In 2172 a group of scientists and their families while on ... Quadra Ep 1 Choices.pdfEARTH QUADRA...

In 2172 a group of scientists and their families while on their way to a new planet to set up a colony, end up where they never intended. They become stranded and try to survive on a mysterious hostile world. Though equipped with great technology and brilliant minds, they possess little in the way of defensive capabilities to cope with what they find on this world. They must be innovative and resourceful if they are to survive until rescue arrives.

A Graphic Novel By MERVYN BYRON Written by: Mervyn Byron © October, 2009 Graphics by: Jeffrey Byron © 2010 © 2011

For more detailed information about the characters, technology, and how to support the stories, visit EarthQuadra.com

http://earthquadra.com/

EARTH QUADRA – A Graphic Novel Episode 1: Choices

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Copyright © 2011 — EarthQuadra.com — All Rights Reserved.

EXT: Abbreviation for “Exterior Scene” (Outside) INT: Abbreviation for “Interior Scene” (Inside)

EXT: DEEP SPACE

In the vast expanse of deep space a massive asteroid tumbles past amidst the backdrop of brilliant stars far in the distance. We watch as it approaches another much larger object, a small rogue planet, traveling on a path which will pass close to the asteroid.

As the two objects get closer their trajectories are adjusted slightly as their gravity fields affect one another. Each of them passes by the other, but now on a different course and destiny through space.

EXT: DEEP SPACE

Following the comet more than a thousand years later, we see it’s now heading into a solar system and towards a sun far in the distance. As it’s passing close to a planet within the solar system, it collides with another asteroid and as both celestial bodies break apart, their combined debris is spread across the orbital path of the oncoming planet. The planet is quickly subjected to a huge meteor bombardment from the debris field.


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EXT: ALIEN PLANET-AERIAL VIEW — DAY TIME

As we follow a large fragment down towards the planet, we see that it’s a lush world with numerous continents and a large blue ocean.

The meteor streaks through the atmosphere and we see below it a giant circular saucer-shaped ship hovering a couple thousand meters above the planet’s surface.


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The ship is massive in size stretching to nearly 8 km in diameter with a depth of 1.2 km. As one of the incoming meteors strikes the top of the large ship close to its center; it punches through the exterior. The ship wobbles then plummets to the surface of the planet; partially submerging itself in the crust, as a huge cloud of dust and debris rises up. EXT: DEEP SPACE

Back in space, we catch up to the rogue planet which is traveling at incredible speed as it’s approaching a sun that has just become a supernova; and is now beginning to collapse in on itself. As the dying star is rapidly shrinking in size due to the intense gravitational field, the rogue planet smashes into the neutron core before it’s fully formed, breaking apart both objects!

We watch as pieces of debris from the collision are scattered into space, as a faint green light of intense neutron and exotic radiation is emitted from the tumbling pieces of the collapsed sun. Following some of the largest pieces, we see their trajectory is heading towards a large pink-colored nebula far in the distance. The nebula has a unique shape to it in that it has a large hole in the center.

EXT: DEEP SPACE

Traveling through space now, much further away from the collision and out along one of the spiral arms of the Milky Way, we approach a small star in the distance. As we enter the solar system, we pass by a planet having colored rings and see that it looks like Saturn. Continuing on we pass a large gas planet with a red spot spinning rapidly across the surface, appearing like Jupiter, then past the smaller red planet of Mars.


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We then approach a brilliant blue marble in space, and recognize it as Earth. Getting closer now to the planet’s surface, the Northern hemisphere is mostly covered in ice as the planet is in the midst of an ice age.

EXT: EARTH-AERIAL VIEW — DAY

Coming even closer towards the surface, and near to the edge of one of the ice sheets, we see a small band of Neanderthal sitting around a fire. They appear to be cooking parts of an animal propped up on sticks, and roasting over the small flame, as two of the males argue over a choice piece.

Pulling away from the surface and rising above Earth’s atmosphere, we watch as the planet’s rotation spins rapidly and time quickly passes. From space, we see the ice caps advancing and receding; then approach the surface once more as the planet and time slows down. We witness a small tribe of Homo-sapien hunters and gatherers, walking across a wide plain, following a herd of mammoths in the distance. Pulling away from the surface once more, the planet begins to spin rapidly. After a short time it slows down; and we approach an area slightly inland from the Northern coast of a continent, near the flood plain of a large river system. There we observe two pyramids built on the surface and a mass of people working on a third one. Pulling away from the planet once again we watch from space as Earth spins rapidly for a short time then slowing down; and when approaching this time, we see legions of Roman soldiers arrayed for battle, with an advancing enemy horde bearing down on them. Moving up above the atmosphere once more, the planet speeds up again and when we approach, as it slows down, we see what looks like North America; and witness scenes of the American Revolution and the beginning of the Industrial Age taking place. As we pull away again, time is passing quickly now and after the planet slows down, we see the end of the Second World War and the mushroom cloud from the atomic bomb over Hiroshima. Watching the Earth spin one last time but not as fast, we see the cities grow in size, the pollution increasing in the oceans and the forests are quickly being depleted. The congested highways are clogged with traffic and heavy smog hovers above the cities.


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EXT: EARTH ORBIT — SPACE

In space above the Eastern Seaboard of the North American continent, we see a space shuttle docked with a large orbiting satellite, and two astronauts are working on repairs.

Watching them work, with the Earth in the background far below, we see a shadow suddenly pass over their space suits and the satellite. They both turn quickly to see what it is and as their eyes grow wide they glance at each other then back into space at what’s approaching. Pulling back from them, we see a large, circular craft passing by and heading towards the planet’s surface.

ASTRONAUT

Houston Control, I...I don't know how to

tell you this, but I think some unexpected

company is coming.

HOUSTON CONTROL

Say again, Commander! We didn't catch your

meaning.

ASTRONAUT

You will soon enough, it looks like they’re

heading for the front door.


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EXT: PLANET-AERIAL VIEW — DAY

Watching the spaceship descend towards the surface of the planet and following it, we see it heading towards the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, and as it approaches the city of New York, it slows down very close to the surface.

EXT: PLANET-SURFACE VIEW — DAY

On the street corner, a man is reading a city newspaper (and looking over his shoulder) we read the headline as: “Just another Day in December and Nothing Happened.” Suddenly, there’s panic amongst the pedestrians on the street as a cloud appears to pass overhead, blocking out the sun. The man looks up from his paper and the cigarette drops from his mouth; as he stares wide-eyed at a spacecraft over 300 meters in diameter coming to a stop, and hovering over the United Nations building, down the block.

INT: UNITED NATIONS — DAY

A few days later, we see the ship is still hovering over the UN building; and going inside to the United Nations Assembly Hall, we see a tall and flamboyantly dressed alien humanoid introducing the startled, but amazed UN delegates to two pieces of alien technology. One piece looks like a large door frame with a control panel on one side, and the other item is about 1.3 m long and 60 cm high and wide, with the bottom of it standing a meter off the floor on four telescopic legs.


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Pulling back from the planet once again; we watch it spin rapidly as decades pass (and when approaching) we see the air pollution is clearing up over the cities, and the dead zones in the ocean’s coastal areas are taking on their natural, rich blue color once again. The traffic congestion on the freeways begins to lessen as fewer and fewer automobiles clog the highways. Looking closer, we see a large spacecraft of a different configuration lifting off from the surface and moving into the upper atmosphere. It then picks up speed and disappears towards the stars.

EXT: DEEP SPACE — NIGHT

Sometime later we catch up to the spacecraft as it approaches a planet. We watch it pass from one solar system to another, orbiting around planets that appear to have vegetation and water on them and then moving on to the next system.

INT: CONFERENCE ROOM — DAY

Years later back on Earth, we see a group of professional looking men and women from various ethnic groups gathered around a conference table and a holographic map of a section of the Galaxy is hovering above it. One of them uses a laser pointer to highlight a solar system and then highlighting Earth some distance away. He manipulates a control panel on the tabletop, and a holographic name appears beside the solar system; and then the holographic map changes to show just one planet and the name “Earth Phaelon” appears beside it. The group seems pleased and they nod their heads in approval.

EXT: PLANET OUTSIDE — DAY

Some years later, we see a group of around 60 people standing outside of a large industrial complex, all dressed in jumpsuits and receiving instructions of some kind. In the background, there’s a large spacecraft sitting on the surface between equally huge buildings, surrounded by industrial equipment.


A short time later, we see that same ship lift off from Earth and displayed across the side and front of it is the name “Earth Phaelon”. Following it out into space, we later see it arrive at a distant planet more than a year later.

EXT: PLANET OUTSIDE — DAY

Several weeks after being on the planet, we watch the ship lift off again and head out into space, while remaining on the surface, are several large white-colored domes in the distance.


Back on Earth once more, we see two more spaceships lifting off from the surface at separate times, and a fourth ship under construction in an open-topped complex near the launching area.


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INT: CONFERENCE ROOM — DAY

Another group of 12 professionals are gathered around a conference table looking at a holographic map of a section of the Galaxy. One of them uses a laser pointer to highlight another solar system and then highlighting Earth some distance away. He touches a control and a highlighted route appears on the hologram. It shows several course corrections to adjust the route to travel around a small pink-colored nebula on-route.. Holographic


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writing appears beside the route, "16 Months" with a name displayed beside the planet, “Earth Quadra”. The people gathered in the conference room seem pleased and nod their heads in agreement, as they discuss the mission.

EXT: PLANET-STREETVIEW — DAY

Some months later, we look over the shoulder of a person sitting at a table in an outdoor restaurant. He takes a sip of coffee and on setting the cup down, picks up his data pad which is displaying the daily news.

An insignia of a spaceship appears on the screen and the name “Earth Quadra” is displayed on the side of the ship. A voiceover is heard along with the news headlines which can be read beside today’s date of Saturday, July 23, 2112. As the image scrolls down it stops at one item which reads: “Colony Ship Earth Quadra to Leave Today for Our Fourth Mission to the Stars".


A short time later from an aerial view, we see the ship lift off from the planet and continue to pick up speed as it breaks Earth’s gravitational field and streaks out into space, disappearing in the distance.

EXT: DEEP SPACE — NIGHT

Catching up to the ship in deep space, we cross the bow and see the name of it is “Earth Quadra”.

Moving around the ship, we can see a small atmospheric shuttle craft attached to each side of the main ship, mounted on top of a stubby wing structure. As we move to a position


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behind the ship and look over the top in the direction of travel, we see out in front that a large pink-colored nebula is in its path, far in the distance.

Coming alongside the ship, we focus through a portal window and enter the ship. INT: SHIP — NIGHT

We find ourselves in a corridor and begin to move through the ship.


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Entering the engineering section where two engineers are sitting at panels, one yawns, and the other is reading from a data pad. Continuing through another corridor and passing through a number of cargo areas, we find crates stacked high in each section.

Then through a medical lab and down another hallway we pass a female crewman, who is moving a container along the hallway on a small hover lift.


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Moving down a set of stairs, we go deeper into the ship and on the other side of a transparent wall we observe another engineer sitting at a panel, looking as bored as the rest.

Out in front of him, we can see the reason for their trip and the most precious elements of their cargo. There are a total of 64 pod-shaped devices around 2.4 m long arrayed in four rows of sixteen each, lying horizontally on individual pedestals, with one pod standing almost vertical.

The pods have clear covers on them and we can see they are stasis pods, and each of them holds one of the colonists inside. Moving into the room and amongst the pods, it’s evident that the vertical pod standing at the end of the row, closest to the engineer, is empty.

Moving back through the ship and coming to a door which has "Captain's Quarters" written on it, we move inside and see a man sleeping on the bed. Moving through two more doorways, we find other crew members sleeping in bunks and entering the corridor again, we follow it until it comes through another doorway onto the bridge.


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INT. BRIDGE — NIGHT

Looking around the bridge, we can see the arrangement of the control panels and those in command. There are three personnel on the bridge, all sitting at different panels, and one of them seems to be nodding off and falling asleep. Sitting in the command chair separate from the other two positions is a female in her mid-30s, named Elizabeth, who is the Sub-Commander on this duty shift. She talks to the crewman who’s nodding off.

ELIZABETH (SUB-COMMANDER)

Dave... Are you awake, over there?

Dave’s head jerks upwards and he sits up straighter, looking across at the other male crewman beside him who is slightly smiling.

DAVE (NAVIGATOR)

Yeah, I'm awake. I shouldn't have stayed up

last shift playing cards with Les and

Gerry, can’t seem to keep my eyes open.


You’re gonna end up broke before you get

back to earth.

DAVE (NAVIGATOR)

Not from last night, I cleaned up!


