. He turns the light on and takes his clothes off. Darci is asleep on the bed. JOE Hey, Darci. She doesnt wake up. Joe tries nudging her and pulling on the blanket but shes fast asleep and doesnt wake up. JOE (CONTD) Fine. Joe turns the light off and climbs into bed. EXT. ARECIBO OBSERVATORY - DAY

A small plane flies low over the compound next to the gargantuan radio telescope. It is a bright summer day and the forests surrounding the telescope are thick, colorful and gorgeous. The plane turns around and takes another pass. INT. PLANE - DAY

A Puerto Rican pilot flies the plane. Jeff and Joe sit in the passenger seats behind the pilot. Theyre wearing headsets to communicate over the ear-splitting noise of the engines. Joe, practically glued through the window grabs Jeffs arm. JOE This is amazing! When I took the tour a couple years ago I never got to see this view! JEFF Yeah, Ive seen it from the air a couple times but it never gets old. JOE It really is huge, isnt it? JEFF Yes it is. JOE Any good bars around here that you know of?

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JEFF You wont find much craft brews. I hope you like rum. God damn, they have the best rums around here. JOE I didnt get a chance to do any hiking when I took the tour. Any good trails around here? JEFF You can get lost for days in these woods. INT. ARECIBO OBSERVATORY QUARTERS - DAY

Jeff leads Joe into a dorm room with two single sized beds, an office area with a large desk and a small kitchen area with a counter, cabinets, sink and a microwave. JOE Damn, Im a college freshman all over again. Who am I sharing with? JEFF Nobody for now. Theyre trying to bring somebody down. JOE Who? JEFF Somebody named Ross. Thats all I know. I guess they like to keep me in the dark, for some reason. JOE Wheres Lindsay? JEFF Shell be here tomorrow. INT. ARECIBO CONTROL ROOM - DAY

Three weeks later. Joe is siting at a desk with his feet up and the keyboard in his lap. Lindsay is at the desk behind him with the window overlooking the wooded valley. Jeff walks in with ROSS DANIELSON.

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JEFF Everybody this is Ross. Hi. Joe waves. JOE Joe. Jeff kicks Joes fee off the desk. JEFF What are you working on, Joe? JOE The usual. Searching for something and finding nothing. JEFF That supposed to be funny? What about you, Lindsay? What have you found so far? LINDSAY Im studying the P32XC galaxy. JEFF Well, I have no idea where that is. Im sure Ill find out soon enough. Ross, youre with Joe. Joe, fill him in on the details and such. Jeff walks out of the room and Ross sits down next to Joe. ROSS So, where do I start? JOE You ever worked at a radio telescope before? ROSS Nope. Joe stares at Ross for a moment, disappointed and frustrated. Ross smiles back at him. JOE Okay. Well, shit. Welcome to Arecibo, the biggest radio telescope in the world. LINDSAY Im Lindsay.

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ROSS What are you working on right now? JOE Basically, Im searching for the next galaxy I want to spy on. You see, a radio telescope picks up radiation and radio waves. We dont only pick up on stars with this thing. Everything in space gives off at least a little radiation and radio wavelengths; planets, asteroids, comets, even empty space. Empty space actually has mass. ROSS What about space faring aliens? JOE Youll know when we find them. Lindsay and I are looking for planets in the Goldilocks Zone. Were trying to find planets that are just the right distance from their suns to have atmospheres, water, temperate climates; planets that can sustain life. Finding planets like that will make searching for intelligent life easier. ROSS Found any? JOE A few, yeah. Theyre hard to find but theyre out there. ROSS Okay, where do I start? JOE Hop on that console over there and start up the training. Itll take a while. Actually itll take a long time, a really long time. LINDSAY (Jokingly) Yeah, newb, do your training and shut up.

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JOE Alright, Ive been in here for, like, a hundred hours. I need something to eat. All yours Lindsay. See you Ross. INT. ARECIBO OBSERVATORY CONTROL ROOM - NIGHT

Joe is sitting back at his desk alone in the control room, a bag of chips at his side. His phone rings. The caller ID says Darci. He puts his chips away, sits up straight and answers it. JOE Whats up? DARCI (V.O.) (Phone) Working. Boring night. you up to? Working. JOE Same here.

What are

DARCI (V.O.) (Phone) God, I can barely hear you. Theres so much static. JOE Really? I can hear you just fine. You just have a shit phone. DARCI (V.O.) (Phone) Thanks. I thought you had the day shift. JOE Yeah, I did. I got bored. to relieve Jeff. Decided

DARCI (V.O.) (Phone) Puerto Rico get old already? JOE Nobody wants to go drinking with me. The nearest bar is miles away. DARCI (V.O.) (Phone) Go by yourself.

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JOE Nobody speaks English around here. DARCI (V.O.) Maybe you should just come up here. JOE No, I dont really think I want to spend the summer in a desert. You should come down here. DARCI (V.O.) (Phone) I have something to show you. JOE Naked pictures? DARCI (V.O.) (Phone) Check your email. JOE Seriously? Joe checks his email on the computer. JOE (CONTD) What is this? DARCI (V.O.) (Phone) Coordinates for the telescope. JOE Not naked pictures? DARCI (V.O.) (Phone) Just move the telescope. Joe types the coordinates from the email into the telescope and waits a moment. A signal starts playing over the speaker. Data pours onto the monitor in front of him. JOE This is just outside the solar system. Its small, metal. Hey! Its Voyager. DARCI (V.O.) (Phone) Yep. Sweet, huh?

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JOE Yeah. Howd you find it? You just looking around out there or did you get some help from NASA? DARCI (V.O.) (Phone) I didnt cheat, if thats what youre implying. I had an idea of where to find it. JOE This is awesome. I cant believe this little guy made it so far. DARCI (V.O.) (Phone) Little guy? JOE Yes, little guy. with that? You got a problem

DARCI (V.O.) (Phone) I cant believe how fast its moving. The audio signal changes to something deeper pitched and more data pours onto the monitor. JOE What the hell is this? DARCI (V.O.) (Phone) What the hell just happened? lost it. The signal stops. JOE I lost it too. The signal changed just before I lost it. Something huge. Damn it. Looks like it got hit by an asteroid or something. God damn it! DARCI (V.O.) (Phone) Well thats just great. On that anticlimactic note, Im going to bed.

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JOE What? DARCI (V.O.) (Phone) Yeah. Ten hour shift, Im tired. Time for bed. Yeah? JOE Im on a double shift.

DARCI (V.O.) (Phone) Ooh! Your penis is bigger than mine. Good night. JOE Good night. The phone beeps when Darci hangs up and Joe sticks it back into his pocket. He goes back to the computer and plays back the sound of when Voyager got hit. LATER Jeff walks in with a cup of coffee. the computer. JEFF Times up, Joe. Joe hands him a handful of papers filled with data. JOE Check this out. JEFF What? Come on, Joe. for this. JOE Its Voyager One. Its too late Joe is hard at work at

Its gone.

JEFF What do you mean gone? Jeff studies the papers for a while. JEFF (CONTD) What is this, an asteroid? JOE What else could it be?

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JEFF Damn thats too bad. heard it happen? JOE Yeah. JEFF Thats incredible. for me. Joe plays the recording back.

You actually

Play it back

JOE That asteroid was huge. JEFF I wonder if NASA knows. Ill see what they have to say about it tomorrow. Arent you tired? JOE I could use some coffee. I kind of want to keep at if a little longer. JEFF Afraid not. The Cornell team has the station in an hour. Time to give it up. JOE Fine. Joe logs off the computer and gets up. him. INT. Jeff walks out with

ARECIBO OBSERVATORY QUARTERS - DAY

Joe wakes up and rolls out of bed. He makes his way to the bathroom and takes a leak and then brushes his teeth. Out the window, he notices a thermometer hanging from the windowsill reading one hundred and ten degrees. He closes the blinds. JOE (Yawning) Damn. Cant wait to see what August is gonna be like. Joe opens the drawers under the sink and digs out an electric shaver.

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EXT.

FOREST TRAILS - DAY Jeff walks over

Lindsay is waiting at the edge of the woods. from the compound, head shaved. LINDSAY Well look at you. Going to rant and rave about the blacks and Jews? JOE Funny. Its too hot to have hair. You should try it. Might look good on you.

Lindsay gives Joe a bottle of water. He takes a sip and they head into the woods, following the hiking trail. LINDSAY So whats Jeff calling NASA about? Did we find aliens? JOE Hed be drunk if that happened. Darci found Voyager outside the solar system. Darci? Yeah. LINDSAY So what? NASA lost track of it or something? JOE You could say that. Its gone. It got taken out by an asteroid, huge one. LINDSAY Really? JOE Yeah. It was, like, a quarter the size of the moon. Low in density, though. It was going fast, too. I lost track of it. LINDSAY Well that sucks. LINDSAY Your girlfriend? JOE

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JOE Yeah. About a month after it crosses into interstellar space, poof. Out of the picture. We finally reach our hand far, far into the sky and it instantly gets smacked down. LINDSAY Im calling him. Lindsay gets her phone out. JOE Hes probably busy. LINDSAY No signal. My phones been all screwy ever since we got here. Joe checks his phone. JOE No signal. Ive been going in and out of reception all week. Could be the dish almost the size of a city block. They keep hiking for a while without talking to each other and then stop for water. LINDSAY What do you think of Ross? JOE Hes still training. LINDSAY Have you talked to him much? JOE Not really. LINDSAY Why not? Jesus! JOE Just ask him out!

LINDSAY Its not like that.

