screenplay 3rd draft
Joe Bainbridge
FADE IN
INT- CONTROL ROOM- MORNING- DARK
Sorensen
is a tall, well-built man in his mid-40s. He is sullen, reserved and has been
for the entirety of his life. Thick dark hair covers his head and face; his
eyes are a dull grey. For all of the 10 years that the outpost has been active,
Sorensen’s bitter hatred for Hamersley has been clear and the two have clashed
frequently. Sorensen’s hard exterior is a shell, hiding his desire to be free
and although he and most others see him as a man of principle, Sorensen is not
thought to be kind by anyone. Daily is the only person to have seen through the
hard exterior, Sorensen proves his ability to take risks and display kindness
when he makes the ultimate sacrifice.
Siren
screaming through the outpost
SORENSEN
(Shouts)
‘Can you kindly get
the skipper down here Daily, if he can take the time out his busy schedule?’
HAMERSLEY
‘I’m right here’
Hamersley
is a minute man, small in stature as well as brain power, but he can
occasionally be cunning and is strong despite his small frame. His incompetency
is regarded to be the reason why he was made skipper of the largely unimportant
outpost, but his greed is reflective of a future world where selfishness brings
you to the top. Hamersley’s motivation in life is power and recognition; this
is prevalent in his actions. As for his appearance, he has short spikey grey
hair, sharp green eyes and large eyebrows that dominate his pale, wrinkled
face. Hamersley is an experienced skipper in his late 60s.
He is
behind Sorensen’s chair, examining the screen
HAMERSLEY
(Irritated)
‘Who told you to kill
the alarm?’
SORENSEN
‘Nobody, it was
getting on my nerves’
HAMERSLEY
‘What a shame. You
fail to remember that I give the orders on this outpost’
He
scowls at the ship as it comes closer
HAMERSLEY
‘What’s its course?’
SORENSEN
‘It’s going to crash
land about 100 yards front of us. Its travelling slowly though, shouldn’t cause
much damage’
HAMERSLEY
‘Contact it,
now’
SORENSEN
‘No luck, can’t get
through, it’s about to crash’
Sorensen
frowns at the screen as the ship gently touches down and skids along the
planets, grey, dusty surface
HAMERSLEY
‘Still nothing?’
SORENSEN
‘Nothing at all’
Both
stare at the screen
SORENSEN
(Mumbles)
‘So, this is the
mysterious ship. It looks as if the crash did no damage at all’
Hamersley
looks curious and excited after seeing the ship
HAMERSLEY
‘Well I never’
Sorensen
turns to him, puzzled
SORENSEN
‘What’
HAMERSLEY
‘This is something
quite special, I’ve never seen anything like it before’
He rubs
his hands together and grins
HAMERSLEY
‘This ship’s from
space, deep space. This ship is from the stars’
Cut to…
INT- CONTROL ROOM- MORNING- DARK
Daily
and Sorensen are seated, uneasily watching Hamersley pace in front of them with
eager excitement
Daily
is a nervous man in his early 30s who is just as small as Hamersley, only
spindly and far weaker. His hair is dark brown, short and curly. Moreover, his
face is tanned and features distinctive purple bags under his deep brown eyes
due to stress and inner conflict. Daily is clearly an outcast, not built for
life back home due to his constant philosophising and free thinking in a future
world where conformity is imperative. Daily’s most valuable skill is his
ability to analyse and modify technology but his constant overthinking often
gets in the way of his work, something that has caused Hamersley to label him
an idiot over the 10 years he’s spent on the outpost.