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Well, it’s zero three hundred hours, time

for the systems check and transmitting our

location back to Earth on subspace.

DAVE (NAVIGATOR)

Finally, something to do!

Dave takes a deep breath and lets it out, then stretches his back a bit and shrugs his shoulders up and down a couple times to wake himself up. He then pauses for a few seconds and checks over the panel in front of him. He continues, speaking out loud to himself as he goes through a checklist.

DAVE (NAVIGATOR)

Okay, let’s see now.... subspace

transmission and data recording... on.

He manipulates the control panel, and looking over his shoulder we see a date display on the panel; he then continues talking, but more clearly and direct this time.

DAVE (NAVIGATOR)

Flight Date is February 11, 2113; we are

currently 29 weeks out from launch, or 203

days on-route....

Estimated time to destination is 277

days....

Time to next course correction, twelve days

three hours....

Number Two hyperlight is operating at 73

percent output; Number Three is operating

at 74 percent output, both running

efficiently and at three quarters power....

Number One hyperlight engine is offline and

on standby.

Maintaining hyperlight speed of factor four

point eight....

Stasis pods indicate all....

Suddenly, a loud piercing alarm goes off in the ship just as a brilliant flash of green light passes through the bridge. It’s also seen in engineering and through the corridors where the female technician was still moving crates.


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Walking past one of the exterior viewing windows, she is exposed to a brilliant flash of green light. Back on the bridge, the Sub-Commander wants answers and has to talk loud to be heard over the alarm.


What the hell was that?

Now far more excited, Dave is searching his panel and shouts to answer the Sub-Commander as the alarm continues to sound!

DAVE (NAVIGATOR)

Proximity sensors indicate we’ve been hit

with neutron radiation.

Elizabeth is searching her own control panel for answers and slides her chair across to another section.


Neutron radiation! From what! We’re days

away from the closest system.

DAVE (NAVIGATOR)

External sensors have just flashed offline

but they recorded an object approximately

one hundred million cubic meters in size,

traveling in the same direction. We passed


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along side of it within three hundred

kilometers.


Three hundred kilometers.... at our speed

that’s still a long way off our path to

affect us. How bad was the radiation hit we

took?

DAVE (NAVIGATOR)

Internal sensors are right off the scale.

It seems our systems are being affected.

The ship suddenly changes momentum and they feel it slow down. Elizabeth touches an intercom control on her console.


Engineering, what's the problem? It appears

we’ve dropped out of hyperlight.

INT: ENGINEERING — NIGHT

Down in engineering, there’s hectic activity as the two engineers are rushing to deal with the engine malfunctions. The chief engineer named Franklin, grabs a communication earpiece from his desk and puts it on. He then returns to the control panel near the engine where the other engineer is manipulating the controls.

FRANKLIN (HYPERLIGHT ENGINEER)

Sub-Commander, both hyperlight engines just

went offline right after the alarm sounded,

and our drive plasma venting valves opened

on their own. We need the rest of the

engineers down here to help close them

manually.


I'm sure they’re up and on their way. No

one can sleep through that alarm!

The Sub-Commander looks up at a flight systems technician sitting to the right of Dave at his monitoring console.


Peter, see if you can turn that alarm off

and use the crew quarters intercom to make

sure the engineers are headed to their

stations?

PETER (SYSTEMS TECH.)

Will do!


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Also get Demetrius up here! We need to find

out if any of us have been affected by the

radiation.

The Sub-Commander turns to Dave.


Dave, send a transmission to Earth and

inform them of what’s just happened.

The alarm finally shuts off.


The doctor’s already on his way to the

bridge, Sub-Commander, and so is the

Captain.

DAVE (NAVIGATOR)

Commander, all subspace communications are

offline. It also seems that any computer

systems linked to the external surface of

the ship are also offline.


Several minutes later down in engineering, there’s frantic activity as five engineers are trying to manually close a set of electronic valves to stop the loss of drive plasma. The main engineer observing from the side talks on his communicator once again.


Sub-Commander, these things were never

meant to be easily accessed by hand. It's

taking too long to shut them down, and

we’re losing a lot of drive plasma. Can you

fill me in on what’s happened?


It seems we passed too close to what

appeared to be a piece of a neutron star

and took a massive dose of radiation.


Neutron radiation.... How bad was it?


We don't know, yet! The doc hasn't got up

here to check us out, but internal sensors

were right off the scale. We’ll keep you

informed.


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The ship’s Captain, a tall man in his late 40s with short slightly graying hair, has just made it to the bridge.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Sub-Commander, what's going on with the

ship, we've dropped out of hyperlight?


Yes, Captain, our engines are offline and

so is subspace communication. Sensors have

recorded that we took a massive hit from

neutron radiation as we passed by a piece

of debris off our port side.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

How bad is the damage to the hyperlight

engines?


We don't have anything on that yet, except

that we’re venting drive plasma.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Well, that's a design flaw we better get

fixed on the next ship. How are the stasis

pods doing?


I haven't checked yet, sir!

The Captain walks up to a panel and touches an intercom control.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

This is the Captain, what’s happening down

in stasis, have the pods been affected in

any way?

A voice is heard over the intercom and replies.

BRENT (STASIS ENGINEER)

Brent here, sir, I don't think they’ve been

affected. They’re all still online.

DAVE (NAVIGATOR)

Captain, that area in the ship is well

shielded, it would most likely be okay.


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BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Well... we'll see after we get everything

else under control.

The Captain touches another control on the communications panel.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Engineering, this is the Captain, how’s it

going down there?

Over the intercom Franklin’s voice can be heard.


We just closed the last valve now, sir, but

we’ve lost nearly 68 percent of our

remaining drive plasma.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Son of a ...... is that going to leave us

enough to get to the planet?


I doubt it, sir, but it’ll be a one-way

trip if we make it! There’s no way we’ll be

able to even start back.

The Captain pauses for a moment and shakes his head slightly, then continues.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

I guess we’ll worry about that when the

time comes, any status on the engines, yet?


We’re just looking into that now, sir. I’ll

get back to you as soon as we’ve got

something for you.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Okay, keep me informed.

Demetrius, the ship’s doctor, a man in his mid-40s, has entered the bridge with a scanner in his hand and is checking over the crew starting with the Captain.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Doc, glad you could join us, do you have

any preliminaries, yet?


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DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

Not precisely, sir, but I can tell you that

the crew in different parts of the ship

took various levels of radiation, depending

on where they were.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Would that be due to the different density

shielded sections?

The doctor moves forward towards where Elizabeth is now standing.

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

Yes, exactly! Crewman Johnson said she was

in the corridor by a port side window when

the radiation hit the ship. She received a

massive dose, and I've already sent her to

the med lab to lie down.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Is there anything you can do for her?

The doctor doesn't answer out loud but shakes his head as he looks up at the Captain, while he scans the Sub-Commander, now standing by the navigation console. INT: ENGINEERING — NIGHT

Back down in engineering, they’re all working on the ship’s drive system and one engineer looks up at Franklin (after closing a panel) and shakes his head. Franklin takes a deep breath then turns and walks a couple steps away and touches his communicator.


Captain, this is ‘Engineering’.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Go ahead Franklin, what's the good news?


There isn't much of that, sir, the

electronic systems on hyperlight engines

two and three are totally fried, it's going

to take us at least three days to rebuild

them, if we have enough parts we can

scavenge from other sections of the ship.

The Captain takes a deep breath, looks at the floor and shakes his head slightly, then continues.


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BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

What about our reserve engine, it was off

its duty cycle, right?


Yes, hyperlight one was still offline when

the radiation hit.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Very good, get it back online and up to

hyperlight as soon as possible and keep me

informed on how the repairs are going.


Will do, sir!

INT: BRIDGE — NIGHT

The doctor has completed scanning everyone on the bridge and turns to head off, but pauses and turns again to the Captain.

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

I'm going to check on Crewman Johnson

before going to engineering, I'll give you

my results after I’ve examined everyone.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Very good, Doc, talk to you later.

After the doctor exits the bridge, the Sub-Commander suddenly staggers a bit and slumps down into one of the command chairs. She puts her right hand on her forehead and then as she leans forward, she grips her head with both hands. The Captain notices and comes over to her.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Are you okay, Elizabeth?


Yeah, I'm fine, just a little light-headed,

and a pounding headache; too much

excitement, I guess.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Let’s hope that's all it is!

DAVE (NAVIGATOR)

Captain, what would you say our maximum

speed would be with only one engine,

somewhere around three point five

hyperlight?

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)


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Yeah, I'd say about that... but we won't

press our luck until we get another one

online. Run it at only three quarters

output, that should get us around two point

seven or there about.

DAVE (NAVIGATOR)

Very good sir.... engine one has just come

online and we’re jumping to hyperlight now.

The ship changes momentum with a slight jarring of everyone on board, as the ship rapidly accelerates; to many times the speed of light. After a few moments Dave continues.

DAVE (NAVIGATOR)

Adjusting output to three quarters of

maximum....... we’re now indicating

hyperlight speed of 2.6 and holding.

Dave sits back in his chair and rotates it slightly to face towards the Captain.

DAVE (NAVIGATOR)

It’s good we had one engine in reserve.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Well, a person would be crazy not to have a

spare on a trip like this. Help isn’t

exactly right around the corner out here.

DAVE (NAVIGATOR)

There’s no doubt about that!

The Captain walks around the command console and partially sits on the edge of the holographic astro-navigational table. He folds his arms in front of him as he thinks for a moment, and addresses Peter the systems tech #1.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Pete, do some calculations for me and see

how much extra time this is going to add to

our trip. If we only have one engine for

say about four days. I know it isn't gonna

be pretty but we'd better find out.


All right, sir, I should have something for

you shortly.


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INT: Medical BAY — NIGHT

The doctor has just entered the medical bay and talks to Crewman Johnson from across the room, as he looks for something in a cabinet.

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

Sorry, I took so long to get back to you,

how are you feeling?

There’s no response from her, and the doctor comes over to where she’s lying on her back on an examination table.

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

Emily, can you hear me?

The doctor takes out his scanner and checks her with it. After several seconds he breathes out a sigh and puts the scanner in his pocket. He then takes a blanket from the foot of another bed and covers the crewman from the feet to the chest and stops to talk to her.

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

Emily Johnson, you’re a fine crewman and a

good friend.

The doctor pauses a moment and then takes the top of the folded blanket and covers her face. He then leaves the room.


Down in engineering, Franklin and Moustapha who were on duty during the incident, begin to feel very weak. All five engineers are working on taking apart one of the drive system control panels. As the doctor enters engineering, Franklin drops to his knees and the others help him to a chair. The doctor scans him.

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

You’d better just sit for now Franklin.


What is it, Doc, it's like I suddenly have

no energy at all?

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

You’re feeling the effects of the radiation

we encountered. Our shields seemed to have

offered very little protection from it.


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Franklin puts both hands up to his head as he leans forward in the chair and winces in pain.


Oh God, that hurts.... Has everyone been

affected, Doc?

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

Yes... to a greater or lesser degree,

depending on how deep in the ship they

were. Just rest for now, no sudden

movements!

The doctor begins to scan the rest of the engineers and after a few minutes, puts his scanner away.

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

Okay, you three help Franklin and Moustapha

to the med lab and stay with them. I'll

meet you there, shortly. I need to check on

Brent in the stasis bay.

MOUSTAPHA (HYPERLIGHT ENGINEER)

But Doc, we need to get started on this

engine; the Captain’s going to want at

least one of them back up and running as

soon as possible.

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

Just do as I say! I’ll be speaking to the

Captain; shortly, and I want you all in the

med lab for now.

The other engineers step closer to the two who are now sitting on the chairs and a female reaches down to take Franklin’s arm.

DONNA (HYPERLIGHT ENGINEER)

All right, come on; let’s get you to the

med lab.

They help the other two engineers to steady themselves and begin to make their way out of engineering as the doctor leaves.


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The second shift navigator, Gerry, comes onto the bridge as Dave seems stressed.

Gerry (NAVIGATOR)

Dave... you got everything under control?

DAVE (NAVIGATOR)

I don't know, Gerry, I was doing okay a few

minutes ago but now I feel really lousy.

I’ve got this intense headache.

Gerry (NAVIGATOR)

Look... why don't you let me take over, you

should maybe take Elizabeth down to the med

lab; she doesn't look so hot, either.

Elizabeth now has her head resting on her arms and is slumped over the control console, while sitting in a command chair.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

That's a good idea, Dave, you and the Sub-

Commander take a break. Where’s Lester,

anyway?

The navigator helps the Sub-Commander up and they both leave the bridge.