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JOE Yeah it is. Youre making it pretty obvious. Fine. LINDSAY Do you know if hes single?

JOE Im pretty sure he is. LINDSAY Well, talk to him more. JOE You talk to him more. INT. ARECIBO OBSERVATORY CONTROL ROOM - NIGHT

Joe is leaning back in his chair with the sound of space echoing throughout the room. The solar winds and radiation of space make an electric, ambient and soothing sound. Its almost eerie. Lindsay walks in. LINDSAY Theres a phone call for you on line one and Im going to bed. JOE Thanks. LINDSAY Bye. Lindsay leaves. Joe answers the desk phone.

JOE This is Joe Cassidy. INTERCUT - TELEPHONE CONVERSATION Darci is sitting in an office, alone. DARCI Not answering your cell phone? Joe checks his phone. JOE No signal. DARCI Well, I just Emailed you where you can meet me for lunch tomorrow.

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What?

JOE Youre in Puerto Rico? I gotta go.

DARCI I will be tomorrow. Bye. JOE See you.

Darci hangs up. Ross walks in and sits down in the chair next to him. He sets his backpack down on the floor. ROSS Whats this? JOE Just space, the sounds of the void. Our solar system. ROSS Pretty noisy for a void. JOE Yeah well theres all kinds of stuff out there to make some noise like radiation, solar winds, gas, debris... This thing picks it all up. ROSS Well yeah, I know that. Ive heard this before. Sounds a little noisier than the last time I heard it, though. JOE When was this? ROSS Training the other day but the recording was from months ago. Ross takes over the computer and tries to find a file. ROSS (CONTD) Where are the records? JOE Ill help you. Joe helps Ross with the computer. They switch from the live feed to a recording. It sounds similar to the live feed but with less static, emptier.

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ROSS Notice the difference? Joe switches back to live. JOE Yeah. Lots more solar activity going on now. ROSS Solar flares kicking up a storm maybe? JOE Might be why our cell phones are acting up so much. Here, check this one out. Joe looks up coordinates from the computer and types them into the dish control console. ROSS You dont have a recording? JOE Its always better live. take a minute. Itll

Ross takes two beers out of his backpack and gives one to Joe. ROSS We wont get in trouble for this, will we? JOE Thanks. Nobodys going to be in here for the rest of the night. Here we go. Joe types into the computer and then a loud, violent, electronic sound blares out of the speakers and fills the room. ROSS What the hell is this? JOE A freaking lightning storm in space! ROSS What?

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JOE Seriously! ROSS How? JOE Its a black hole with a really strong magnetic field. It shoots out bolts that could stretch across two galaxies. ROSS Thats awesome. Theres some really incredible stuff out there, you know? Did you know theres a planet made completely of diamond? JOE Yeah Ive seen that episode of Doctor Who. How about a rain cloud in space? ROSS How about aliens? JOE Well... Maybe. ROSS Oh come on! You dont think theyre out there? JOE Dont get me wrong. Theres probably some life out there. But all that UFO visitors, close encounters, anal probes... Dont get me started on the intelligent design freaks, Chariots of the Gods, come on. ROSS You sure you belong in SETI? JOE Heh. I mean, if theres intelligent life out there, whos to say theyre more advanced than us? How old could theyre race possibly be?

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ROSS Anythings possible in this huge universe. We wouldnt be doing this if we didnt think wed find something. Carlos walks in. CARLOS Hey guys, sorry to interrupt but I need the room for the next couple hours. Maintenance. JOE Yeah, no problem. Just give us a minute to clean up. INT. DOMINGUITO CAFE - DAY

Darci is sitting at a table next to the window drinking tea. Joe walks into the barely busy cafe and scouts it out. He sees Darci and sits down across from her. DARCI What took you so long? JOE GPS isnt working. Darci laughs. DARCI I found the place just fine. JOE Oh, do you want a treat for finding the place when the airports practically across the street? DARCI Screw you. JOE So how long are you down here for? Where are you staying? DARCI Well, Ill be here for a while and Ill be staying at the observatory. JOE No shit?

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DARCI Thank Jeff. He pulled some strings. He found a replacement for me at New Mexico and brought me down here. Whyd you shave your head, by the way? JOE The heat. Didnt want bucket loads of sweat pouring into my eyes all day. DARCI Yeah, Im going to miss the dry heat. This has been a record summer all over the place. Theres central air at the observatory, right? JOE Yeah. Id quit if there wasnt, believe me. A waiter walks over and gives Joe a menu. JOE (CONTD) What are you drinking? DARCI Green tea. JOE Sounds gross. Ill have an Italian soda, pomegranate. Oh, and a turkey club with avocado. Some chips and salsa too. The waiter walks away with Joes menu. DARCI Girl drink. JOE Whatever. DARCI They serve beer here. What? JOE That wasnt on the menu!

DARCI Back page. Dont you have to be observant to work at SETI?

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JOE What kind of cafe serves beer anyway? DARCI A Puerto Rican cafe? The waiter comes back, gives Joe his drink and walks away. Joe starts drinking it. INT. ARECIBO CONTROL ROOM - DAY

Nobody is working in the observatory. Carlos is guiding a tour. There are five tourists following him through the room. CARLOS This is the control room. This is where we, of course, control the dish. Carlos switches on the console and plays the sound of space that Joe was listening to before Ross worked with him the night before. It sounds different now, much noisier. Its not as peaceful as it was before, it has more static. Joe and Darci walk in. JOE Whats up, Carlos? CARLOS Im busy, Joe. JOE Oh yeah, the tour. join in? Hey, mind if we

CARLOS Yeah, yeah. Just shut up, will you? Let me do my thing. JOE Okay. (To Darci) This is the highlight of his week. CARLOS Sorry for the interruption, folks. Damned SETI workers. Now, what you are listening to is the sound of empty space in our solar system. Everything in space produces radio waves: debris, dust, solar winds.

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INT.

ARECIBO OBSERVATORY CAFETERIA - NIGHT

Jeff, Lindsay and Ross are at a table together eating dinner. Joe and Darci walk in and sit down with them. Joe takes some fries off Lindsays plate. LINDSAY Douche bag! JOE You had too many, theyre fatty. JEFF How was the tour? DARCI Boring. ROSS What? Ive taken it twice now. Its awesome. Pfft. JOE Tourist.

JEFF Carlos has a SETI team working here at the observatory and he never thinks to add a Q&A to his little tours. ROSS He did one with the Cornell team last week. JEFF Are you kidding me? DARCI So when do I start? JEFF Tomorrow at nine in the morning. JOE What? But Im working the night shift. JEFF Oh, are you now? Too bad. I guess youll actually have to do some work instead of goofing off with your girlfriend.

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JOE Fine. Darci, Im getting food. What do you want? DARCI Burger and fries. Joe gets up and walks over to the kitchen. EXT. ARECIBO OBSERVATORY DISH WALKWAY - NIGHT

Joe and Darci are walking along a path just outside the massive dish. Theyre separated from the dish by a chain link fence. DARCI Wow. Youre right, this is breathtaking; you know, for a big hunk of metal. JOE I know. Look at this, look how clear the sky is out here. You can actually see the Milky Way. Darci points up into the sky. DARCI I think... Thats where we lost Voyager, that way. JOE Well, theres still Voyager Two. Maybe that one will make it further. DARCI Yeah. JOE Wanna go to the control room and listen to the stars? DARCI What about the other team? JOE Theyre in bed by now. Come on, well kick them out if theyre in there! DARCI I want to stay out here.

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JOE But we can dance to the sounds of the stars in the control room. DARCI Okay, you are good. JOE Lets go. INT. ARECIBO OBSERVATORY CONTROL ROOM - NIGHT

Joe and Darci walk into the control room. All the equipment is on standby. Joe activates the consoles and gets the computers up and running. He turns the speakers on and the low pitch electric humming comes through. JOE The sound of space. DARCI That sounds a little noisy. this sound right to you? Does

JOE It does sound a bit noisier than usual. DARCI What is this? Darci walks over to the computer to take a look. JOE Empty space in our solar system between Earth and Venus. DARCI Theres a lot of radiation out there. JOE Solar flare, major solar winds, extra interference; might explain the crappy cell phone reception everybodys been complaining about. DARCI But NASA hasnt said anything about a solar flare.

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JOE Yeah but look at the state of NASA these days. Theyre practically out of money. We really dont get much cooperation from them anymore. DARCI Can you point this at the sun yet? JOE Not for a few more hours. when your shift starts. You can

DARCI Yeah. Shit, Im going to need some sleep. INT. ARECIBO OBSERVATORY QUARTERS - NIGHT

Lindsay is sitting on her bed in her dorm typing on her laptop and drinking a glass of red wine. Joe and Darci walk by in the hallway. Darci comes back and joins Lindsay. DARCI Hey. LINDSAY Hey, Darci. Whats up? DARCI Not much, just been hanging out with Joe all day. Lindsay grabs the bottle of wine and pours a glass for Darci. LINDSAY First day of work tomorrow. excited? You

DARCI Yeah. Im kind of nervous; afraid Im going to break the big expensive dish. LINDSAY The only person dumb enough to pull that off is Joe. They laugh. DARCI Jeffs a pretty nice guy, right?