Hamersley
stops pacing, swivelling to address the 2 men
HAMERSLEY
‘Listen up. This is our catch and I’m not
going to let some weasel official back home take the credit. I want to see
what’s aboard this ship before a single word gets back home’
Daily
glances worryingly at Sorensen
SORENSEN
(Concerned)
‘Our code of conduct
states that all extra-terrestrial findings must be reported within an hour of
its discovery’
HAMERSLEY
(Aggressively)
‘I don’t give a damn,
I’m the skipper of this outpost and my word is final, get that? This ship is
from the stars, it will have a speed module and the government will reward me,
us, generously for that kind of technology’
SORENSEN
(Sternly)
‘The law’
Hamersley
begins pacing faster than before
HAMERSLEY
(Shouts)
‘Damn the law. Listen
to me Sorensen, we have been stuck here on this desolate moon for a decade to
monitor threats to home, our instructions don’t specify about situations like
this’
Hamersley
pauses, gathering himself, eyes narrowing
HAMERSLEY
‘We’ll go aboard this
ship. We’ll find out what’s aboard it, where it’s from, and then we’ll take it
from there. You will report to me via hologram when you’ve finished analysis of
the ship, Daily’
Daily
looks up, quivering
DAILY
‘I’m not sure how
useful I’d be’
HAMERSLEY
‘I’ll be counting on you Daily. Do your job
and step up to the task’
Hamersley
turns to Sorensen with a stern look
SORENSEN
(Sullen)
‘This is a serious
offence, I hope you understand that’
HAMERSLEY
‘Don’t forgot who’s
in charge here, Sorensen. You contest my orders, but with your track record
you’re more than lucky to be here in the first place’
SORENSEN
(Aggravated)
‘None of us are lucky
to be here, and your orders are illegal’
Hamersley grins menacingly
HAMERSLEY
‘Let me worry about
that’
Sorensen
clenches his fists
Cut to…
INT-HANGER-AFTERNOON-DARK
Daily
and Sorensen get into their space suits, checking their equipment and then
mounting speeder bikes
The
hanger’s door opens and they quickly move towards the ship on speeder bikes
They
reach the ship and get off their speeder bikes walking towards the outer lock
DAILY
‘Wow, there really is
hardly any damage to it after the crash’
SORENSEN
‘Hardly a scratch’
Daily
uses a tool strapped to his belt to open the outer lock
DAILY
‘Bingo’
They
enter a dark space and both men press a button on their helmets to turn on
torches
DAILY
(Breathless in excitement)
‘So far so good, I’ll
try the inner lock’
Daily
uses the same tool to open the inner lock, they then walk down a dark, silver
corridor towards the light of the control room
Their
eyes widen as they starred at the centre
DAILY
‘Look Sorensen, I’ve
never seen anything like it’
Sorensen
moves slowly to the centre of the control centre to look at a thin translucent
being smashed against the main control panel, his limbs almost indistinguishable
SORENSEN
‘This must’ve been
the pilot’
DAILY
(Trembles)
‘I guess that’s why no message was sent back,
or why the ship crashed in the first place. Seems it was the only one aboard’
SORENSEN
‘I wonder how long
ago this happened’
Daily
goes to the central control panel, staring at Sorensen for his approval to
start his work
SORENSEN
‘Go ahead, analyse the engines to find the
speed module, this ship is from deep space so it’s bound to have one, I’ll look
around’
Sorensen
moves into the dark corridor
Cut to…
INT- KITCHEN- AFTERNOON- LIGHT
Sorensen
is picking up jars of jelly like substances, dipping his finger in a
translucent one and reeling in disgust as he smells it
He moves
and exits the room, seeing Daily dart about with excitement and focus, making
detailed notes on paper in the control room then scrambling down a ladder to
the engines
Suspicious,
Sorensen dashes into the control room and down the ladder, as he approaches,
Daily, wide eyed, stuffs the paper in the pocket of his space suit
SORENSEN
’Daily’
DAILY
(Stutters)
‘I’m finished, what’s
the matter?’