Gerry (NAVIGATOR)

He's on his way, sir. Believe it or not

that alarm didn't wake him.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Well, he better get his butt up here,

quick!

The doctor’s voice comes over the ship’s intercom.

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

Captain, I need to see you in the

conference room next to the med lab, as

soon as possible.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Is it necessary right now, Doc? We’re kind

of busy up here.

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

It’s critical, sir, I’ll meet you there in

five minutes. I'm coming up from the stasis

area now.


27


The intercom clicks off and the Captain speaks to the navigator, Gerry.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Oh, oh! I wonder what's happened to our

passengers.... All right... Gerry, you have

the bridge. Peter, get me those numbers as

soon as you can.

TECHNICIAN#1 (PETER)

Almost done, sir, I'll bring them down to

the conference room.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Fine, see you there.

INT: CONFERENCE ROOM — NIGHT

The Captain has just walked past the medical bay and sees his whole engineering team in there; then enters the conference room, where the doctor is seated at the conference table and entering data on a pad.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Doc, what’re all my engineers doing sitting

in there? We have to get working on those

other two engines?

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

Please sit down, Captain!

The Captain appears a little impatient but pulls a chair out and sits down.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

All right, give me the bad news, what's

happened with the stasis pods?

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

As far as I can tell, the pods were totally

unaffected. Their casings are heavily

shielded against all known types of

radiation and being deep in the ship away

from the direction of the radiation burst,

also helped.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Well then, what's the problem? We have to

get every able-bodied crewman working on

repairing our systems.

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

The problem, Captain, is that there aren’t

any able-bodied crewmen left.


28


The Captain pauses, then looking more concerned; he leans forward over the table towards the doctor and continues.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Could you say that again?

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

Captain ... virtually everyone on the ship

received a massive dose of radiation. The

sensors indicated it was neutronic, but

there were exotic elements which our

sensors couldn't even identify.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

What are you saying, Doc? How bad is it?

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

We’ve already lost Crewman Johnson; she

took the biggest hit, being right near a

port window. The engineers who were on duty

can no longer walk by themselves.

The Captain shakes his head.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Well, I feel fine!

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

You do for now! Everyone that was off duty

was shielded somewhat compared to the crew

that was on duty.

The Captain sits back and pauses as the realization hits him.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

How much time do we have?

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

From my scans of the personnel, everyone

that was on duty will be incapacitated

within the next couple hours. Those that

were off duty will begin feeling weak in

about five hours and probably not last for

another eight.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Holy Crap, Doc, you really know how to

deliver bad news, isn’t there anything you

can do for us?


29


DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

I'm afraid not, our internal organs are in

an accelerated state of shutting down and

there’s just no time to counteract the

process.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

What’s your recommendation, Doc?

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

You should inform everyone who still can,

to record any last thoughts they want to

leave behind, as soon as possible.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Of course, Doc, but I meant about our

situation.......

The Captain leans back in his chair and pauses for a moment, then breathes out a sigh.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Okay... let’s get everyone in on this; we

don't have any time to stand on protocol.

The Captain touches his earpiece communicator.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

This is the Captain. I want everyone on the

ship to meet in the conference room next to

the med lab, immediately!

INT: CONFERENCE ROOM — NIGHT

Several minutes later everyone has gathered in the conference room, except for the two engineers and the Sub-Commander, who are lying down in the med lab. Ten of them sit in the chairs around the table and the rest are standing, the Captain addresses the crew.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Alright everyone, there’s no sweet way to

put this, so here’s how we stand. Some of

you are already feeling the effects of the

radiation and the doctor tells me we’re all

dying, and rather quickly. We’ve already

lost Emily about 20 minutes ago. The shift

that was on duty has very little time left,

maybe a couple hours at best so I want you

to record any last words you want to leave

behind, the doctor has brought these data

pads for you to use. Take a few minutes to

yourself and get started.


30


The doctor hands out several data pads from a stack he had set beside him on the table. Peter takes out the data pad he brought into the room and begins entering calculations.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Now, for those that were off shift it isn't

much better, we have a few hours at best,

and I need ideas. What should we do with

the colonists?

DONNA (HYPERLIGHT ENGINEER)

Why don't we wake them and give them a

crash course on running the ship’s engines

and other systems? They can continue on

their own.

Peter interjects.

PETER (SYSTEMS TECH)

I don't know, sir... from my calculations,

with only one engine and with what drive

plasma we have left, there’s no way the

ship will make it to the planet. It’ll lose

hyperlight speed in about 11 months and at

only half speed it’ll still be 9 months

from destination.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

So, they’ll be adrift in space with no

power and still about nine months out....

That’s not a great outlook for them, is it?

PETER (SYSTEMS TECH)

Especially not the children, sir! I would

recommend we don't wake them at all.

They probably can't repair the external

communications systems, and even if they

could, a second ship wouldn't reach them

for months after they lost all power and

life support.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

What do you think, Doc?

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

Well, there are some pretty intelligent

people in those pods, but we obviously

can't replace the lost drive plasma to give

them a chance of making it, so I suppose

leaving them in stasis would be the most

humane thing to do.


31


MILES (HYPERLIGHT ENGINEER)

Sir, what about just shutting down the

hyperlight and leaving the one engine

online, at about 1 or 2 percent output,

basically idling. It could maintain stasis

pod integrity and minimum ship life

support.

The Captain takes a moment to think, then responds while slightly nodding his head.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

They could drift in space for decades that

way, but maybe that would still be their

best option.

ENGINEER #2

Maybe we can set up a transponder to

continuously transmit a mayday. Even if not

on subspace, any ships passing within a

light year or two would pick it up,

eventually.

GERRY (NAVIGATOR)

Sir, what about another planet?

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Have you got one in mind?

GERRY (NAVIGATOR)

The first exploration ship passed through

here and visited a lot of systems in those

12 years.

I remember the some of the data we looked

at back in training.

Many were habitable, but they were rejected

for one reason or another.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

If they rejected them, though, what chance

do you think the colonists will have?

GERRY (NAVIGATOR)

Well I suppose as good a chance as drifting

in space hoping to be picked up before

they’re a popsicle, if they’re lucky.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

You make a good point. Okay, start looking

for a suitable planet in the database and

the rest of you prepare the ship to operate


32


on automatic. We only have a few hours to

accomplish this, so let’s get to it.

Some of the crew get up to leave, but Gerry has something to add.

GERRY (NAVIGATOR)

Should we wake any of them to let them know

what’s happening?

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

No, let them sleep, if we can't find a

suitable system to take them to, they’ll

still last far longer in stasis.

Moving throughout the ship we watch the activities of some of the crewman leaving recorded messages for their families, while others are working on ship’s systems.

INT: BRIDGE — MORNING

Hours later, the Navigator and Captain are on the bridge as Gerry brings up a holographic projection of a solar system on a star chart for the Captain to look at.

GERRY (NAVIGATOR)

Captain, I found a system the ship can

easily make it to, but we have another

problem?


33


BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

What's that?

GERRY (NAVIGATOR)

Our navigation computer is acting up, it

might have been affected by the radiation.

We’re gonna to have to wake one of the

colonists so they can pilot the ship once

it’s in the system, and set the ship up for

a landing when it gets there.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

How far out is the system?

GERRY (NAVIGATOR)

It’ll take just over three weeks, sir,

exactly 24 days 3 hours, with our single

hyperlight engine running as it is.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Okay, that's the plan then, set a course

for the planet and have the computer drop

the ship out of hyperlight just as it

approaches orbiting distance. Is it a

direct route?

GERRY (NAVIGATOR)

Yes, it's direct to the planet with no

course corrections and about 85 degrees off

from our current direction of travel.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Okay, make it happen! I'm going to see the

doc, I'll be back shortly.

The Captain staggers a bit, and grabs his head; as Gerry, also appearing weak, manipulates the control panel.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Damn headache.

He checks his watch.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

We don't have much time left.


34


GERRY (NAVIGATOR)

Course is laid in, sir. I'm just going to

shut my eyes for a while, if that's okay

with you.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

You go right ahead, good job Lieutenant!

GERRY (NAVIGATOR)

Thank you, sir!

The Captain leaves the bridge as Gerry locks the control panel and then leans forward resting his head on his folded arms over the panel. INT: MEDICAL BAY — MORNING

The doctor is entering some data on a data pad while standing amidst four examining tables (which have bodies on them) and they’re covered with blankets. The Captain comes in.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Hi Doc, where’s everyone else?

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

I sent them to their quarters to rest.

There was no point in them being here when

their time comes.

The Captain nods his head in agreement and leans on a table.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Doc, we’ve found a system to head towards

but we gotta to wake one of the colonists

to pilot the ship, once it gets there. I

don’t feel so good... can you make it down

to the stasis area and select one of them

to do it?

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

How do I pick one who’ll be able to pilot

the ship?

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

There’s a list in the stasis area of the

group leaders who’ve been trained in

simulators to fly the ship in case of an

emergency. Look for a James, Justin,

Kristen, or a Todd if I remember correctly.

A couple of them actually have piloting

experience, it’s on the list; they’ll do

fine.


35


DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

What do I tell them?

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Tell them the ship is already set up to fly

to the system, and they just need to set it

up to orbit the planet and then get the

navigation computer to select a landing

location.

The Captain sits down in a chair and appears very weak as the doctor takes out his scanner and quickly checks him.

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

How far away is this system?

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

It’s 24 days 3 hours, and according to

Gerry, the ship will drop out of hyperlight

right near the planet.

The doctor puts his scanner away and begins to leave, then stops and turns back to the Captain.

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

Captain, have you recorded your message

yet?

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

No, I haven't had the time.

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

Well, you’d better take the time now, you

can patch into your command center from my

office.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

Okay, Doc, I'll get to it, let me know how

it goes down in the stasis bay.

The doctor leaves the med lab, as the Captain walks over to the doctor’s console and sits in his chair. He activates the control panel and begins to record his message.

BAYLOR (CAPTAIN)

This is Captain Balor Tan of the Colony

ship, Earth Quadra...


36


INT: STASIS BAY — MORNING

Down in the stasis bay area the doctor is going over the list of colonists with the stasis engineer.

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

How are you feeling, Brent?


Actually, Doc, I still feel okay.

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

I figured that. You were the least affected

being down here when the radiation hit and

you’ll probably be the last one of the crew

to expire.


Gees Doc! I guess that's supposed to be

good news.

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

Well, that’s as good as it gets in this

situation. Can you bring up the list of the

colonists for me?

Brent activates the control panel and brings up the manifest of the colony members.


Okay, here they are, what’re you looking

for?

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

There’s four of them trained to operate the

ship’s navigation in case of an emergency

and some are supposed to have piloting

skills.

Brent types in some information.


Okay, from the list it looks like we have a

choice between James, an engineer and

Justin who’s a security officer; both are

pilots.

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

Who would you pick, Brent?


37



I’d go with the engineer. I think he’d be

more familiar with the computer systems on

the bridge in case there were malfunctions.

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

Okay, it shows he’s in Stasis Pod 23. Let’s

wake him.

The doctor makes his way to Pod #23. Brent enters a code into the control panel, and looks down the row of pods for a reaction. When nothing happens he enters it again and waits, but still nothing.


Doc, we have a problem. The computer isn't

responding; the program must have been

affected as well since it’s connected to

the rest of the ship’s systems.

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

Do we have a manual override?


Yes, we have an emergency override but

it’ll open all the pods at once.

What if they don't make it to the planet

system we’re heading to and we’ve already

revived them all?

The doctor pauses for a moment and looks at the floor, then back at Brent.

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

I'll contact the Captain.

The doctor uses his communicator and calls the Captain.

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

Captain, we have a problem with the

computer controls in the stasis area, we

can’t open an individual pod. We can only

override all of them at once. How do you

suggest we proceed?

There’s no response from the Captain, and the doctor tries it again.

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

Captain, do you read me?


38


The doctor takes off his communicator and looks at it, then steps over to the stasis area control panel and activates the ship-wide intercom.

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

Captain, if you can read me, please

respond?

He waits for a few moments and looks up at Brent; then tries again.

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

Anyone on the ship, please respond!

There are a few more seconds of complete silence. The doctor takes a deep breath and steadies himself against the console, then turns to Brent.

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

Brent, I think we’re on our own, and

judging from how I feel you’ll be on your

own, shortly.


What should we do, Doc?

The Doctor takes a couple moments to think and as he looks up, he stares at the one empty stasis pod standing upright.

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

Look, instead of overriding all the pods

and waking everyone, why don't we put you

in the spare pod that was left empty, when

the injured colonist couldn’t make it the

morning of launch day.