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LINDSAY Yeah, dont worry. Ill be there to help you out. Jeff wont bite your head off and hell be helpful. Youll be fine. Darci finishes her glass of wine and leaves the room. Ross comes in, a bit tipsy, and meets Darci outside of Lindsays room. Darci stops him, turns him around to face Lindsays room and pushes him in. Then she heads to Joes room. INT. ARECIBO OBSERVATORY QUARTERS - DAY

Joe wakes up and finds the space in his bed next to him empty. JOE Darci? Joe climbs out of bed and gets dressed. Darci walks out of the bathroom, showered, dressed and ready for the day. DARCI Almost time for my first day. Do you have an umbrella? Its pouring outside. JOE Really? Joe looks out the window to see the downpour. The rain is coming down hard. Its cutting visibility down drastically. Joe cant even see the other buildings. JOE (CONTD) Damn. Check the closet, there might be one in there. Darci checks the closet and digs an umbrella out. DARCI You want to get lunch later? One?

JOE Yeah, that sounds fine. Jesus, its like a hurricane out there. DARCI Uh, how far is it to the control building.

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JOE At the end of the driveway, top of the hill. Pretty long walk, so good luck. DARCI Awesome. At least I have the only umbrella. JOE What? DARCI See you at lunch! Darci leaves. EXT. ARECIBO OBSERVATORY PARKING LOT - DAY

Darci runs up the parking lot towards the control building, struggling to hold on to her umbrella in the extreme winds. INT. ARECIBO OBSERVATORY CAFETERIA - DAY

Joe walks into the cafeteria and sits down. He waits for a while and gets restless. He gets a can of soda and sits right back down and waits some more. Too much time has gone by so he goes and picks up the phone by the kitchen, no dial tone. He checks his cell phone, no service. JOE Figures. How long have the phones been out? A COOK peeks his head around the corner. COOK What? JOE The phones out. Really? COOK Well, use your cell phone. Joe rolls his eyes

The cook slides back into the kitchen. and heads to the exit. JOE God damn it.

34.

EXT.

ARECIBO OBSERVATORY PARKING LOT - DAY

The rain is still coming down hard. Joe leaves the cafeteria wearing a hooded raincoat and sprints up the hill. INT. ARECIBO OBSERVATORY CONTROL ROOM - DAY

Joe walks into the control room and takes his raincoat off. Darci is at the computer next to Jeff. Lindsay walks in from the other doorway. JOE Darci, forgetting something? Darci checks the time on the computer. Shit. DARCI Sorry.

JOE Jeff, how long have the phones been out? Jeff picks up the desk phone. Hmm. JEFF I didnt know they were out.

LINDSAY Internets out too. JEFF Lindsay, what are you even doing screwing around on the internet. LINDSAY Well, I wasnt screwing around. Its out. JEFF Carlos! Carlos pops into the room. CARLOS Whats up? JEFF How long have the phones been out? CARLOS All morning.

35.

JEFF Why didnt you tell us? CARLOS Not that hard to figure out the phones arent working. You pick one up and put it to your ear. Look at the storm outside, the phone lines are probably in Cuba by now. JEFF What about the internet? CARLOS See, that should be fine. Internets a fiber optic connection. That runs underground. I probably just need to reset the modems, Ill be right back. Carlos walks off. Hungry? Yeah. DARCI Jeff, Im going to lunch. Joe puts his hand on Darcis shoulder. JOE

JEFF Okay. Ill probably take a lunch break in a minute too. Darci gets up and takes a look out the window. DARCI Oh my god! Joe, I am not walking to the cafeteria. Joe looks out the window and sees the rain coming down harder and the wind blowing the rain, ripping leaves and branches off the trees around the complex. JEFF God damn tropical storm. LINDSAY Itd be nice if we had internet so we can see when it passes. JEFF Good god, Lindsay, theres a TV right there.

36.

Joe turns the TV on, nothing but static. LINDSAY Awesome. JOE Im still hungry. JEFF Donuts and coffee in the break room. Joe and Darci go to the break room just outside the control room. BREAK ROOM DARCI Wheres Ross? Joe munches on a donut while Darci pours two cups of coffee. JOE Sleeping in, hung over. Lindsay. Ask

DARCI How long are we going to be stuck here? I dont want donuts for lunch. JOE Theyre not even fresh. Hell, this storm wont last much longer. The worst of the storm is always at the tail end. A loud crackling thunderclap goes off, scaring the hell out of both of them. The lights go off. DARCI Damn it! They go over to the control room. CONTROL ROOM Everyone is looking out the window, including Carlos. Lightning is striking randomly around the compound. More loud thunderclaps split through the air. JEFF Holy shit!

37.

CARLOS Alright, nobody leaves the building! Everybody stay here. JEFF Are you kidding me? Who the hells planning on going out in shit? INT. ARECIBO OBSERVATORY QUARTER - DAY

Ross is jolted out of bed by the sound of thunder. He looks out the window and sees the lightning bolts striking all over the compound. ROSS Holy shit! Anybody there? Hello? Anybody seeing this shit? Where the hell is everybody? He goes out to the dark hallway and tries to turn the lights on but the power is out. Ross checks his cell phone but he has no reception. Hello? INT. ROSS (CONTD) Damn.

ARECIBO OBSERVATORY CONTROL ROOM - DAY

Everybody is huddled around the window. Outside, the wind blows so hard a car is overturned. Trees are ripped down and scattered across the compound. Joe, Jeff, Darci, Lindsay and Carlos are watching the mayhem through the windows. JOE Where the hell did this come from? Yesterday, the forecast was clear. CARLOS Welcome to the tropics, man. My father was a fisherman, I used to go out with him during summer break. A storm can just pop up out of nowhere. Wed better get down to the basement. JOE Didnt even know there was a basement here. JEFF Alright, everybody away from the window. Lets get downstairs.

38.

They all leave the room, down the hall and down stairs into the dark basement. BASEMENT Carlos lights up a flashlight and hands one to Jeff. Jeff shines his around the concrete basement to survey it, the corridors full of spare computers, broken equipment and old furniture. Carlos shines his on the group to account for everybody. CARLOS Everybody here? Good. JEFF When the storm dies down, will we be able to turn the power back on? CARLOS Back up generator. Its outside, otherwise Id have had it on a while ago. JOE Theres a lot of electrical equipment down here. Will we be safe? DARCI Yeah. There is an awful lot of lightning out there. CARLOS Well, nothings plugged in. Its all just parts lying around. Just stay away from anything metal, okay? LINDSAY Is there anywhere to sit down here? CARLOS Might be some old office chairs. Theyre broken, though. LATER Joe and Carlos are sitting on the floor; Darci, Lindsay and Jeff on office chairs. JOE You hear any thunder out there?

39.

DARCI No. CARLOS Storms dying down. it out. They get up and go upstairs. CONTROL ROOM They look out the window. The wind has died down and the only lightning strikes are way off in the distance. Its still raining, but not nearly as hard. JEFF Nice, lets get that power back on. Alright. Carlos leaves. CARLOS Ill be right back. Lindsay sit down at the desks. Lets go check

Darci and

JOE You want any coffee? DARCI No. INT. ARECIBO OBSERVATORY QUARTERS - DAY

Ross is sitting in the hallway with a candle next to him. He gets up and goes to the window in his room. The storm has died down. Nice. INT. ROSS Better get changed.

ARECIBO OBSERVATORY CONTROL ROOM - DAY

Darci and Lindsay are eating the donuts from the break room. Joe and Jeff are at the window. LINDSAY How long is it going to take him? JEFF A few minutes. LINDSAY Its been a few minutes.

40.

JOE How long is it going to take to get the computers and control panels back up? JEFF Forever. Its going to be a major pain in the ass. All our settings are screwed. Just hope we didnt lose too much data. The whole room starts to shake. from their chairs. Darci and Lindsay jump up

DARCI What the hell? An earthquake? It stops, the room is still once again. JOE That wasnt too bad. break? Jeff looks around. JEFF Doesnt look like it. Darci looks out the window. DARCI Wow, its getting really dark out there. The clouds in the sky darken and the sun completely disappears. Outside, its nearly dark as night. Inside, Jeff turns his flashlight on. JOE What the fuck? JEFF That is very strange. DARCI Whats going on? No idea. power? JEFF Where in the hell is our Anything

JOE Yeah. How long does it take to turn the damn back up generator on? (MORE)

41. JOE (CONT'D) What the hell is Carlos doing out there?

INT.

ARECIBO OBSERVATORY QUARTERS - DAY

Ross is standing in the doorway with the outside door open. He sees the sky darken. Ross stands there and stares at it for a while and then backs up and closes the door. INT. ARECIBO CONTROL ROOM - DAY

Jeff is sitting at the desk and Joe is standing in the doorway between the control room and the break room. Jeff gets up. Alright. Carlos. JEFF Im going to go find Jeff

Jeff and Joe walk out into the hallway to the entrance. opens the door. JOE There he is! Carlos! EXT. ARECIBO OBSERVATORY PARKING LOT - DAY

Carlos runs up the hill to the front of the building. He climbs into a truck and buckles his seat belt. His arm is yanked on by an unseen force. Hes being pulled so hard, the truck stands up on its passenger side wheels. Carlos is screaming in pain. His arm and head are ripped off and zip into the sky, disappearing. The truck falls back down and everything is still. The rain even stops. INT. ARECIBO OBSERVATORY CONTROL ROOM - DAY

Joe and Jeff are still at the entrance, watching. Darci comes running up, a horrified look on her face. She grabs Joes arm. DARCI Did you see it? Yeah. JOE Dont look outside.

Lindsay joins them.

42.