SORENSEN
‘Never mind’
DAILY
‘I guess we better
report to the skipper now’
Daily presses a button on his helmet that
produces a holographic image of the skipper
HAMERSLEY
‘Daily, I pray you
went over the engines thoroughly ’
DAILY
(Looks at the floor)
‘Yes sir. I analysed
them as well as I could’
SORENSEN
(Nods, watches Daily
with suspicion)
‘That’s right’
DAILY
‘There was very
little damage from the crash so it’s flyable all right. As for the pilot, it
looks as if it’s been dead for decades’
HAMERSLEY
‘What do you mean
decades‘
DAILY
(Apologetically)
‘I don’t know how else to put it, the engines
are very nearly dead, the ship’s wandered space for decades. It doesn’t have a
speed module sir, just plain and simple engines like our own’
HAMERSLEY
‘You’re telling me this ship has wandered
aimlessly into our system?’
DAILY
‘Something went wrong
and the pilot died, it couldn’t have done this journey quickly, it didn’t have
the technology’
HAMERSLEY
(Sits back)
‘You, you haven’t
missed anything?’
DAILY
‘No sir’
HAMERSLEY
(Roars)
‘Then get the hell
back here, now’
Cut to…
INT- CORRIDOR- NIGHT -DARK
FADE IN
Sorensen follows Daily as he enters his
cabin, once inside he picks up Daily, pinning him against the wall
SORENSEN
(Whispers)
‘Talk’
DAILY
‘Put me down
Sorensen’
SORENSEN
(Throws Daily to the
ground)
‘You can lie to the
skipper but you can’t lie to me. Your report was full of holes and I’ll get the
truth if I have to beat it out of you’
DAILY
‘I told you the
truth’
SORENSEN
‘The pilot couldn’t
have been smashed to the panel like that, not unless it had a speed module. It
had one didn’t it?’
DAILY
(Nods)
‘Please don’t tell
the skipper, I beg you. I have a plan, a good plan. Can’t you see it? It’s got
the best speed module I’ve ever seen and I think I might be able to work it’
SORENSEN
‘You’re insane. The
skipper is stupid but he’s not brain dead. He’s out of favour, that speed
module is the big break that would restore his career. He’s selfish; you have
to be in order to get anything in this age. Once he spots this your life will
be worthless’
DAILY
‘My life already is
worthless. So is yours. The government is the only thing that matters’
SORENSEN
‘You’re not thinking
straight’
DAILY
‘I am. This ship provides is the perfect
escape Sorensen’
SORENSEN
‘But how will you get
away with this?’
DAILY
’The skipper has to
take our word for it because he doesn’t have the brains to analyse the engines
himself. I could make it work, you’re a misfit too Sorensen. Who cares where we
go if we can get away from all this’
SORENSEN
‘It would be the
final straw for the skipper too. I’d be free for the first time in my life’
DAILY
‘We will have to move
now, so that we leave the investigation party arrives. I reckon we can do it’
SORENSEN
‘Agreed. Meet me at
the loading bay in 10 minutes. Get the space suits and speeder bikes ready for
us to leave’
Cut to…
INT- HANGER-NIGHT- DARK
Sorensen enters the hanger, Daily is already
there and in his space suit
Sorensen scrambles into his when the alarm
sounds and the hanger flashes red
Hamersley appears at the entrance, strutting
towards them gripping a stun gun
HAMERSLEY
(Gloats and chuckles)
‘Well I never, I
would have expected this from you Daily, you always were a rat, but Sorensen,
I’m disappointed’
SORENSEN
‘Don’t speak about
him like that you old fool’
He shrieks and tackles Hamersley, knocking
the stun gun away
SORENSEN
‘Run Daily’
Daily mounts a speeder bike and shoots into
darkness, soon after the ship is seen taking off
Sorensen grins as he watches, looking at
peace and joyful; Hamersley regains the stun gun and clambers to his feet
HAMMERSLEY
(In disbelief)
‘I’ll be sacked for
this, and it was your fault too. You’ll be executed by noon tomorrow and you
won’t be smiling then’
Sorensen laughs a booming laugh and Hamersley
stuns him
FADE OUT
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