Okay, it was offline when the radiation hit

and will most likely work fine; but what

good, will that do?

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

It’ll slow down your bodily functions and

you’ll still be alive when we enter the

system.


Are you sure, Doc?

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

Well, as sure as I can be. I'm not thinking

too straight with this headache..... At

least it's worth a try.


39


Brent sits down at the control panel and enters commands.


Okay, Doc, when should I set it to open?

The doctor checks his watch.

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

Set the pod up to wake you in 24 days, 2

hours, and 30 minutes. According to what

the Captain told me, that’ll put the ship

roughly 15 minutes from the planet on a

direct course.

The engineer enters information on the control panel.


What do I do then, Doc?

They both walk towards the empty stasis pod, as Brent steadies the doctor.

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

Make your way to the bridge and verify the

ship is approaching a planet. It should

have dropped out of hyperlight by the time

you get there. Set it up for a high orbit

of a few hundred kilometers, then come and

wake the rest of the colonists. Tell them

to get ready to land the ship.


40


Stopping at the pod, Brent touches a control on the side and the rolling clear cover retracts. The engineer gets into the stasis pod, then reaches out and shakes the doctor’s hand.


Okay, Doc, I guess this is good-bye then,

you’re going to have to lock me in.

DEMETRIUS (DOCTOR)

Yes, it is Brent. Good-bye, my friend.

The clear door closes on the pod as the doctor staggers a bit and drops to one knee. Then reaches up and activates the controls on the side of the pod that locks it, and the engineer is instantly put into stasis. The pod then rotates horizontally.

The doctor gets up, steadies himself and makes his way towards the exit. After climbing just a couple steps he collapses to the floor and lies still.

EXT: SPACE VIEW

Twenty-four days later we see the ship coming into a solar system and heading towards a blue-colored planet in the distance. Catching up to the ship and moving down into the stasis bay we see the rows of stasis pods.

INT: STASIS BAY — DAY

From behind the control console in the stasis area we see a close-up of the timer counting down. When it reaches zero there’s a sound coming from the stasis pod the engineer was placed in. It rotates upright again and the transparent cover retracts. Brent slowly and


41


tentatively steps out onto the floor. He’s weak but still coherent and begins to make his way to the bridge, passing the doctor’s body along the way as he leaves the stasis area. INT: BRIDGE — DAY

On reaching the bridge, he makes his way to the navigation console and moves Gerry, who was slumped over the panel. Gerry’s body falls to the floor as Brent sits down. Talking to himself, he leans over the console and slowly manipulates the controls as he continues to weaken.


Sorry, about that Gerry, but I don't have

much time, either. Let’s see now, we've

already dropped out of hyperlight, lock out

controls are now off... and orbital

navigation is engaged with engine number

one set at 2 percent output... Automatic

orbital controls are on and let’s set it up

for an altitude of five hundred miles above

the planet. Turning all scanners on to

record land surface features and searching

for a suitable landing site. Shields are at

full capacity.


Okay, Brent, let’s get you back down and

wake our passengers.

Brent gets up slowly and staggers a bit as he leans against the console, before straightening up again. Holding one hand to his head for a moment and wincing in pain from a severe headache, he makes his way off the bridge. INT: STASIS BAY — DAY

Brent staggers into the stasis area breathing heavily, trying to take in enough oxygen as he keeps going. His face is racked with pain as he makes his way to the control panel and finally sits down in the chair. He stares at the emergency override indicator on the panel, but slowly closes his eyes and doesn't move again.

EXT: PLANET-AERIAL VIEW — NIGHT

We move outside the ship once more and see it silhouetted against the blue planet floating in space. We watch as the planet begins to spin rapidly and time lapses; as it slows down, we enter the ship again.


42



Moving through the ship and up to the bridge, it appears quite cold inside with frost on the surface of the console where Gerry’s body is lying on the floor. Looking at his face, we see it is dehydrated and has a shrunken appearance. The ship had automatically reduced lighting, internal temperature, and unnecessary operating systems when only five percent of the ship’s main power supplies remained.

Out of the front view screen, we see the planet beneath the ship and on the bridge we see the navigation control date display and it reads December 20, 2172. A light begins to blink on the console, with a flashing display indicating "Emergency Reserve Power Engaged" and an intermittent alarm sounds on the bridge. INT: STASIS BAY — NIGHT

Instantly moving to the stasis bay and looking at the control panel, we see Brent's dehydrated corpse still sitting in the chair. On the panel, a flashing display activates which reads "Emergency Stasis Override", and suddenly the full area lighting turns on again.

Seconds later, we hear the sounds of all the stasis pods rotating upright and opening all at once. Soon there is movement as some of the colonists wearing different colored jumpsuits slowly step out of their pods.


43


After a few moments of getting their bearings, Todd Martyn (a 38-year-old agrologist from Newfoundland, Canada) speaks up.

TODD

Well, it looks like we've arrived!

Kristen Compton (a 37-year-old psychologist and physician from Colorado) is standing outside her pod and looks at Todd.

KRISTEN

I don't know; I think something's wrong.

Why is it so cold in here? They must have

life support on minimum.

TODD

Listen, do you hear that?

KRISTEN

Hear what?

TODD

There's an alarm going off somewhere on the

ship.

KRISTEN

Yeah, I hear it now, where is the crew

anyway And why am I so stiff, they said there wouldn’t be any side effects on our musculature structure?


44


Another colonist, James Doulan (a 42-year-old physicist and engineer from Chile) walks over to them.

JAMES

Yeah I feel it too. It looks like one of the

crew is sleeping over there at the control

panel.

James points at the crewman sitting behind the control panel at the front of the stasis bay. Kristen, James, and Todd make their way over towards the control console. When they get closer their eyes widen and they look at each other in amazement as they see the shrunken and dehydrated corpse of Brent sitting in the chair. Kristen and James look closer and examine him, as Todd looks at the control panel.

KRISTEN

What's happened here, he’s totally

dehydrated, like he's mummified?

TODD

We might find some answers on the bridge,

but look here the pods were opened on

emergency override.

They look at the control panel for a few seconds and notice the date display readout indicating December 20, 2172. In the background, we can see other colonists moving about near the stasis pods and talking to each other. James speaks in a hushed tone to Kristen and Todd.

JAMES

Holy Crap, we slept in big time!

KRISTEN

Let’s move this body into the corner. I

don't want the children seeing this.

Kristen and Todd lift the corpse from the chair and lay it on the floor against the wall and move a crate in front of it. Justin Sigurdbjorn (a 36-year-old security officer from Iceland) walks up to them as James activates the ship-wide intercom on the panel.

JAMES

This is James in the stasis bay, anyone

onboard, please respond!

Another colonist, Michael McTier (a 43-year-old physicist from Scotland) also comes over to the group as Todd speaks.

TODD

It's not likely anyone will answer.


45


MICHAEL

What's going on guys, it’s cold in here?

Michael sees the corpse and instantly has a concerned look on his face.

MICHAEL

What happened here, and who was that?

KRISTEN

The name tag on the uniform says it was

Brent, one of the stasis engineers. I don't

want the children to see this.

Kristen turns to Justin.

KRISTEN

Justin, can you keep them away from this

area while we go see what's happening on

the bridge?

JUSTIN

Yes, absolutely, you go ahead!

James has walked nearer to the exit of the stasis bay and is bending down over where the doctor is lying, then turns and quietly calls back to the group.

JAMES

We have another one. It looks like it must

have been the ship’s doctor from the

clothing.

KRISTEN

Let’s put him with the other one before

anyone else gets up here.

Michael and James move the doctor's corpse and lay it behind the crate where Brent’s body was placed.

MICHAEL

Man, he can't weigh more than 30 kilos!

JAMES

Yes, sixty years of drying out can do that

to a corpse.

MICHAEL

What do you mean?


46


JAMES

Look at the date on the panel!

Michael looks at the date display on the panel and then back at James with a expression.

KRISTEN

Justin, fill in the team leaders on what

we've found here and we'll contact you on

the ship’s intercom as soon as we know

something more. Try and keep everyone else

here, we don't know how many more of the

crew are lying around on the ship.

Justin nods his head and turns away from Kristen. He walks towards the colonists who are beginning to make their way to the front in small groups, and holds up his hands to stop their advance.

JUSTIN

Okay, everyone, Kristen has requested that

we all remain here for now. James and Todd

are going with her to the bridge to find

out what’s happening. Could I see all the

team leaders over here, please?


Kristen, James, and Todd enter the bridge to find only the corpse of Gerry lying on the floor beside the navigation console. They see on the view screen a planet just below them and notice the flashing display indicating “Emergency Reserve Power Engaged”. James sits down at the panel.

JAMES

Well, I guess we know why the pods all

opened, the ship is down to emergency

reserves and it looks like our orbit is

already decaying.

While James sits in the chair and he and Todd look over the control console, Kristen looks out of the ship’s forward viewing window.

KRISTEN

That's not the planet we’re supposed to be

at, guys! Earth Quadra doesn't have large

oceans.


47


TODD

Can we figure out where we are from the

navigation records?

JAMES

I don’t think it matters right now, guys,

and it doesn’t look like we have the time

to find out anyway.

KRISTEN

What do you mean?

JAMES

At our present rate of orbital decay we’re

going to be on the surface in less than 40

minutes, in one form or another.

KRISTEN

Can't we stabilize our orbit?

JAMES

No way, there’s not enough power reserves

left; and we only have directional

thrusters to help us land, or should I say

crash!

TODD

Can you pick a spot to guide us down?

JAMES

Not me, but the nav. computer has

calculated that on our present trajectory

and descent vector we’ll just make the edge

of one of the continents. I'm locking in an

automatic landing sequence so the computer

guidance system will locate the best spot

on the terrain to come down, but we aren't

able to have much directional control.

TODD

Reserve what power we have left then for

the shields and braking thrusters. If we

burn up before we hit the ground it isn't

gonna matter where we come down.

James continues to make entries into the navigational computer.

JAMES

Got yah; but this impact is still gonna be

really nasty and inertial dampeners won't

protect us.


48


KRISTEN

I thought this ship had atmospheric flight

capabilities in case of engine failure?

TODD

Your right, it does! Type it into the

emergency flight control sequence, James;

we can use it about now.

James does some searching for the right sequence on the control console; then finds what he’s looking for.

JAMES

Okay, here it is! This should deploy the

glide wings and air brakes as we enter the

atmosphere.

James enters the request on the panel as Kristen activates the ship’s intercom at the main command console.

KRISTEN

Justin, this is Kristen on the bridge, do

you read me?

JUSTIN

Yeah, we read you, Kristen. I have the team

leaders here with me.

KRISTEN

Okay, listen up everyone, we can't explain

much right now, as we don't have time, but

the ship is in a decaying orbit above an

unknown planet and we need to prepare for a

crash landing.

JUSTIN

How much time do we have?

Kristen looks at James.

JAMES

About 33 minutes before impact.

Kristen continues on the ship wide intercom.

KRISTEN

We have less than 33 minutes, Justin, and

the ship’s inertial dampeners won't be

enough to keep us from feeling it, big

time!


49


INT: STASIS BAY — NIGHT

In the stasis bay, Wendy Bariso (a 38-year-old geophysicist from Australia) one of the team leaders who is standing close to Justin, steps up to the intercom.

WENDY

Kristen, we could use one of the gravity

field generators to anchor us to the

gravitation plating, if we can find a space

large enough to activate it.


Todd steps up to the intercom beside Kristen.

TODD

Cargo Bay Three is probably the best bet.

We could move the crates around and make a

spot on the floor, but we’ll also need a

portable force shield.

KRISTEN

Wendy, that's a great idea! Get everyone

down to Cargo Bay Three and start making

room so we can all fit; also send someone

to grab a gravity field generator, and a

force shield generator, I think they were

put in Cargo Bay One.

JUSTIN

We’ll get started now, Kristen, you guys

make sure you get to Bay Three in time.

KRISTEN

We'll be there. I just want to retrieve as

much information as we can in case we lose

the bridge. See you, shortly.

TODD

Let’s pull the hard drives for the ship’s

flight logs and take them with us, they

should fill us in on what’s happened here.

JAMES

I'll grab the ship’s sensor records from

scanning the planet. It looks like it’s

been recording the surface for quite some

time, and may come in handy.

They spend a few minutes pulling out a couple small hard drive systems, and then James sits back down at the control panel. Todd turns to him as he was about to leave the bridge.


50


TODD

What are you doing? We’ve gotta get down to

the cargo bay!

JAMES

I want to configure all the reserve power

to just the forward shields, that's where

the most heat buildup will be.

TODD

What about when we hit, we might need

shields all around?