LINDSAY Jeff, what the hell is going on? JEFF I think wed better stay inside. The lights start flickering on and off. Computers and control panels start to beep as they try to boot up. JOE Power? JEFF Control room! They run down the hall into the control room. The lights are still flickering on and off. The main computer is booting up. Jeff sits down at the desk. JOE The computers on. did it! Shit, Carlos

DARCI What good did that do him? JEFF Yeah, lets see if we cant figure out whats going on there. DARCI Phone lines and internet couldnt be up. JEFF No, well use the dish. Seriously? take? Too long. JEFF Well, you want to step outside and take a look for yourself? The lights start to make a buzzing sound and get brighter and brighter. Joe grabs Jeff and pulls his chair away from the desk. JOE Jeff, this doesnt look good. DARCI How long will that JOE

43.

The monitors screen explodes. The lights pop and glass shatters all over the place. Lindsay screams and Darci jumps out of the room. DARCI Everybody okay? ALL Yeah. LINDSAY What the hell was that? JEFF Power surge? JOE From what? JEFF I dont know, Something wrong with the generator? Damn it, look at this! The equipments fried. DARCI Are you kidding me? What the hell is wrong with you? Who gives a shit about the equipment/ What about Carlos? Dont you care about him? Were not getting out of here alive. Dont you care about that? JOE Darci, please calm down. DARCI Do you know whats up there? Do you know whats out there, cutting us off from the rest of the world, ripping Carloss head up into the sky? JOE ...I think we have an idea. JEFF Well, what do you suggest we do? Huh? Come on, Darci. You want to contribute anything or keep acting hysterical? JOE Thats not helping. calm down. Everybody just

44.

INT.

ARECIBO OBSERVATORY QUARTERS - DAY

Ross is sitting on the floor against the wall facing the open front door. Its calm, quiet and dark outside; almost too dark for day. He can see Carloss truck up the hill. He must have been able to see what happened to Carlos. He takes a drink of rum from the bottle he had sitting next to him. Sitting at his other side is his cell phone. It rings. He stares at it for a moment, an unknown number. He picks it up. ROSS Hello? He hears children on the phone. PHONE Greetings from the Earth. PHONE (CONTD) (French) Greetings from the Earth. PHONE (CONTD) (Spanish) Greetings from the Earth. Ross hangs up and drops it on the floor, freaked out. He takes another pull from his bottle. The phone rings again and he presses the ignore button. Upon studying it, it has no reception. It rings again. This time he throws it outside. He can still hear it ringing outside. All the lights start flickering and he can hear static coming from a room down the hall. Ross cautiously walks over to the sounds. Its a radio in the womens room. WOMENS DORM RADIO Greetings from the Earth. Ross pulls the radio off the desk and smashes it against the wall. ROSS Shut the fuck up! Ross is breathing heavily, scared out of his wits. He stands there completely still for a moment and catches his breath. When he calms down, he sits down on Lindsays bed.

45.

INT.

ARECIBO OBSERVATORY CONTROL ROOM - DAY

Everybody is together in the control room. Their cell phones start ringing at the same time. Darci answers first and shuts it off immediately. She tosses her phone onto the desk and it starts ringing again. Jeff puts his on speaker. Its the same Greetings from the Earth in multiple languages. He hangs up. Joe listens to his for a couple seconds and takes the battery out of his phone. Everybody else does the same. The desk phone starts ringing and Jeff rips it out of the wall. JEFF Okay. Theyre trying to communicate with us. I guess we can figure out what happened to Voyager One. JOE They were able to play back the golden record. You think they understand it? JEFF I dont know. Theyre just playing back the first recordings on it. I bet if we stayed on the phone, itd go through the whole thing and just repeat. LINDSAY You can do that somewhere else, then. JOE What do you think they want? DARCI I think they made that pretty obvious when they ripped Carlos to pieces and took his head! JEFF Darci, youre not helping here. DARCI And you are? What, you want to communicate with them? Try and communicate with Carlos! JOE Stop it!

46.

What?

DARCI What the hell do you-

JOE No! Seriously, just dont say a word right now. Jeff, come over here. Joe herds Jeff to the break room. Darci starts to follow but Joe puts his hands up and gives her a face that says he is seriously angry with her. DARCI Whats the matter with you? JOE If youre not going to contribute anything constructive, just stay the hell out of it! Joe and Jeff go into the break room and shut the door. BREAK ROOM Alright. JEFF Questions.

JOE Can we communicate with them? JEFF Powers out, well, kind dont know. Seems like bring it back on. They did it. I guess thats though. of. I they can just over up to them,

Darci opens the door and walks in with Lindsay. DARCI Sorry. I guess I was kind of losing it, there. The two women sit down. JOE Is it just this place right here? Or could this be worldwide? DARCI An invasion?

47.

JEFF We have no way of knowing that. How could we get any sort of communication out? Phones and internet have been out all day today. Our cell phones havent been able to get a decent signal all week. JOE Well, we wont be using the phones any time soon. JEFF Well then, we really have no idea just how widespread this is. We obviously cant go outside, either. Joe looks out the window and eyes the thick clouds overhead. JOE We cant even see up there. DARCI Lets just assume theyre up there and they arent leaving anytime soon. JOE You think if we threw something out the door, theyd take it? JEFF Well, they didnt take Carloss truck. They just took Carlos, pieces of him at least. Theyre looking down at us. JOE Well then we can get a visual message out to them. LINDSAY Im sorry, but what good would that do? They dont exactly speak English, do they? DARCI Well, what was the point of the golden record message? JEFF That they want to communicate but dont speak our language. (MORE)

48. JEFF (CONT'D) Maybe its their way of accepting our invitation.

DARCI Invitation? JEFF The golden record on Voyager was just an invitation to any extraterrestrial life that may find it. It had messages from languages around the world, detailed pictures of human anatomy, technology, where to find Earth. They found it. Now can we please try and figure out what they want? JOE Im pretty sure they want us. Carlos is dead, who else is dead or taken? The Cornell team? Ross? Arecibo employees? JEFF No sense in dwelling on that. cant get to them. We

LINDSAY Do we have any weapons in here? JEFF My god! Lindsay no! If we even had a gun, who would want to step outside and start shooting up into the sky? LINDSAY I just want to defend myself. JEFF You think you can defend yourself with a broomstick? Okay. LINDSAY Right.

JOE Were probably going to be here a while. We should lock all the doors and stick together. JEFF Good idea.

49.

INT.

ARECIBO OBSERVATORY QUARTERS - NIGHT

Ross is going through one of the mens dorms with a flashlight. Two suitcases are emptied out on the floor. He gets another out from under the bed. He rummages through it and finds a hunting knife. ROSS Thisll have to do. Ross walks out into the hallway. There are candles set up all down the hall. Ross walks to the front door and looks out the window. Its dark outside. He can barely see the control room building up the hill at the end of the road. Theres a light in the building floating around between the windows. Its a flashlight. Ross points his flashlight out the window and flicks it on and off. The light in the control room does the same. INT. ARECIBO OBSERVATORY CONTROL ROOM - NIGHT

Joe is pointing his flashlight out the window, blinking it on and off. The others are at the desk, going through paperwork. JOE Hey guys, check this out. They get behind him and look out the window DARCI Whats up? JOE Look, somebodys in the dorms. LINDSAY I think thats Ross. JOE How do you know? LIINDSAY He was sleeping in when I left. JOE What about the Cornell team? JEFF They went to town for the day.

50.

LINDSAY Is there any way we could get a message to him? JOE Not unless anybody knows Morse Code. Anybody? LINDSAY God damn it! DARCI Lindsay, come on. safe. At least hes

LINDSAY I just want to be able to talk to him. JEFF What would we say, anyway? Hes stuck in there. Were stuck in here. DARCI Jeff... Out the window, everything goes pitch black in an instant. Joe loses sight of everything in the compound. There is nothing but blackness out the window. JOE What the hell was that? Jeff heads to the front door. DARCI Jeff, what the hell are you doing? Jeff opens the door. Joe rushes over to him.

JOE Are you insane? JEFF Im not going out there. Just dont want to see this through a window. Joe points his flashlight out the door. into the darkness. The beam disappears

51.

JOE Look at this. What the hell is this? The light just vanishes. Youd be able to see the beam if it was fog. Jeff grabs the coffee pot from the break room and throws it out the door. As soon as it flies over the threshold of the doorway, it vanishes into the darkness. They hear it shatter against the ground. JEFF Stick your hand out the door? JOE You. Jeff closes the door. DARCI What the hell is that out there? JEFF I dont know. Its like a veil. veil of darkness. A

JOE It looks almost as if theyre shining, like, a shadow instead of a light down on us. JEFF What? JOE Well, I dont know. I dont think its fog. Its weird. DARCI Its alien. INT. ARECIBO OBSERVATORY QUARTERS - NIGHT

Ross is standing at the open front door staring into the darkness. The look on his face says despair. He takes his watch from his wrist and tosses it out. vanishes, then he hears it hit the ground. ROSS Now what? It

52.

INT.

ARECIBO OBSERVATORY CONTROL ROOM - DAY

Jeff, Joe, Darci and Lindsay are all asleep on the floor. Some light is shinning into the room but not much at all. Its practically dark as night. Joe wakes up and leaves the room, headed for the bathroom. Darci is awoken by the commotion and gets up. She looks out the window. The blanket of darkness is still there but its more grey now, allowing just a hint of sunlight to shine through. It almost looks like a fog, the thickest fog imaginable, just a wall of dark grey standing in front of her. She nudges Jeff awake with her foot. What? JEFF What time is it? I use the clock

DARCI How should I know? on my cell phone.

Jeff grabs his watch and puts it on. JEFF Kids these days... DARCI Look outside. Jeff stands up and looks out the window. JEFF Oh my god. What is this? Fog? If its fog, Ive never seen it this thick. DARCI If it was fog, wouldnt some of it have gotten in when we had the door open last night? JEFF Yeah, I guess so. Joe walks back into the room and Lindsay gets up. JOE Oh. That stuffs still there. Great. Its eight.

53.

LINDSAY Do we have any food? JEFF Whatevers in the break room: chips, soda, candy. LINDSAY Im going to go see if theres ice cream. JOE No power, no ice cream. LINDSAY Oh, right. Lindsay heads to the break room. Joe goes to the front door and opens it. He looks around, trying to scope out the compound but he cant see anything but the thick fog. He sticks his hand out and Jeff pulls him back. JEFF No! JOE Just for a second! something. Let me see

Joe goes back to the doorway and sticks his hand into the fog. It completely disappears into it. He pulls it back out. JEFF Cant even see an inch into this shit. JOE And its not coming in. Its staying still right there, just outside the door. Theres not even any wind blowing. I wonder if its blocking the wind. Suddenly, everything starts shaking. They all back away from the front door. The quake lasts a little less than a minute and stops. DARCI What the hell was that all about? Before anybody can respond to her, a horribly loud noise blasts and drowns everything out. It sounds like a fog horn, scraping metal and some kind of creature howling all at once.

54.

They cover their ears, they scream at each other but all that can be heard is the terrible horn. Joe slams the door shut, which quiets the sound just enough to keep them from going deaf. He backs up from the door and gives Darci a terrified, desperate look and it stops. Joe locks the door. JOE I think somethings coming. DARCI What? Theres a huge boom from outside in the compound like something huge slamming into the ground. It sends tremors all over the place. Darci and Lindsay both let out a quick scream at the same time. Another pound. It sends tremors throughout the building that send a coffee mug vibrating right off the table in the break room right behind them. JEFF We need to go to the basement! Boom! The ground shakes again and Lindsay loses her footing. Darci catches her and they get the hell away from the front door. JEFF (CONTD) Now! They all run down the hall to the basement. Boom! fourth one thunders. They rush down the stairs. BASEMENT Jeff is the only one holding a flashlight. their heavy breathing fills the musty air. The sound of The

Jeff shines his light on all of their faces. He accounts for everyone in his group and then leans against the wall, relieved. JOE Were all here. JEFF Okay. Okay, we need to calm down. Just breathe. They quietly catch their breath and try to calm down for a moment. Its quiet. Lindsay is pacing.

55.

DARCI It stopped. LINDSAY What was it? DARCI I dont know but it stopped. Lindsay is getting hysterical. LINDSAY No it didnt! Its just the beginning! Its them! Theyre landing! Theyre coming for us! DARCI Lindsay, calm down. LINDSAY No! You should be scared too. They know were down here and theyre coming for us. Theyre coming for us! Theyre coming for us! DARCI Lindsay! Darci grabs her and hugs her tight. DARCI (CONTD) Shh! Shh. Just calm down. Keep quiet. You have to keep quiet. They wont find us if were quiet, well be safe. Just try and relax and well be safe. Lindsay starts sobbing silently in Darcis arms. slowly sit down on the floor. They both

Joe takes his cell phone out of his pocket and puts the battery back in it. When it boots up, the phone instantly rings. He switches it to vibrate and then answers. PHONE Greetings from the Earth. Joe hangs up. It vibrates again.

JOE Just going to let it ring.

56.

DARCI What are you even doing? Joe holds it up and shines the light from the screen at her. JOE Light. I left my flashlight upstairs. JEFF I have one. JOE Its not enough. Im going to go see if there are any more flashlights or some candles down here. JEFF Store rooms over there at the end. Want to use my flashlight? JOE No. Keep it. Wait here with them. Ill be right back. Joe walks off. Jeff sits down next to the women.

LINDSAY Its quiet. JEFF Yeah, I know. LINDSAY Whats going to happen to us? JEFF We are not going to talk about that. LINDSAY Food? Maybe thats what they want out of us? DARCI Lindsay, stop. Please. LINDSAY Ignoring it isnt helping anything. Theyre coming for us. Its inevitable.

57.

DARCI I swear, I will crack your head against the god damned concrete if you dont shut up right now. Lindsay curls her legs up and hides her head between her knees. JEFF Jesus, Darci. DARCI What? JEFF Just dont lose it, okay? DARCI Got it. Joe comes back with another flashlight and a box of candles. He hands the candles and a lighter to Darci. JOE Here. Can you light these for me, Darci? DARCI Sure. JOE Is the basement door closed? JEFF Im not sure. Youd better go check on it. Joe heads upstairs and comes back down after a moment. JOE Its closed but it doesnt have a lock. JEFF Why dont we block it with something? It swings this way, doesnt it? Joe searches around the basement for a bit. Darci finishes lighting all the candles, eight of them. She gets up and spreads them around the floor.

58.

Joe finds a couple of beams and heads up the stairs. He wedges them in front of the door nice and tight and then comes back downstairs. JOE Doors jammed shut. Darci, could I talk to you for a minute? Darci gets up and Joe leads her to the other end of the basement. DARCI Whats up? JOE Hows Lindsay doing? DARCI Did you hear us? JOE Yeah. DARCI She got a little freaked out but she seams calm now. JOE Well, the doors jammed tight. Nobody could get through it but thats not going to stop whatevers out there. Theyre coming and we are trapped down here. DARCI Why are you telling me this? I really dont want to think about it. JOE I just want you to be prepared. DARCI Prepared for the worst? JOE Yeah. DARCI Got it. JOE Darci, Im sorry. I practically dragged you down here.

59.

DARCI This is not your fault. JOE You should have just stayed in New Mexico. DARCI What if this is all over the world? I wouldnt be much safer in New Mexico then, would I? And I wouldnt be with you. Joe puts his flashlight down on a shelf, gently pins Darci against the wall and they make out. INT. ARECIBO OBSERVATORY QUARTERS - DAY

Ross is peeking out of one of the rooms into the hall. His flashlight is aimed at the front door. He stands there completely still. The doorknob starts to shake but its locked. Ross sits still and keeps watching it. Something on the other side keeps trying to turn it. Ross is focusing on the door and suddenly, the window in the room hes hiding in shatters. Ross jumps out into the hall and falls down. He kicks the door shut. He gets up, runs to the end of the hall and hides in the last room, locking the door behind him. Ross backs into the corner and keeps his flashlight aimed at the doorknob. The doorknob starts to turn. Theres a loud snap and the doorknob drops to the floor. The door slowly starts to open. Ross is shaking and drops the flashlight. The light goes out. INT. ARECIBO OBSERVATORY CONTROL ROOM BASEMENT - DAY

Joe is searching through tools and equipment. Jeff, Lindsay and Darci are sitting on the floor at the bottom of the stairs. JOE Jeff, heads up! Joe slides a crowbar across the floor to Jeff. look at it. Jeff takes a

60.

JEFF What the hell do you expect me to do with this? JOE Defend yourself. Jeff kicks it away. JEFF You know this wont do anything. JOE No. Actually, I dont know that. You dont know that either. JEFF JoeJOE You want to tell me what were up against? You know whats about to happen? Come on, when was the last time you dealt with god damned aliens trying to get to you? JEFF Thats enough. Joe picks up the crowbar and walks over to Jeff. JOE Take it. JEFF No. JOE What are you, afraid to defend yourself? Just take the fucking thing! DARCI Joe, knock it off! Jeff stand up and gets into Joes face. Joe doesnt budge.

JEFF What the hell do you think youre going to accomplish with this? Are you going to save the day? Joe and his crowbar? (MORE)

61. JEFF (CONT'D) These things have traveled across the universe, blocked out the sun, blocked off all communications between us and the rest of the world, probably all over the world, ripped people up into the sky like bugs with some unseen force we couldnt possibly comprehend. They break through that door and youre going to beat them up with a crowbar? They will probably kill you without having to move a muscle.

Jeff sits back down. JOE What do you think theyre going to do to us when they take us alive? Nobody tries to answer this question. They all just look down. Joe goes back to searching through the equipment. JEFF Joe, just come over here and sit with us. JOE Dont you think youre sitting a little too close to the stairs? After a moment, a lout bang comes from upstairs. They all go silent. They hear multiple sets of footsteps walking around the building. Jeff, Darci and Lindsay get up and go to Joe at the other end of the basement. DARCI (Whispering to Joe) Theyre coming. Joe turns his flashlight off. Jeff does the same. The candles are still burning. There are footsteps upstairs wandering around and the sounds of equipment and furniture being knocked about. JOE (Whispering) Okay guys, there might be a way out of here. JEFF (Whispering) What?

62.

JOE (Whispering) Down the hall. Come on. Joe leads them down the tight corridor to another basement room. Joe points at a small window close to the ceiling. JEFF (Whispering) Why didnt you tell us about this before? JOE (Whispering) Because it means going outside and you know what happened to the last guy that went outside. But if theyre in here looking for us, we might have a chance. If theyre down on the surface, then maybe they turned off whatever it is that pulls people up. JEFF (Whispering) Thats a pretty big risk. DARCI (Whispering) It might be our only chance. JEFF (Whispering) Its too small anyway. LINDSAY (Whispering) Not for me. JEFF (Whispering) No! LINDSAY (Whispering) Its safe now. JEFF (Whispering) We dont know that.

63.