JAMES

The shields will most likely be gone by the

time we hit. Hopefully, braking thrusters

and the ship’s atmospheric air brakes will

have slowed us enough so we don't

completely disintegrate on impact.

KRISTEN

Do we have any maneuvering thrusters on the

nose?

There’s a sudden jolt to the craft and a low roaring sound begins to be heard.

TODD

We just started skimming the upper

atmosphere.

JAMES

I know what you’re thinking, but the power

reserves will be gone before we get close

enough to use them.

KRISTEN

Then shut down all life support and reserve

that power for the maneuvering thrusters,

if we can pitch the nose up a bit just

before impact we might slide along the

surface rather than going in at too steep

an angle.

JAMES

Good idea! We'll have enough oxygen for the

next half hour, and we won't have to worry

about it getting cold. By then, it’ll all

be over, anyway.


51


James enters some more commands and then he and Todd are about to leave as Kristen interrupts their exit.

KRISTEN

Guys, if there’s a chance to save some of

the bridge shouldn’t we close the viewing

window.

James stops and quickly goes over to the main command control panel.

JAMES

Your right! That would help.

James manipulates a control and the impact protection shield envelopes the front viewing window, then the three of them rush off the bridge.


From outside, we see the ship’s surface beginning to heat up and pushing a bow wave in front of the forward shield as it enters the atmosphere. It’s coming out of the night side of the planet and entering the day side as the glide wings deploy.


52


INT: CARGO BAY — DAY

Down in Cargo Bay One, we see Katherine Constance (a 37-year-old electronics engineer from Russia), Jeffrey Quadell (a 27-year-old electronics and communications specialist New Zealand); and two others checking the manifest log on the cargo bay touch screen data center, looking for the crates containing the items they need.

KATHERINE

Here it is, gravity field generators are in

Section D: Crates 9 to 14, and the force

shields are in Section K: Crates 3 to 11.

Jeffrey talks to the other two colonists who are with them.

JEFFREY

Katherine and I will get the gravity

generator and you two get a portable force

shield.

They split into two groups and both take off down the cargo bay isle looking for the right crates, Jeffrey and Katherine find their crate; shortly, and open it.

JEFFREY

Yep, this is it, I'll carry the generator;

you grab the kit that goes with it.

KATHERINE

What will we need the kit for?


53


JEFFREY

Just in case we need a little help clearing

a space.

They grab the devices and head out of the cargo area. INT: CARGO BAY THREE — DAY

In Cargo Bay Three the colonists are all working frantically moving crates around to make a spot on the floor for them all to fit into. The rumbling outside the ship is increasing when Kristen, James, and Todd show up.

KRISTEN

How's it going, Michael? We've got about

fifteen minutes before impact, and we’d

better be anchored down a few minutes

before that.

MICHAEL

We’re moving as fast as we can but this is

where some of the largest crates were put.

We’re having trouble moving them around and

stacking them up to make enough room for

the edges of the force shield to touch the

floor.

Just then the four people who went looking for the gravity and force shield generators show up in the cargo bay. Jeff passes the gravity field generator to Michael.

JEFFREY

Here’s the gravity field generator, and we

brought this in case we needed a little

help.

Jeff motions towards Katherine and what she is carrying.

MICHAEL

Good thinking, Jeff, we can use that!

Kristen addresses the whole group as the roaring sound of the ship’s friction with the atmosphere is increasing and she has to speak loud to be heard.

KRISTEN

Okay, everyone, Michael is going to

activate the gravity field generator to

lighten the load a bit, and as soon as Jeff

gets suited up he can move the big stuff,

so stay out of his way!


54


Michael takes the gravity field generator to the middle of the cleared area and turns it on. Jeff is seen slipping his feet into large heavy technical-looking boots and then putting on large gloves which extend to his shoulders that have controls and emitters on them. He walks to the center of the room and activating a control on his gloves we see his boots anchor to the floor.

MICHAEL

Okay, everyone, I'm reducing gravity by

five times so be careful what you’re moving

around or bumping into and stay back near

the entrance while Jeff clears a spot.

Jeff touches the control panel on the gloves again and an energy beam is extended from the palms. It consists of tractor and repulsing beams to allow for the moving of heavy objects at a distance, while his feet are anchored with their own gravity weld to the floor. A compensating electromagnetic gravity field links the gloves to the boots so Jeff’s spine doesn’t have to take the load.

He begins sweeping some of the largest crates aside and picks some up from 10 m away and throws them over top of the rest, down the cargo bay.

The roaring sound suddenly increases inside the cargo bay, and they all feel a sudden jolt and change of momentum of the ship.


55



The maneuvering surfaces deploy on the glide wings, and the air brakes open up.

INT: CARGO BAY — DAY

JAMES

We’ve got to hurry, Jeff; that’s the air

brakes deploying, just nine minutes to

impact.

With a few more tosses, a large enough area is cleared of crates and Michael comes forward with the force shield generator. Ida Mak Wong (a 30-year-old Chinese Canadian from Quebec who specializes in botany) steps closer to Kristen.

IDA

Kristen, where’s the crew, we have to get

them in here, too?

KRISTEN

There is no crew, Ida, we’re on our

own, now!

Ida’s eyes grow wide and she seems startled as the ship begins to shake violently, descending into thicker atmosphere. Michael shouts over the noise.

MICHAEL

Okay, Jeff, good work; now everyone, get

inside the perimeter, I'm setting it for a


56


diameter of 12 meters then I'll activate

the shield.

They all move inside the perimeter as Michael activates the force shield generator.

A beam extends straight up 6 m into the air and then mushrooms out and down to the floor in a perfect dome-like arch. One crate edge was just inside the 12 m diameter and as the shield comes down and touches the floor; it cuts right through the crate. Kristen has to shout as the roar of the ship tearing through the atmosphere is very loud.

KRISTEN

Okay, everyone; we only have a few minutes,

lie down on the floor; this is going to

feel real heavy.

The colonists all lie down side by side as Michael activates the gravity field again, this time increasing the gravity several times, pinning everyone to the floor.

The sound of the ship streaking through the thickening atmosphere continues to increase as they all lie on their backs looking up at the ceiling of the cargo bay. They hear metal beginning to buckle on the ship’s hull from the heat caused by the friction with the atmosphere. James, lying close to Kristen turns his head and shouts to her.

JAMES

The shields must be gone, reserve power is

almost depleted, the magnetic clamps

holding the shuttles will be letting go.


57



The ship is now approaching the night side of the planet and we see the exterior shuttles, both at almost the same time, pulled off the transport ship from the friction with the atmosphere.

The exterior has no protection from the atmospheric friction and begins to glow red. Then we see braking-thrusters fire on the ship as it is approaching the surface.


58


INT: CARGO BAY THREE — NIGHT

Inside the protected force shield area, they can feel the momentum change as the thruster’s fire.

JAMES

Those were the braking thrusters. We should

feel the maneuvering thrusters on the nose

fire just before impact.

The ship is now rumbling, shaking, and roaring ferociously as the sound of buckling metal continues to increase. Some of the children begin to cry, as Todd shouts louder above the roar.

TODD

Hang on everyone, we’re almost there!


From the outside of the ship we see the forward maneuvering thrusters fire and watch the nose pitching upwards about 20 degrees higher than the tail of the ship, as it continues towards the surface of the planet.


The colonists feel the pitch upwards of the nose of the ship, and we see many of them reach over to the ones next to them and take hold of each other’s hands. Kristen shouts out.

KRISTEN

This is it everyone, good luck!


We see the super-heated exterior of the ship glowing in the darkness of the night, as it begins to cut a swath through the top of the forest canopy. The rear of the ship impacts the crest of a hill with a violent jolt, sending crates flying in the cargo bay. Then the rest of the ship levels out and begins to plow through the standing forest. Fires erupt almost instantly in the wake of the ship from the super-heated metal contacting the vegetation.


Inside the cargo bay area, the crates begin slamming into the force shield with such force that many burst open on impact scattering their contents over the top of the shield as the frightened children are screaming. The noise is incredible and the ride is bone shattering as the lights flicker and go out, in total darkness now the crashing sounds increase.


The front of the ship impacts a small embankment shearing it off and continues on its way, cutting a path of destruction through the forest. Finally, the ship begins to slow down as it plows into the ground and just clears a large stand of timber, coming to rest on the edge of a small clearing. A huge cloud of dust fills the forest as it begins to rain in the area.


59



Inside the cargo bay except for a few crates falling to the floor and some children crying, the noise has subsided. All they hear now is a hissing sound of water falling on the super-heated surface and then the creaking of buckling metal from the exterior of the ship as it is suddenly cooled by the rainfall. The emergency backup lights come on and the cargo bay is bathed in a dim red light. Then someone speaks.

KATHERINE

I can't believe it, we’re alive!

A sudden cheer goes up from the group; then laughter mixed with crying.

JAMES

Michael, shut the gravity field off! I

can't sit up.

MICHAEL

You got it!

Michael reaches over to the control on the gravity field generator right beside him, shuts it off and several colonists sit up.

JAMES

Just leave the force shield on for now, we

don't know what kind of integrity the hull

is in and how much of it’s been lost. Let’s

give it a couple minutes before we find

out.

MICHAEL

Good idea!

Everyone in the group begins to move; some stand and several hug each other and are happy to be alive. They start talking in small groups and Don Webber (a 29-year-old anthropologist from Alaska, USA) shouts out above the rest.

DON

Whohoo! Now that was a ride!

JUSTIN

You’ve always got a positive outlook on

things, don't you?

DON

I don't see the point in worrying about it,

you just die all tensed up that way.


60


Justin smiles at Don. JUSTIN

That may sound funny, but let’s not talk

too loud about dying after coming through

that. The kids won’t get the joke!

Ida walks over to Kristen and appears impatient.

IDA

Kristen, it seems we have a bit of time

now, would you care to fill us in on how we

got here?

KRISTEN

Yes, I guess this is as good a time as any.

Todd, do you still have it?

TODD

Yes, it's right over here.

Todd reaches over from his sitting position and picks up a small module which is a holographic display console and hands it to Kristen.

KRISTEN

Okay, let's shut off the shield for now and

slide a crate over here so we can set this

up on it.

Michael shuts off the force shield; then Don and Justin slide a large crate to the center of the area. Kristen places the console on the crate and inserts the ship’s log data base into the slot.

KRISTEN

I'm going to play the last entry; it should

give us a pretty good idea of what

happened.

As Kristen activates the device, a small holographic image of the Captain from the transport ship appears above the console. Just his head and shoulders are visible and the image is about 40 cm high and 60 cm wide. He looks very weak as he begins to speak.

CAPTAIN

This is Captain Baylor Tan of the Colony

ship, Earth Quadra. Whoever finds this, and

I hope it’s the team of colonists who are

still in their stasis pods; this will be my

last entry.

At roughly 3 a.m. on February 11, 2113; 203

days out from Earth, our ship passed too


61


close to a large object emitting an

extremely high discharge of neutron and

other forms of exotic radiation.

Our ship’s engines were affected

immediately, number two and three were out

of commission and we proceeded on

hyperlight engine number one which had been

offline at the time.

At first we thought it would just be a

delay until we could rebuild the

electronics in one more engine, but we

found out we had little time left. We lost

Crewman Emily Johnson first; only about 15

minutes after she took the largest hit from

the radiation, then the rest began to be

affected quite rapidly.

We believe the colonists in the ship’s

stasis area will be unaffected by the

radiation due to the extra shielding of

their pods and how deep they were in the

ship. Many electronic systems on the ship

were affected by the radiation coming from

the object, all subspace communications are

out and the venting valves for our drive

plasma opened due to malfunctioning

computer controls.

By the time we were able to shut it down

manually there wasn't enough plasma left to

power the ship to its destination. We also

discovered that the ship’s navigation

computer is no longer able to make long

range course corrections automatically.

We didn’t want to strand the colony team in

space without power or life support, so

we’ve located a planet that’s supposed to

support life, from one of the original

surveys of this part of the galaxy about

ten years ago and we’re now heading for it.

Unfortunately we only have minutes left so

we’ll set the ship up to fly to the planet

and come out of hyperlight close to orbit.

The doctor has gone down to stasis to wake

one of the colonists to take it in for a

landing, since the ship is still 24 days

out from the planet.


62


I wish there was more we could do for the

colonists, but there isn't and there’s no

time.

The Captain appears very weak now, and his head falls for a second, he slowly raises it and continues, but is now slurring his words together.

There... There just isn't any time... We

weren't able to send a Mayday, subspace

communications... offline from the

radiation....