LINDSAY (Whispering) Give me a boost. Ill check it out. I have to get out of here. Joe slides the window open as quietly as he can. Lindsay ties her hair back in a ponytail. She stare out the window for a moment. The thick fog is still up. JOE (Whispering) Ready? LINDSAY (Whispering Yeah. Lets do it. Joe kneels down and lifts Lindsay up. She struggles with the window. Its a really tight fit but she manages to squeeze through. OUTSIDE She stands up and backs up against the wall for a moment, afraid to go anywhere. She goes forward into the fog, one careful step at a time. Inside, Joe, Darci, and Jeff look for her but lose her in the fog. BASEMENT They hear her scream. into the air. The sound of her screaming flies up

Joe doesnt hesitate to slide the window shut. They go back out into the main basement room and the candles are blown out. Joe turns his flashlight back on. He shines it around and checks to make sure Jeff and Darci are with him and then scans the room. A shadow quickly darts across the beam of light. JOE Shit! Joe jumps back. Jeff puts a hand on Joes shoulder. JEFF I saw it!

I saw it!

Jeff takes his flashlight out of his pocket and turns it on. The three slowly walk to the bottom of the stairs. Joe and Jeff shine their lights up the stairs. The door is open.

64.

Upstairs!

JOE Now!

They all book it up the stairs and run down the hall. BREAK ROOM They haul ass into the break room. DARCI How many are there? JOE Uh, four, I think. There were four loud bangs from outside. Jeff pushes the refrigerator in front of the door. DARCI That doesnt mean there are four aliens down here. There were just four smaller ships. How many are inside here with us? JOE More than one. DARCI Really helpful. JEFF We need to cover up that window. Joe pushes the table against the wall. JOE Help me with the cabinets. Joe and Jeff stack the file cabinets and shelves up on the table, covering up the window. It becomes too dark to see so Joe and Jeff turn their flashlights on. JEFF I dont know how to break it to you but this wont be too hard to get through. Were just delaying the inevitable here. JOE Lets delay it as much as possible then. They all sit down. Joe scoots his chair close to Darci. Jeff locks the door.

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JEFF This isnt easy. JOE Yeah. This is it, isnt it? You think theyre all over the world? You think this is the end of the world? JEFF Who knows? DARCI If it is, theyre probably having a hell of a time. Armys probably shooting them out of the sky left and right. JEFF Maybe thats why theyre being so careful with us. Theyre treating us like cornered animals. Theyre trying to get us but they dont know what to expect. DARCI What do they even want with us, anyway? JEFF They want to eat us? DARCI Okay shut up. JEFF Maybe the Army will come busting in any minute. JOE Maybe. DARCI I wish we had something to drink. JOE I wish I had a cigar. Back in college my room mates and I talked about carrying a cigar at all times in case of imminent death of the end of the world. When youre at that moment where you know youre about to go, just light up and go out like a bad ass.

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Jeff and Darci laugh. JEFF A cigar sounds good. Outside in the hall, footsteps start approaching, slowly. Closer, closer, closer. Suddenly the door flings open, knocking the fridge over. One of the aliens ducks down under the doorway and into the room. Its tall, so tall it has to duck in the room. The slender body is grey, looks like a tight suit. Its wearing a helmet. Black glass covers its entire face. Joe, Darci and Jeff jump out of the chairs and back up away from it. It moves out of the way and another one lurches into the room followed by one more. The door closes behind them, the two flashlights go out and the room goes completely dark. INT. ALIEN SHIP - NIGHT

Darci comes to. She opens her eyes, fighting off the grogginess. She starts to moan. She tries to sit up but she cant. Shes strapped down to some sort of gurney hovering above the floor. She moves her head and looks around. Shes moving down a hallway. One of the tall, slender aliens is in front of the levitating gurney, pulling it. The walls, ceiling and floor are all black with some sort of strange silver vein-like outer layer stretching out everywhere. On one side of the curved hall is just a wall but on the other side, glass pods as far as she can see, each one about seven feet tall, rows of five stacked up on top of each other. The alien pulls her down the hall, a long, long hall, curving like a half-circle. They get to the end of the hall. It ends with a big wall cutting them off, dead end. There are five other aliens around other gurneys. The aliens are talking to each other, which sounds like some sort of horrible gurgling and growling. Darcis ride stops and the alien starts to converse with the others. Joe is unconscious in a gurney by Jeff and Lindsay. Darci gets a good look at the glass pods now that theyre stopped. There are people in them floating in some kind of liquid. Pale green light shines out from each pod, illuminating the hallway. She feels her straps release and closes her eyes. Large, cold hands grab her and carry her over to an empty pod. She opens an eye and sees that the pod shes about to occupy is filling up with clear viscous liquid.

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It pours back, as than the When the

in from the top and the liquid fills up from the if gravity is pulling form behind the pod rather floor. She looks over and sees Joe is waking up. pod fills up to the brim, the alien moves forward. No! DARCI Get away!

She wriggles free from the alien and drops to the ground. The aliens all back off, startles. She grabs Joe off the gurney and helps him run away down the hall. He is having trouble moving his feet and the getaway is slow going. There is a loud, horrible screeching noise behind them but they dare not look back. They just run. After a while of running, Joe is fully awake. JOE Darci? What the hell is going on? Where are we? DARCI Where do you think? JOE The others? DARCI I dont know if we can help them. I didnt want to stick around. There were too many of those things with Jeff and Lindsay. They keep running down the hall. It curves around in a half circle and they finally get to the other end. On the inner wall, is a tall doorway. They go through to another hall just like the one they were in. They start walking cautiously, looking out for more aliens. They go through another doorway into yet another curved hall with glass pods stacked five high to the ceiling with people floating in them. Jesus. JOE How big is this place?

DARCI How are we going to get out of here? JOE I dont know. Jump?

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DARCI Seriously, Joe... JOE I dont know. What the hell do you want me to say? I dont know what the hell were going to do. Lets be realistic here. I dont think therell be any instructions in English around here. Were probably not even anywhere near the Earth anymore. We might get out of this but our chances are pretty slim. But we cant give up. Lets just keep moving forward, or inside. SURGERY ROOM They walk through the half circle halls to the center room. The center room is a complete circle. It looks like some sort of medical room. There are dead bodies on operating tables in the center of the room. Along the walls are glass pods with human organs floating in liquid. They walk along the wall to a staircase leading down. stops and points at one of the tables. Joe! DARCI Its Carlos! Darci

Carloss head is lying on an operating table. Tubes are stuck up his neck. A white goo is spread around the table. Some of it leaks out of his neck mixed with blood, turning it pink. Joe and Darci move over to it. JOE What the hell is wrong with these god damned things? What are they going to do to us? The heads eyes blink. DARCI Oh my god! Joe, lets get the hell out of here. I want to leave! Now! Okay. JOE Lets head down.

They hurry over to the spiral staircase to the lower floor and descend. The lower level is a lot darker.

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LOWER DECK At the base of the staircase, four hallways lead off into different directions. DARCI Which one? JOE I dont know. This one? They pick the hallway in front of the stairs and start walking down it. DARCI What are we looking for? JOE A way out. Say were up in space. Say something happens and these things need to escape the ship. Theres got to be some escape ship or escape pod somewhere. DARCI Would we even be able to operate it? JOE I dont- We have to try! Well just push buttons until something happens. Were not staying here to be cut up into little pieces with our organs floating in giant glass jars! Darci grabs him and they stop. She pulls him close.

DARCI Dont say that. Dont talk about that, I dont want to hear it. Joe kisses her. Okay. JOE Were getting out of here.

They continue down the hall until they reach a closed door at the end. Okay. DARCI How does this open?

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JOE Like I said, push buttons until something happens. DARCI I dont see any buttons. Joe knocks on the door. A small touch screen on the frame next to it lights up. Joe touches one of the symbols on it and it beeps at him. He touches a different symbol and the door opens. Okay. open. JOE The messy peace sign means

They walk through the doorway into a hall that stretches left and right. They stop in front of a big window in front of them. DARCI Oh my god! JOE Well, I guess jumping is out of the question. Out the window, they can see the moon below them. Theyre close enough to see the craters, plains, valleys and mountains. Theres another alien ship too. Its white, long and round at both ends like a submarine. DARCI How many of these things are there? JOE I dont know. From the amount of people we saw in those glass things, probably a lot. They probably want the whole planet. DARCI So if we do manage to get back down to Earth, what then? JOE I dont know. Lets just focus on the task at hand for now. This way. One end of the hall curves into a half circle. is straight. They walk down the curved end. The other end

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DARCI We must be at the tail end. JOE How do you figure that? DARCI Curved end. I dont think theyll want to keep us close to the cockpit either. JOE Its called the bridge on a big ship. Dont you watch Star Trek? They come to a door and stop. Joe opens the door and steps in. Darci waits a moment and then follows him, reluctantly. The room is about the size of half a tennis court and filled with strange machinery. Theres a buzzing noise all around them when they walk through it. DARCI What is this stuff? JOE I dont know. Joe studies the machinery for a while. He opens a hatch on a piece of equipment and some sort of black goo pours out. Joe quickly slams the hatch shut and jumps back. DARCI Some sort of oil? JOE You know what? to know. I dont even want

Joe walks out of the room back into the hall. DARCI I hate this place. She follows him out. They walk down the hall and Joe opens up the next door and peaks in. JOE Nothing. They keep going down the hall until they get to another door. Joe opens it, peaks in, quickly closes the door and jumps back.

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DARCI What? JOE Run! Joe takes off. Darci tries to follow but a tall alien in its full body space suit jumps out at her from the room. Joe stops and watches. JOE (CONTD) Darci! Darci screams and runs in the opposite direction. The alien chases after her, screeching loudly. She runs down the hall as fast as she can. She makes it to the window that she stopped at with Joe and stops to figure out which way she should go: down the straight hallway into uncharted territory or back to the staircase. The alien comes around the bend and Darci takes off down the straight part of the hallway. INT. ALIEN SHIP - OPERATING ROOM - NIGHT

Joe runs up the stairs into the operating room. He goes to the tables and searches for a weapon. There is nothing he can use. All surgical instruments are attached to consoles above each operating table. Joe makes his way to the back of the room and stops dead in his tracks. Ross is strapped to a table. Holy shit! JOE Hey, Ross!