But you colonists, if you’re watching this,

you’re a clever bunch... I am sure you can

send.... emergency beacon once you land.

You should be on the planet by... by March

7, 2113 I think... If you get a signal out,

you could be rescued within eight or nine

months? Good luck to you all and good-bye.

The message ends and as the image disappears... The colonists sit quietly as they take in what they’ve just witnessed. Wendy finally breaks the silence.

WENDY

Well, at least we know what they died from,

and it wasn’t a contagion of some kind.

KATHERINE

That’s something positive, at least.

It’s quiet again for a few moments and then Don speaks.

DON

Well, eight months isn't so bad, we should

be able to get a beacon up in a week or

two.

KATHERINE

Yeah, we could build one in about two

weeks. And there are enough emergency

rations in our cargo and the ship’s food

stores to last well over a year.

DON

We should be back in an earth ship easily

before then.


63


Todd, James, and Kristen look at each other; then Michael speaks.

MICHAEL

Well, that isn't quite all of it.

Don looks at Michael.

DON

You have more to add?

Michael looks at Kristen.

MICHAEL

Kristen did the ship’s time and date

display on the bridge match the date on the

console in the stasis area?

Kristen takes a moment, looks at the floor and then up at the rest of the group as she takes a deep breath and lets it out before answering.

KRISTEN

Yes, it did, it was the same as the one in

the stasis bay. Today’s date is December

20, 2172.

WENDY

What did you say?

Several people also ask a similar question, and the voice of one child can be heard.

CHILD

Mommy, what does that mean?

Kristen repeats her answer and then explains.

KRISTEN

December 20, 2172! The date today is nearly

sixty years from when the ship encountered

the radiation and headed for this planet.

WENDY

How can that be, our stasis pods would have

opened long before that?

JAMES

I believe the stasis computer controls may

have been affected by the radiation and

that’s why it never woke us when scheduled.

It was only when the ship ran out of main

power and switched to emergency reserves


64


that the computer override would have

automatically opened the pods, just about

an hour ago.

IDA

What you’re saying then is that almost

everyone we knew is most likely dead by now

or believes we’re dead.

KRISTEN

I'm afraid so.

TODD

We also have to realize that any search

that might have taken place to try and find

us would have been called off over fifty

years ago.

Some of the colonists express their frustration at the news, and a couple of the children begin to cry.

James stands up and looks around the room at the group who now seem very uneasy at the news.

JAMES

I’m afraid we’re on our own folks, but look

it isn’t all bad. We just survived a crash

landing, we’re alive and uninjured.

Kristen cuts in.

KRISTEN

And we can still build a transmitter and

with a little luck someone should find us

in several months.

Todd adds.

TODD

Even sooner, if an alien ship picks up our

signal.


65


DON

So even though we’re a lot older than we

look, we can still possibly get off this

rock in about the same period of time.

Some of them nod their heads and seem excited by the possibilities, while others are still disturbed by the news and are comforted by those around them. Casey Dickson (a 5-year-old girl and daughter of Shannon from Australia) the smallest child in the group stands close to Jeffrey in her bright orange jumpsuit that all the children wear; and reaching up, she pulls on Jeff’s sleeve, and asks him a question.

CASEY

Jeffrey, what’s this planet like?

Kristen, standing close to Jeff, hears Casey’s question and stands up to address the whole group.

KRISTEN

Listen up, everyone, if this planet was a

candidate at one time to support life then

the atmosphere is breathable and from the

oceans and green continents we saw from

orbit, there appears to be lots of plant

life and oxygen.

But as far as what’s outside this ship, I

think now isn’t the time to find out.

James cuts in.

James

I’d agree with that! I believe we came down

on the night side of the planet, so let’s

just stay in the ship for now. In the

morning, we can have a better look at

what’s out there.


66


Ida has walked over to the edge of the cleared area in the cargo bay and after bending down beside a crate; she now stands up and turns to the group.

IDA

Hey everyone, here's an idea, this crate

that was sliced open by the force shield

was a cryogenic container and it has

rations in it. I don't suppose anyone who

hasn't eaten in 60 years would be a little

hungry or thirsty, would they?

DON

You bet... we are; what’ve you got in

there?

The colonists gather around Ida as she hands out rations.

Looking down on the crash site now from outside the ship, we see a few small fires still burning along the glide path through the forest. Rain continues to fall in the blackness of the alien night as the colony team waits safely inside their damaged ship for morning light.


67


EXT. PLANET OUTSIDE — DAY

Viewing the planet from space, we come closer and see a relatively small valley on the southern edge of a continent surrounded by a mountain range. As we look closer, we see a straight line carved through the standing forest along the edge of the western foothills of the valley.


68


Closer still, we see a large ship partially submerged into the terrain at the end of a 1.6 km long swath of destruction carved through the forest. The crash site is around 60 km from the coast. The valley is surrounded by mountains on the west, north, and east sides and opens to the ocean on the south.

Members of the colony team are just emerging from the right side of the ship through the hatch where the atmospheric shuttle was once attached, standing on what is left of the glide wings. Minutes later they are spreading out on the ground around the ship, dressed in their different colored jump suits indicating which professional group they belong to.


69


They survey the damage to their craft and the forest behind it. Justin, the security officer, is the first to speak, as Diana Tynnen (a 31-year-old security professional from Denmark) walks up to him.

JUSTIN

Wow, quite a sight, isn't it!

DIANA

Yep, that's the last trip this ship is ever

gonna make.

JUSTIN

You got that right! I guess we should

organize some teams and see what stuff we

can salvage that was left behind along this

path.

DIANA

What do you mean?

Justin walks a little further to the aft of the ship and waves a hand at Diana, indicating he wants her to follow him.

JUSTIN

Well, if you look at the rear cargo area,

the doors were ripped open on this side.

Probably when the tail section first made

contact with the ground. I think we have

cargo scattered along the crash site.


70


DIANA

Huh! That’s probably how that fresh air got

into the ship’s vents during the night.

Justin nods his head as he and Diana are joined by Kristen, James, and Todd as they slowly walk around the ship and examine it.

KRISTEN

Well, Justin what would you recommend?

JUSTIN

For now, we should keep most of the people

close to the ship and just take maybe two

teams and have a look along the landing

strip for lost items. Make sure the

children don't wander into the forest. We

know nothing about this planet, except that

it’s obviously got really big timber and

possibly other life forms are large as

well.

JAMES

Do we have anything in the way of weapons

to defend ourselves in the event we’re on

the menu for any of the local wildlife?

JUSTIN

Nothing that would use an atomic number of

82 from the periodic table, that’s for

sure!

KRISTEN

What are you talking about?

Justin chuckles.

JUSTIN

Oh, I thought the scientists would

appreciate the reference, but since you’re

a psychologist, Kristen, I understand it

doesn’t mean much. I meant to say, nothing

that shoots lead!

KRISTEN

That was possibly a little short-sighted of

the Earth Quadra project planners.

JAMES

Well no one expected anything this!


71


JUSTIN

I tried to have some included, and on

hindsight, I suppose I should have insisted

a little more. But the argument from

command was that Earth Quadra was selected

because it didn't have any large or

dangerous wildlife, so weapons were not a

priority for the cargo manifest for this

trip.

DIANA

We have the stunners, they might help.

TODD

You mean those small handheld devices they

use in biology. They’re just used to

incapacitate little critters so they can be

analyzed without harming them, aren’t they.

DIANA

Yeah, but when the stunners are set on a

maximum setting, they can deliver quite a

jolt. I tried one on a boyfriend back on

Earth. He didn't wake up for nearly four

hours.

Justin stops; as do the rest of the group, and he looks at Diana.

JUSTIN

Was he a willing participant in this

experiment?

DIANA

Not entirely, but it didn't leave the kind

of marks on him that I would have, after

catching him with another girl... So I

consider he got off easy.

JUSTIN

Did he suffer any side effects?

DIANA

Just a little embarrassment!

Diana starts walking back towards where the rest of the colonists are gathering, and the rest join her.

JUSTIN

So he was embarrassed, from being knocked

out by a stunner?


72


DIANA

No, from what I did to him while he was

unconscious.

Justin and James look at each other and raise their eyebrows. Diana continues on towards the ship where a group has gathered. As they get closer to the rest, Kristen talks to Justin.

KRISTEN

Okay, Justin, you’re head of security so

why don't you address everyone and set some

ground rules to follow; then we can get

everyone busy with a few tasks to keep them

busy.

EXT: BESIDE THE SHIP — MORNING

The colonists are gathered together outside of the ship and chatting with each other, as they wait for the leaders to address them.

JUSTIN

Everyone, if I could have your attention

please, listen up! We can all agree that we

had a very fortunate landing last night and

we’re still all in one piece.

However, since we don't know anything about

the indigenous life on this planet, we

don't want to experience any accidents.

We need to ensure that no one wanders off

into the forest until we can get a few

safety measures in place.

Nadia will be coming to inject each of us

with a tiny transponder that can be picked

up by these proximity sensors.

Justin holds up a small handheld device for them to see.

JUSTIN

This is called a Location and Life Signs

detector and with it we will be able to

locate everyone’s transponders in a line of

sight even through heavy timber for about

40 to 50 kilometers, depending on the

terrain. But we don't want anyone testing

out the range of it for quite a while, so

stick close!


73


JUSTIN

We’re going to need about eight volunteers

to accompany a couple security team members

along the crash strip to locate any lost

cargo. Nasir and I will be going, so if

four of you could join each of us that

would be appreciated.

Some of the colonists move forward volunteering to go along. Nadia Josephus (a 36-year-old Native American doctor from South Western, USA) emerges from the ship with a device in her hand and she’s accompanied by Diana. Nadia, holding the injector and the tiny transponders (3 mm in length and 1 mm wide) walks up to Justin first and implants it just under the skin on the back of his neck, and Diana uses the scanner to log in the bio-signature of the device; they then continue on to the rest of the volunteers as Kristen addresses the group.

KRISTEN

We also have to cremate the remains of the

crew, so if four or five of you will assist

Todd; we’ll move the deceased into one room

in the ship, for now. About a dozen of you

can gather some wood and branches from the

crash strip and we’ll have a funeral in the

clearing later on.

Ida steps forward from the group and turns to face them.

IDA

I need some of the rest of you to help me

go through the cargo in the ship that broke

apart and sort out what’s still useful and

repack what we can for now, but I think

we’ll need to move most of it out to be

able to sort it properly as soon as we have

another space available.

JAMES

While everyone is doing that, I want a

couple engineers and a technician or two to

give me a hand with an EATAC. That ship is

double hulled but may have some holes in it

and I think we might as well put up a

shelter out here.

KRISTEN

Okay, everyone; we all have our tasks to

complete, let’s get busy! And by the way,

the children must absolutely stay inside

the ship for now.


74


There are groans and complaints from some of the children.

KRISTEN

It’s just, for now! We need to get

everything organized before we have to

start looking for where you guys have run

off to.

The group splits up and heads off in various directions to work on their tasks, after Nadia finishes implanting their locating transponders. INT: CARGO BAY ONE — MORNING

A short time later inside Cargo Bay One, we see James, Katherine, Jeffrey, and Jessie Marshelli (a 21-year-old electronics technician from Italy) as they stare at a huge jumble of crates scattered all over the bay, some of them broken open.

JESSIE

Hmmnn, I don't think the cargo manifest is

going to help find an EATAC, now.

KATHERINE

Well, maybe not in exactly what row it was

in, but even the crate numbers would help.

Katherine manipulates the touch screen at the cargo bay data center, looking for the information.

KATHERINE

It says here, they were in Engineering

Section H: Crates 1A&B to 9A&B.

JAMES

Okay, let’s see what we can find.

The group starts moving through the jumble of crates looking for the ones they want. EXT: CRASH SITE — MORNING

A while later, looking at the area outside of the ship we see that a group of colonists have built up two large circular piles of branches and woody debris, about 1.5 m high and 5 m across in the clearing, to use as a funeral pyre to cremate the remains of the crew.


75


Looking back at the ship, we see that Jessie and Rob are each carrying a crate about 75 cm square, and bringing them to an open spot in the clearing, about 80 m from the ship. Opening the crates, they take out two pieces which when assembled together form one large device about a meter long and half a meter high and wide. It looks similar to the one seen at the United Nations Assembly a hundred years earlier, brought to Earth by the aliens.


76


James is kneeling on the ground at one end of the device, and once it is assembled, he touches the control panel and four telescopic legs protrude from the bottom side of the device, lifting it a little over a meter off the ground.

The children are now allowed out of the ship since most of the adults have returned and we see Casey come up to her mom, Shannon Dickson (a 33-year-old geologist from Australia) who is standing about 10 m away from the device that James and his group have assembled. We see that Casey is carrying a data pad under her arm as she walks up to Shannon and takes her hand. Casey points at the device with her finger while still holding onto the data pad.

CASEY

What is that thing, Mommy?

SHANNON

That's an EATAC. It's designed from

technology that the Kennari af Visku gave

us when they came to Earth a long time ago.

CASEY

What does it do?

Shannon kneels down beside Casey.

SHANNON

It turns matter into pure energy and then

turns pure energy back into matter in a

different form.


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CASEY

Cool! Is he going to make it work?

SHANNON

Yes, I believe so. But you need to remember

that you never go near it when it’s

working, all right? It can be very

dangerous if it touches you, okay!

CASEY

Okay, Mommy, I won't go near it.

We see James is standing at the back control panel of the device and Rob Laselle (a 30-year-old robotics engineer from France) is kicking the grass flat below the front of it.

ROB

Is it fully charged?

JAMES

Yep, they were all charged up before being

stored in the crates, so we should be good

to go. Let’s give it a try.

Rob stands a couple meters to the side and behind the front of the device as James turns it on. A red laser dot is projected on the ground directly below the front nozzle of the device measuring the distance to the ground.

JAMES

What do you think, a few centimeters?

ROB

Let’s make it at least 15 centimeters; the

duff is fairly thick here.

James manipulates the touch screen on the control panel.

JAMES

Okay, if everyone is clear, we’ll give it a

try.

James then manipulates the touch screen again and a semi-transparent bubble begins to form out of the 12 cm port on the other end. The bubble grows until it touches the ground and penetrates about 15 cm below the surface, then flattens out on the bottom and becomes more opaque as it continues to grow.


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ROB

How big are you making it?

JAMES

I’m thinking about 15 meters by 40 meters.

Rob nods his head.

ROB

Should be good to start with!

The growing bubble moves along the ground getting larger and larger until it’s about 15 m wide and 7 m high. James then adjusts some settings on the touch screen and the dome-like structure begins to grow in length but doesn't get any taller or wider. Everyone stands around to watch even though the adults have seen this many times. As the bubble grows and comes in contact with some small trees nearby, the tree disintegrates where the bubble touches it and falls over onto the expanding dome. The fallen tree completely disintegrates and is absorbed into the bubble of the dome. Todd comes up beside Jeff and Jessie who are also watching the process.

TODD

I’ve seen it a hundred times and it still

amazes me. The conversion of matter into

energy, then being reformed back into

matter again is always cool to watch.

Jeff folds his arms in front of him as he watches the process and looks at Jessie who is nodding his head.


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JESSIE

Yep, no waste at all! Except for a little

steam rising above the dome.

TODD

Without this technology we’d still be

nailing and gluing pieces of wood together

to make a shelter.

JEFFREY

Ahh! Don't even talk like that, man. I

can't believe that’s how mankind used to

live. A whole society based on consumption

and wasting more than half of everything it

touched.

TODD

That's what greed does to a being, fellas.

Thank God the Kennarar Visku saw what a sad

state of affairs we were in and decided to

give us a hand when they returned to Earth,

especially after being away for so long.

Katherine is standing a few meters away, listening to the three of them talk and joins the conversation.

KATHERINE

Yes, otherwise we’d still be there digging

holes in the ground for hydrocarbons to

pollute the last of our rivers and oceans.

Then fighting with each other over the

dwindling resources, while the rest of the

world died of thirst and hunger.

JESSIE

Wow! You don’t paint a rosy picture, do

you!

KATHERINE

That’s because it wasn’t rosy! Read some

history, kid.

JESSIE

I prefer to contemplate the possibilities

of the future rather than regretting the

past.

KATHERINE


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That’s a good outlook, but learning the

lessons from the past and not repeating

them, is what allowed us to create a better

future.

Jessie is nodding his head at Katherine’s comments as the bubble dome is now 15 m wide by 40 m long and 7 m high. James manipulates the touch screen and the dome begins to vibrate at a high frequency and becomes transparent and hardens.

JAMES

What do you think, Jeff, keep it clear or

make it opaque?

Katherine speaks up first.

KATHERINE

I think opaque is better for now, we don't

know how strong the radiation is from this

sun, and it’ll be a little darker at night

if we can't see through the walls.

Shannon and Casey are walking up behind Jeff who is standing just a few meters from the EATAC.

JEFFREY

Yeah, we might not want to see through the

walls at night, either. There could be real

nightmares walking around out here in the

dark.

SHANNON

Shhh! Guys, that's not very comforting for

the little ones.

Jeff turns and sees Shannon and Casey just a couple meters behind him.

JEFFREY

Oh! Sorry Shannon! I didn't see little

Casey sneak up behind us. How you doing,

Casey?

Casey smiles as she looks up at Jeffrey.

CASEY

I'm fine, Jeffrey. Can you give me a ride?

JEFFREY

I sure can! That was pretty cool, wasn’t

it, Casey?


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CASEY

Uh huh, sure was!

Casey walks over to Jeff who picks her up and puts her on his shoulders. We see James turn the device on again and the entire dome vibrates at high frequency; then turns opaque. James then shuts it off and turns to Todd.

JAMES

Todd, I see the kids are a little busy, can

you give me a hand, here.

We see James is talking about Jeff and Casey, since he is trotting around in a little circle with Casey on his shoulders. She giggles and holds on tight to his collar with her right hand, while holding her data pad in the other. James and Todd disconnect the EATAC from the dome leaving a small 12 cm hole about a meter off the ground. A couple more guys help them as they move the device back about 5 meters and point it at the dome again.

JAMES

That's far enough guys, thanks.

Jeff and Casey have stopped and are watching once more. Casey asks Jeff a question.

CASEY

How do we get into it through that tiny

hole, Jeff?

JEFFREY

You'll see. Just watch what James does now.

James turns the device on again and out of the front emitter there are red lines projected on the surface of the dome surrounding the 12 cm hole. As James manipulates the touch screen the lines move to form a door frame about 2 and a half meters high and 1 and a third meters wide. He then activates a control and the dome material within the projected door frame begins to vibrate and liquefies, then is absorbed back into the front emitter of the EATAC. Casey tucks her data pad between her tummy and the back of Jeff’s head and grabs onto his ears with both hands and gives them a twist as she talks to him again.

CASEY

That was cool! But now, how do you keep the

bugs out of the dome?

JEFFREY

Ow, not so rough, Casey!


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CASEY

Ooooooh! I’m sorry, Jeffrey! I was just figuring out the controls.

Casey looks at Shannon and has a big smile and giggles.

SHANNON

Casey, be nice!

JEFFREY

Yeah, right! Just watch what James does

next, he’s not done building the entrance!

Casey then takes her data pad and lays it flat on the top of Jeff's head, then leans her elbows on it with her hands supporting her chin. Shannon looks at the two of them and smiles.

James manipulates the controls again as Justin, Nasir, and the rest of their team show up in the clearing carrying the items they picked up from their search of the crash strip. Justin walks up to Kirsten who’s now standing near Jeff and Shannon. Kirsten has a quick look at what salvage the group has brought back.

JUSTIN

Couldn't find much that was of any use,

most of it was crushed under a lot of

debris or burned up in the fires.

KRISTEN

Well, at least you found what was still

useful.

JUSTIN

Yeah, one whole crate of stunners was the

best find. That would have been a big loss.

Most of them are fine, just damaged a

couple.

Looking back at the dome construction, we see that James has framed the open doorway again with a set of green lines and places some wider green strips along the left edge, until Rob notices and speaks up.

ROB

Oh, make it a right-hand swing, James.

JAMES

Okay, a right-hand swing, it is.

James now moves the thicker strips to the right-hand side of the door frame and activates the device. A thick door frame appears around the edge of the opening, and then a set of


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hinges and a full flat door is framed in the opening, lining up with the edges of the green lines.

JAMES

How’s that look, then? We can make the door

opener and install the electromagnets

later.

KRISTEN

Looks good to me, maybe we should’ve put it

closer to the ship; though, to make it

easier to move the cargo into it.

James shakes his head slightly and rolls his eyes.

JAMES

Now, she tells me!

Katherine notices this and with a smile turns to Kirsten.

KATHERINE

It’ll be fine, for now. We can get all the

guys to carry the heavy stuff over to the

dome until we can find the hover lifts.

Kristen smiles back at Katherine, as they see Todd make eye contact with James and shake his head slightly. He then speaks to the whole group who’ve been standing a little way off and watching the construction process.

TODD

Okay, guys, we need to move all the loose

material from the broken crates in Cargo

Bay One into the dome, since the exterior

doors were damaged in the landing. If we

start now we can be done before dark.

Everyone gets busy carrying cargo, even the children help out as well as little Casey, carrying what they can. On different occasions, Rob and Ida are seen walking together carrying cargo to the dome. Katherine walks up to Justin.

KATHERINE

Where should we sleep tonight?

JUSTIN

I think it’d be best to stay in the ship

for now. We can set up some better

accommodation inside the domes tomorrow,

but the ship’s crew quarters and cargo

areas provide safer shelter for the time

being.


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EXT: BESIDE THE SHIP — EVENING

Before the last of the fading sunset disappears behind the mountain range to the East across the valley, looking towards the ship we see groups of the colonists carrying the remains of the deceased crew members from the ship, which have been wrapped in blankets from their quarters. They place them on top of the two piles of branches in the clearing just 70 m in front of the ship.

The colonists then all gather around and some are holding small wands in their hands about 20 cm long. They stand quietly in a semi-circle, looking at the bodies of the brave crew from the Earth Quadra transport ship lying on top of the woodpiles. Kristen is standing near the middle of the group beside Victor Bryon (a 58-year-old physicist from Texas, USA) the oldest member of the colony team. With a tear coming down Kristen’s face, and not looking away from the scene in front of her, she talks softly to Victor.

KRISTEN

Victor, maybe you could say a few words on

behalf of the crew.

VICTOR

Certainly, I would be honored!

Victor takes a deep breath and exhales as he thinks for a moment.

VICTOR

Does anyone have the list of crewmen from

the ship?

KATHERINE

Yes, I have it, here it is.

Katherine hands a data pad to Victor. He looks at it for a few moments and then begins to speak.

VICTOR

Friends, we are the only ones able to

testify of the bravery and selflessness of

the crew of the starship Earth Quadra. Lest

we forget their sacrifice I would like you

to hear their names one more time.

Captain Balor Tan, Sub-Commander Elizabeth

Donner, Doctor Demetrius Amarandos.....

Pulling back from the group and looking down on the scene from slightly above, we hear the soft picking of a tune that Todd has chosen to play on his guitar, as Victor continues to read the names of the deceased crew. Moving around the group and looking at the faces,


85


there are tears flowing from a few as they realize what courage was shown by these people just so the rest of them could have a chance to live. Coming back to Victor, once more, we hear him completing the list.

VICTOR

...Navigator Gerry Smith, Engineer Brent

Davis, and Flight Technician Emilie

Johnson.

Victor takes another deep breath and exhales, and continues in a soft tone.

VICTOR

Ladies and Gentlemen, we stand here tonight

to pay honor and tribute to the finest

starship crew who ever lived. Even facing

eminent death and in incredible pain, they

worked until their dying breath to ensure

we had a chance to survive.

If the angels in heaven require candidates

for their ranks, we would like to present

the souls of these fine people to you as

the best mankind has to offer.

We’ll never forget the sacrifice you made

to give us a chance to live and we’ll do

our best to make sure your sacrifice was

worth it, by someday returning your

personal logs to Earth and to your

ancestors who have lost you in space. Rest

well, dear friends, we salute you!

Victor nods his head at Kristen, and she looks at Justin who is holding one of the small wands and slightly nods her head, also. Justin points the wand at the pile of branches, activates it, and a white hot laser beam is emitted which ignites the wood on fire. Several of the others standing around do the same; and within a couple minutes both fires are burning brightly, in the approaching darkness.


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Looking at the scene from high above, we can see the two fires burning brightly illuminating the group gathered there in the meadow and the outline of their crashed ship in the background. One white dome off to the side can be seen as the evening light disappears and darkness closes in. EXT: BESIDE THE SHIP — MORNING

Dawn has broken for the second day on this planet, and we can see from outside the ship the colonists are up again and moving around already in the clearing. James and Jeffrey are working on building another dome structure. A group is standing together near the ship, and we see it’s made up of Kristen, Justin, Michelle Villanou (a 26-year-old hydrologist from France), Dave Darwe (a 28-year-old biologist from Northwest Territories, Canada), Gord Rutters (a 31-year-old Botanist from Washington, USA), and Victor; and they’re looking to the south across the clearing.