Ross is strapped down. There are two tubes running from the table into the center of his chest. Another tube runs up his nose. There is a pink gel covering his wrists. Joe rubs some of it off one arm. There is a big slash in his wrist. Rosss eyes open. He grabs Joe and stares him in the eyes. Joe is extremely frightened. ROSS (Raspy, wheezing) Joe... JOE Ross! Ross can you hear me, buddy? Come on.

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ROSS Kill me. What? JOE No, what the hell?

ROSS Kill me. The tube. Pull it out. Pull it out of my heart. JOE Ross, please. Please. ROSS You have to kill me.

Joe stands there silently staring at him. ROSS (CONTD) (Trying his best to yell) Do it! Joe pulls the big tubes out of his chest. Ross goes into a seizure and blood pours from the hole in the center of his chest. He goes limp. JOE Im sorry. Joe walks back towards the staircase but stops when he hears footsteps and at least two aliens growling and gurgling at each other. He backs up, passes the table with Ross lying dead on it and then against the wall. He notices a touch panel and activates it. A small, concealed door opens up and Joe quickly jumps through and then closes the door behind him. MAINTENANCE HALL Joe is in a small hallway. It would be a crawl space to the huge aliens. Along the right side of the hallway are tubes, wires and access panels. Along the left are doors. Joe goes to the last door, opens it and steps through. POD HALLWAY Hes out in the hallway with the big glass pods where he and Darci escaped from. The aliens are gone. Lindsay is strapped to a floating gurney wide awake and on edge.

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LINDSAY Whos that? Stay away from me! Stay the fuck away from me, Im warning you! Joe walks up to her. JOE Its me, shh. Oh my god! LINDSAY Joe! She

Joe takes the straps off and helps her off the gurney. hugs him. JOE Wheres Jeff.

Lindsay chokes up a bit and reluctantly points at a glass pod up on the second row. LINDSAY There. Joe climbs up to see him. Jeff is in the pod filled up with liquid. There are tubes stuffed into his mouth and nose. Hes awake. JOE Jeff! Jeff, Im going to get you out of there. Jeff starts to pound on the glass. He looks terrified. Joe searches around Jeffs pod for a way to open it but cannot find anything. LINDSAY Joe, hurry up! Joe starts pounding on the glass with his fists. He climbs up a bit higher, grabs hold of the top of the pod and kicks the glass but to no avail. JOE This isnt working, shit! He stops to catch his breath and think about his next move. Jeff is still pounding on the glass from the inside and suddenly goes into convulsions and then goes limp. His eyes are still open. No! Jeff! JOE (CONTD) God damn it, Jeff!

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Joe! What?

LINDSAY Somethings coming. JOE

She points down the hall. A shadow is cast on the floor. Joe hops down and they to back into the side hallway. They run down the dimly lit hallway back to the operating room. Lindsay sees Ross dead on the operating table in front of her. LINDSAY Ross! Joe grabs her and tries to get her away from the table. tries to fight him off. JOE Hes gone. Lindsay, no! Hes gone. We have to go now! LINDSAY (Crying) What the hell did they do to him? Why is all this happening? JOE Seriously, we need to move. Now! She

Joe pries her away and they book it to the stairs. LOWER DECK They go down the same hall that Joe took with Darci, earlier. They get to the end: the window. Holy shit! LINDSAY Were in space?

JOE Yeah. Darci and I were trying to find a way out, like an escape ship or something. We got separated. They head down the straight part of the hallway. They walk a few minutes and get to the end. A huge door with a window stands in front of them. Joe checks the touch panel on the side. LINDSAY Can you open it?

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JOE This one doesnt have an open symbol. LINDSAY You can read this? JOE No, I just figured out what symbol opens doors. Joe starts messing with the touch panel, touching other symbols. After a few moments of trying, the door finally opens, revealing a small chamber with another door just eight feet away. LINDSAY Finally. Lindsay steps through first while Joe checks behind them to see if anything is following. He turns around and some sort of mist sprays out of the floors in the chamber and Joe jumps back, startled. The door quickly slides closed. JOE Lindsay! Joe franticly tries to get the door open on the touch panel but it wont work. He goes to the window and sees Lindsay standing at the door, crying, scared out her mind. Something goes horribly wrong after a moment. She starts choking. She panics and starts pounding on the door, screaming but the door is sound proof. She starts couching. She has her hands at her throat, trying to loosen the collar on her shirt. Shes suffocating. Down she goes, withering up on the floor. Lindsay suffocates to death. INT. ALIEN SHIP - MACHINE ROOM - NIGHT

Darci is creeping through a strange machine room. There are ten levels of catwalks stretching from one end of the long room to the back. More catwalks come from the side doors and intersect with the main catwalk. There are huge towers stretching all the way to the ceiling. The bottom level is a pool of some sort of coolant. She hears Joe shouting from outside the room. She opens the door and sees him next to the huge door staring into the window. Darci runs to him. LOWER DECK

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DARCI Joe! Oh my god, Joe! Whats wrong, whats going on? JOE Lindsays dead. DARCI What? Darci goes over to the door and looks through the window. She sees Lindsays dead body lying on the floor and backs away. DARCI (CONTD) What happened? JOE Looked like she suffocated to death. We have to get the hell out of here, they could be coming any minute. MACHINE ROOM Joe and Darci head into the huge machine room that Darci just came out of and close the door behind them. They start walking towards the door on the opposite end. DARCI How did she suffocate? How the hell did she end up in there? JOE She was awake, I got her loose from up above. We made our way down here and she went through this door, it closed before I could get in. She died right in front of me. That door must lead to the other end of the ship. The air over there must be toxic to us. DARCI What do you mean? JOE Havent you noticed that those aliens were wearing space suits? I dont think they breathe our air. They want us alive for some reason so theyre pumping oxygen into this end of the ship.

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DARCI What about Jeff?

Did he make it?

JOE They got him in one of those pod things. I couldnt get him out. DARCI What about Ross? Joe doesnt answer. Joe? DARCI (CONTD) What about Ross? Was he in a pod?

JOE Dead. He must have cut his wrists before they got to him. Jesus! I know. DARCI I feel sick. JOE Yeah. Things arent exactly looking up. DARCI We need weapons. JOE To defend ourselves or kill ourselves? DARCI Joe! JOE I know youre thinking it. too. I am DARCI Its just us now... JOE

DARCI But I dont want to think about it. I want to get off this ship. Me too. strong. JOE Lets just try to stay

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Okay.

DARCI Any idea what this place is?

JOE I dont know. Joe walks over to one of the towers. There are symbols on it lighting up and turning off, moving around on the tower. A low pitch hum comes out of the tower. JOE (CONTD) I guess its some kind of computer, massive supercomputers. He touches it and immediately jerks his hand away. JOE (CONTD) Its hot! DARCI I hear something. Joe looks down the catwalk. Down at the end of the room, two tall figures cloaked in shadow walk towards them. Okay. LOWER DECK They rush to the door and exit to the hallway. They run down the hallway towards the end of the ship. They get to a doorway and Darci grabs Joe. Wait. MACHINE ROOM They go through the door and theyre back in the machine room. Theyre at the end. Darci leads Joe to a staircase leading down. They go all the way down to the bottom level just above the pool of coolant. JOE What the hell are we doing? DARCI Looking for a way out. Maybe well have a better chance if we go lower. OBSERVATION ROOM DARCI In here! JOE Time to move.

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They go through a door and out into a half circle room with a glass floor and glass walls slanted outwards. Below them is another series of pod rooms like the one they escaped from. They walk to the wall directly in front of them and one of the glass panels lights up with alien symbols. JOE Its another touch panel. Joe tries touching one of the symbols and the floor shakes a bit. Joe! DARCI Be careful!

JOE Were never getting out of here unless we experiment with this stuff. Suddenly the floor drops down, separating from the walls. takes them down to the center room below them. Huh. DARCI An elevator. It

They walk around and examine the room. Its the same size as the operating room at the top but this ones empty. The walls are covered in glass pods. Joe and Darci walk up to them to take a look. The pods are smaller. A group of pods are holding rats. Others are holding mice, squirrels, chipmunks, and other small rodents. JOE Animals. What the hell is this? Noahs Ark? Or are they experimenting on every living creature on Earth? The lights go off, both of them back away and move towards the center of the room. The only light in the room now is the dim light from the pods. DARCI Whats going on? JOE Nothing good. I think theyre pissed.

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They run to the straight wall and search for a door. Joe finds one at the center of the wall and opens it with the touch panel. LOWER HALLWAY They go through into a long dark hallway. There is a little bit of light coming up from the grated floor but barely enough to see. They hear footsteps coming from the door behind them. DARCI They found us. JOE Run! They run down the hall as fast as they can. Suddenly Darci runs into something and falls back. Its an alien. It reaches down and picks her up by the throat. Joe punches and kicks the alien but it ignores him and walks up the hall. Joe sprints after it and tackles its legs. The alien falls down, screeching and Darci gets free. Two more aliens enter the hall and run after them coming from the pod room. Darci opens a door and pulls Joe into it. The door closes behind them and Darci touches a symbol on the touch panel. STORAGE ROOM DARCI I think thats the lock symbol. JOE How can you be sure? DARCI Well theyre not getting in, are they? JOE Good enough but I dont think itll keep them out for long. They look around the room. Joe spots a vent against the opposite wall and runs up to it. He kicks it again and again until it gives just enough that he can grab the edge. He pulls it off. Its just big enough that they can fit through if they crawl on their hands and knees. VENT They get into a tight corridor filled with electronics and wires. They are able to stand up and they quietly head towards the pod room.

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Walking down the corridor, there are gaps in the floor they have to step over. Its too dark to see whats down there. After a long walk, a vent panel in front of them gets ripped off the wall. A huge alien pokes his head in and spots them. Joe grabs Darci and pulls her down one of the dark gaps. The fall down a chute and into a large room full of electronic alien gadgets. There is a thick fog everywhere but still some visibility. LIFE SUPPORT ROOM DARCI Jesus, you could have killed us. JOE Just keep going. They continue down along the wall until it curves. DARCI Were below the room with the stasis pods. JOE I wonder if we can open them from here. DARCI Thatd be nice. We could start a revolution and take over the ship. They keep walking. There are huge metal tanks attached to the round wall with hundreds of tubes and hoses leading up. Attached to the support beams in the area are cabinets filled with metal tanks of all sizes. Joe accidentally kicks something. He looks down to see. Its an alien, lying on the floor. They jump back but calm down once they realize its dead. The dead alien isnt wearing a space suit. Its skin is slimy and extremely pale. Hundreds, even thousands of blue veins are visible through the skin. Its skinny and tall with four long tentacle-like fingers on each hand. The face has a huge mouth filled strange tendrils. There is no nose. Its eyes are closed but Joe crouches down and opens one. JOE Holy shit, look at this. The aliens big lifeless eye gazes off into nothingness. There is no pupil or iris, but dozens of scales.

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When the eyelid stretches open the scales open up and reveal dozens of red translucent lenses. DARCI How does this thing see? JOE Its like a bugs eye almost. DARCI How do you think it died? JOE I think it suffocated. The others are wearing those spacesuits. This guy must not have gotten the memo. Probably low on the food chain, they just didnt care about him that much. Joe gets up and walks over to one of the cabinets. He grabs a tank that has a hose attached and opens it. Air hisses out of the hose. Joe takes a few sniffs and then sticks it in his mouth. DARCI Joe! What the hell are you doing? Are you insane? JOE Its air, regular air. They must be pumping this into the pods. They hear noises from the other end of the room. DARCI (Whispering) Its them. Theyre coming. Joe freezes in place and scans the area. far because of the fog. He cant see very

JOE (Whispering) Be quiet. I dont think they can see us through this fog. DARCI (Whispering) What if they have heat vision like the Predator? You saw that things eyes, you have no idea what they can see.

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Joe and Darci crouch down and hide behind the cabinet. An alien comes into view. Its moving along the wall, looking around. Joe and Darci move around the cabinet to stay out of its field of vision. They back off and move directly away from it. They tiptoe towards the center of the huge room until they come into view of two aliens having a conversation with each other. They try to listen to them. Their conversation sounds like a bunch of gargling, retching and snarling. Joe gets Darcis attention and points to his side at a hole in the floor, an open vent. Darci nods yes at him and brings her attention back to the two aliens who have gone silent. They are staring at Joe and Darci DARCI (CONTD) Joe... Joe sees them and grabs Darci. they dive in. VENT Its cramped and dark, only enough room to crawl. The two crawl as quickly as they can away from that end of the ship. Footsteps pound on the floor above them, tracking them and they can only see inches in front of their faces but they crawl faster. They are getting panicked, impatient. After a while of crawling a lengthy distance, the floor drops out from under them. They fall out of the vent into a hallway. Joe stands up in pain. BOTTOM LEVEL JOE Come on, weve got to keep moving. DARCI (Exhausted) Where? Were going to run out of places to hide here soon. Joe pays her no mind and yanks Darci to her feet. JOE Just move! They double back and run in the direction they came from, towards the end of the ship. He yanks her to the vent and

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JOE (CONTD) I think were headed towards the tail end of the ship. Its got to be our best bet to find an escape ship. They continue running down the corridor past a plethora of rooms on each side until they reach the end. Joe opens the door in front of him via the touch panel and takes them to the room curved outward, the end of the ship. The curved wall is full of smooth, circular hatches with touch panels on the walls just outside the hatches themselves. Joe passes by the spiral staircases in the center of the room and heads straight to one of the hatches. He laughs. JOE (CONTD) This is it! This is it! He hits the open symbol on the touch panel and the hatch opens with a loud hiss as it decompresses and gas escapes. Joe and Darci both smell something horrible and start to gag. They quickly back away from the open hatch. DARCI What the hell is that? this, a sewer? No. JOE No, look. What is

They are a few feet away but can see inside the hatch. Its a tight space (for the tall aliens) with a chair in the center and a porthole in front of the chair with a wide touch panel directly under it. A small round room. JOE (CONTD) Its the air. The escape pods wouldnt pump oxygen, why would they? Theyre not for us. Its for them. DARCI Well then, how the hell are we supposed to use it? JOE Ive got an idea. right there. Wait here. Stay

Joe heads up the spiral staircase. ceiling.

It ends at a door in the

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LIFE SUPPORT He opens it and steps up into the utility room under the pod room. He stops and scans the room for aliens. There arent any in sight but the fog doesnt help. Joe runs to a cabinet and hauls two big oxygen tanks with hoses attached out. He makes a bee line back to the stairs and rushes down to the bottom level to see Darci waiting for him with her back up against the wall a few feet away from the open hatch with her shirt covering her mouth and nose. BOTTOM LEVEL DARCI Joe, watch out! Joe quickly glances behind him just in time to see the long, skinny fingers stretching out towards his throat. Just as the alien grabs him, he drops one tank and tosses the other at Darci. Another alien grabs him as the tank slides across the floor to Darcis feet. JOE Get out of here! the hell out! Take it and get

Darci, terrified, sees a third alien emerge from the doorway and pass by the incapacitated Joe, heading for her. She doesnt waste any time in dragging the tank into the hatch and closing the door behind her. ESCAPE POD She shoves the hose into her mouth and opens the tank. the door seals shut, the pod lights up all around her. When

Aliens pound on the door and screech outside but the door is locked. At this point, Darci is in tears. She turns her attention away from the hatch and sits in the chair. The touch panel lights up as soon as she settles herself. Screen after screen of alien symbols flash by, its booting up. It stays at a screen with symbols of Earth, the moon, and dozens of other spaceships. She extends her hand slowly and cautiously and touches the Earth symbol. The pod vibrates and hums and then a sudden jolt nearly knocks her out of her seat. The hose falls from her mouth and out of her hand. She scrambles around and manages to grab it, plugging it back into her mouth as the tank floats up in front of her.

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She notices that she is starting to float up out of the chair and she can no longer hear the aliens pounding and screeching outside. DARCI (Crying) Joe... Thank you. INT. ALIEN SHIP - POD ROOM - NIGHT

Joe is strapped tight to a levitating gurney being pulled by an alien down the long, curved hallway. Two aliens are walking behind to ensure he doesnt do anything. They finally get to the end of the room and stop in front of an empty pod. The alien picks Joe up and slams him into the pod. It pulls a tube from the top and sticks it in Joes mouth and keeps pushing down his throat. The it grabs another small one and shoves it up his nose. It keeps shoving the tube in down his throat while Joe gags. Another alien comes by with a syringe and sticks it in Joes neck. Joe starts to get sleepy. The glass pod closes and liquid starts to form up around him. INT. ALIEN ESCAPE POD - NIGHT

Darci looks out the porthole and sees an alien ship pass by. Then the sun comes into view but something is so, so wrong with it. Its huge, violent and orange - close to red. At this, a horrified look washes over Darcis face. As the pod turns, the sun leaves the view and is later replaced by a view of the Earth. The entire surface of the planet is covered by thick, grey clouds. An aurora dances across the atmosphere of the entire planet. The sky is burning. The Earth rolls out of view and a close by spaceship comes into view. After a moment of flying passed a bright flash of light covers the entire spaceship and it blinks away. More ships follow its lead. Darci is now all alone in her escape pod, flying towards the doomed planet. Tears stream down her face as a look of utter defeat hits her. She pulls the hose out of her mouth and lets the tank drift away.

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EXT.

GRASSY FIELD - DAY

Joe slowly comes to in the grass. He regains his strength and sits up to look around. The first thing he sees is the morning or afternoon sun just over the horizon. He stands up and sees people spread out all over the field. Some are waking up, some are walking around, and some are still out cold. Among the people are also huge metal crates. Joe stretches his legs and starts to wander. JEFF Joe? Joe stops and looks down. Jeff is lying on the ground. reaches his hand up and Joe helps him to his feet. JOE What the hell are the chances of this? JEFF Where are we? JOE I have no idea... Joe is looking in the direction opposite the sun. Up in the sky is a big, pale moon with another, smaller moon above it. Just below the moons, a ring stretches across the sky. Oh, wow. JEFF What are the odds? He

JOE They took us to a different planet? JEFF Relocating the human race for some reason, I dont know. JOE Animals too. Darci and I saw all kinds of animals up on the spaceship too. JEFF So they relocated as many people and animals as they possibly could. Then what happened to the Earth? Oh god! JOE Darci!

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What?

JEFF What happened?

Jeff grabs Joes shoulder but Joe pulls away and walks away from Jeff, towards the moons. JEFF (CONTD) Joe! Joe what happened, wheres Darci? Joe! Joe! Joe walks away. END