VICTOR

I was looking at the scans of the terrain

this morning that I found in the ship’s

logs made before we crashed, and I think we

should be looking at an area somewhere

further down in the valley for a temporary

settlement.

MICHELLE

I'd agree with that, there just isn't

sufficient water up here for anything

permanent, and even if it’ll only be eight


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or nine months, it would be better down

below.

JUSTIN

What did the logs show you about that

area, Victor?

VICTOR

There are numerous small lakes and rivers

flowing through, and several large meadows

scattered across a gently rolling plain.

JUSTIN

It sounds better than these foothills, for

sure.

KRISTEN

Ok then, we should set up some excursion

teams to scout the area and find a suitable

spot to relocate to.

JUSTIN

We can get our teams together today and

take what supplies we need from the cargo

bay. Maybe send out teams in the morning to

do some scouting of the area.

GORD

What skills will we want on the scouting

teams?

VICTOR

I think security, a botanist, a biologist,

and a geologist would work out nicely. We

could gather as much information from every

skill set on the route to give us a better

picture of what’s out there.

GORD

I'm game for being one of the botanists.

Dave can be my token biologist.

Gord chuckles as he pokes fun at Dave. Dave cocks his head to the side and looks at Gord.

DAVE

Hey, what do you mean token biologist?

You’ll only be looking for plants to eat.

I’ll be looking for animals that will eat

you. The only reason I need a botanist

along is for bait.


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They all chuckle a bit but realize the seriousness of the statement. Kristen breaks the slight tension.

KRISTEN

Okay, Guys, let’s let everyone know what we

plan to do and ask for volunteers. Those

who go will have to be prepared for

whatever they come across out there, and it

won't be suited for everyone in the group.

JUSTIN

Maybe we should keep it to just two teams

of four? The rest can work on making these

domes more comfortable. We don't want to

scatter too many people out across the

terrain. We still don't know what’s out

there.

VICTOR

Everyone here has basic EMT training but

let’s make them five member teams. You

security people are advanced medics, but

let’s send an extra person trained as a

paramedic with each team, just in case

you’re the ones that need to be worked on.

JUSTIN

I wouldn't disagree with that. Let’s see

what we have for gear to take along, and

make up the teams.

The group moves towards the ship to look at the cargo.

EXT: BESIDE THE SHIP — MORNING

In the dim light of dawn on the third day, we see two additional smaller domes already erected in the clearing and a group of people gathered in front of the ship. Nine of them appear to be dressed in gear for a hike through the forest. Kristen, Todd, James, and Victor are talking with them before they depart.

JUSTIN

I think that’s everything then, we’ve got

most of what we’ll need. I couldn't find my

personal gear but we did find some of the

security crates with the stuff we need.

KRISTEN

So, everyone understands we just need to

find a place to set up a permanent base for

now. You aren't on a mission to catalogue

everything you come across.


89


JAMES

Justin and Nasir are in charge of the teams

and what they say goes out there. Their job

is to keep you safe and keep you going.

Otherwise most of you probably won't make

it past a few hundred meters in a day,

taking samples of every plant and insect

you come across.

Ida comes from the ship, geared up to join the group completing two 5-person teams. Rob accompanies her, but is not geared up to go with them.

IDA

Okay, I found them, sorry it took so long!

Ida is holding two small scanner units in her hands and passes one to Adrian in the team Nasir is leading.

IDA

These will help us determine how well our

DNA is suited to the vegetation and animal

life around here.

KRISTEN

Good idea, Ida, but remember just test what

you come across and move on; no samples,

and no in-depth analysis or you won't make

it very far.

The team members nod in agreement and head off down towards the valley. Rob gives Ida a hug as she departs, the groups soon split off in different directions while still in the meadow, before entering the forest.

JAMES

Well, I suppose we’d better get going on

some interior furnishings for the domes.

Let's find the crates that have the SMEM

attachments for the EATAC and get started.

The group walks towards the ship.

EXT: FOREST — MID MORNING

Nasir's team (Nasir Hashim bin Abdulrahim Elsarout is a 35-year-old security specialist from the Middle East) has been walking for a while now and is making their way through dense underbrush in tall trees, walking in a single file. Kuni Albaum (a 34-year-old geologist from Alberta, Canada) is close behind Nasir who is leading the way.


90


KUNI

So, Nasir, do you have a basic idea where

we’re going or are you just winging it?

NASIR

Yeah, I’ve got an idea; Justin downloaded

the terrain of this area from the ship's

scanner logs this morning into my Location

and Life Signs sensor display. Look here,

I'll show you, it's time for a short break

anyway.

Nasir stops and takes out a device from his load-bearing vest pocket and the group gathers around.

As he touches a control, the cover flips up and then opens up to make a wider viewing area.

An image of the terrain (they’re on) appears and there are two small lights that appear on the map.

KUNI

What are the lighted dots?

NASIR

That's us, actually it shows both teams.

I’ll focus in on this one, here.

The area around one dot enlarges to show five separate dots standing in a close group.


91


NASIR

See, we’re here; and over here is Justin

and his group.

Nasir zooms out and then back down to the next set of dots, and we see they’re strung out in a line and still moving across the map.

NASIR

Their group is still moving and... It tells

me they’re 6.2 kilometers at 248 degrees

from our location, and going in almost the

same southerly direction.

Tanya Starkey (a 32-year-old biological geneticist from New Jersey, USA) steps closer to the Location and Life Signs display Nasir is holding.

TANYA

Pretty cool, but how is it picking them up

without there being a satellite in orbit?

NASIR

It’s sensing the transponders that Nadia

injected into everyone and placing them on

the map from a start position of the ship,

where we logged in our location before

heading off.

TANYA

So, we can always know where the other

group is, then?

NASIR

Well, not exactly, this has to work on

basically line of sight, not that we can

see them, but the signal will penetrate

timber pretty well. But if they drop behind

a hill or down into a ravine too far, we’ll

lose track of them.

Adrian Liesel (a 34-year-old botanist from Germany) steps up to have a look.

ADRIAN

Does it have a play back?

NASIR

Yep, we can track it back to their last

known location to search for them from

there, if need be.


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KUNI

Look there, the lights are blinking off.

The screen shows each light turning off one at a time a few seconds apart.

NASIR

See... if I zoom out now to reveal the

terrain.... we can see they’re going down

into a deep ravine, and we’ve lost the

signal.

EXT: DEEP RAVINE — DAY

As we catch up to Justin and his team, they’re making their way down a steep ravine which flattens out a bit as they approach the bottom. The vegetation changes to very large trees with huge blue flowers extending part way up the trunks and also scattered on the ground. There is a thick mass of dense foliage near the tops in big clumps.

GORD

Wow! What an incredible aroma! It must be

coming from these flowers.

DAVE

Yeah, it’s kind of sweet and pungent at the

same time.

IDA

I've never seen blossoms that big, they

have to be a meter across.

GORD

Why don't we take a break down here, we can

test a few of these plants and see what we

get?

Justin stops for a few seconds and looks around, then turns to the group following him.

JUSTIN

Okay, this is as good a place as any for a

break, I guess.

The group stops in a small clearing only about 8 m wide and a couple take off their packs. Gord turns on a device he has in his upper vest pocket.

GORD

I'm going to record everything just in case

we can use the information later.


93


DAVE

Ah shoot! I never thought to bring one of

those; I could have recorded any biological

species we see along the route.

IDA

Here, you can take mine, Gord can collect

any botany data on his.

Ida hands Dave her digital image recording device, as Gord takes off his helmet and drops his pack onto the ground; he then walks a few meters away and kneels down beside one of the large blossoms. His back is to a large tree about 1.6 m away and he starts examining the plant with his hands. Ida gets excited!

IDA

Gord! Don't touch that flower with your

bare hands until I check its DNA, to see if

it’s toxic.

Gord removes his hand from the flower as Ida comes over. She takes out her DNA scanner and touches the claw-like calipers together on a piece of the flower to test for toxicity levels to human DNA. Dave walks a few meters away and bends down to examine something.

DAVE

It looks like we have skeletal remains of

some small mammal, over here.

Amber Marchand (a 27-year-old geologist from Oregon, USA) walks over to him and looks at the remains, while he records the image in the device Ida gave him.

DAVE

Humph! It looks like it's been picked

pretty clean.

Amber is looking over the terrain in the area and spots something.

AMBER

Look! There's another one!

Amber walks over a few meters and looks at another set of skeletal remains. Dave joins her.

DAVE

Wow! This one was a pretty good sized

animal, probably about 100 kilos when

alive. From the appearance of the jaw and

dental structure it looks like it would’ve

been an herbivore of some kind.

Gord puts on a pair of thin, latex gloves then starts to examine the plant more closely.


94


GORD

So, Justin, other than being our tour

guide, do you have any special skills you

can add to the study?

Justin is standing about 4 m from Gord and Ida who are both now kneeling on the ground and testing more plants. Justin is looking away from them and up into the trees.

JUSTIN

No, I suppose not. Everyone has their

specialties; and scientific research wasn't

my forte. Besides, we’re not doing a study!

GORD

Well, you can be useful if you throw me my

pack, I want to take a sample with me.

JUSTIN

Kristen said no samples this trip, we don't

have time.

Justin slowly turns his direction of view towards Gord and Ida. Looking over Justin’s shoulder, towards Gord and Ida in the background, we can see some fuzzy movement on the tree behind where they’re kneeling. Then, Gord looks up from the flower, towards Justin.

GORD

Come on dude, you’ve got to earn your food

rations like the rest of us, toss me my

pack.


95


Justin has just turned, and is now staring at Gord and Ida with wide, wild-looking eyes. They look up at him and are puzzled by his expression; as they see him quickly take out a sheathed knife with a 25 cm blade and throw it hard in their direction. The knife passes just over Gord's shoulder. Gord rolls to the side; and yells.

GORD

What the hell man, you could have hit me?

Justin grabs for the handheld stunner inside his vest. Gord notices and hears movement behind him, as he turns he sees a massive centipede nearly 2 m long and 60 cm wide; writhing violently on the ground with Justin’s knife buried deep in its head. A second later, we hear the stunner go off and an electrical discharge hits the creature and it goes limp. Gord and Ida scramble away from the tree, as Amber and Dave come running over. Ida is really upset.

IDA

You killed it, we shouldn't be killing

anything; we don't do destructive sampling

anymore!

Justin walks up to them as Gord gets to his feet.

JUSTIN

Sorry, about that, but it was reaching for

you. Do you think it just wanted to say “hi

welcome to the neighborhood”, or maybe do a

little destructive sampling of its own?


96


IDA

It could have been the only one of its

kind?

Justin kneels down and pulls his knife out of the creature then wipes it off on the grass. Dave examines the body.

DAVE

That looks like a Scolopendra gigantea we

have them on earth, only the largest

specimens from Indonesia are less than one-

tenth this size. I doubt it’s the last one,

Ida, look over here.

Dave motions for them to look over a small embankment, and they follow him. They see skeletal remains of many types of creatures scattered up and down the small ravine. Justin takes only a moment to look; then turns and quickly grabs his pack from the ground.

JUSTIN

We’re getting out of here, right now, grab

your stuff!

GORD

Just give me another minute to record these

samples first.

Dave is grabbing his pack, also.

DAVE

I don't think you have another minute,

Gord, look up!

Gord looks up to see several more massive centipedes moving out of the large clumps, in the treetops, and quickly making their way down the trunks. Dave is throwing his pack on and starting to move off.

DAVE

Those are nests up there and we just rang

the dinner bell. Trust me, they can move

really fast.

The group grabs their packs and run from the location as quickly as they can. They start up the ravine on the other side and don't stop until they make it to the top. Out of breath and exhausted, Gord is breathing heavy as are the rest of them, so they stop for a quick break. Justin moves to the rear and watches back down the slope for any movement, while still holding his stunner. Gord is now looking around for something he can’t find.


97


GORD

Oh, Crap!

JUSTIN

What is it?

GORD

I left my helmet back there.

JUSTIN

Huh, well you can go back and get it if you

want, we'll wait for you here.

Justin has a slight smirk on his face and Gord looks a little embarrassed.

GORD

No, I think I’ll be fine without it.

Justin takes off his helmet (it looks kind of like a climber’s helmet) and hands it to Gord.

JUSTIN

Here take mine, I don't like them anyway.

Just remember the camera embedded in the

front near the top is relaying information

to my scanner, so don’t get too far away

from me.

GORD

You can count on that!

Justin pulls out a baseball-style cap from his vest and puts it on, and the group continues on in their intended direction. Ida talks to Dave as they walk.

IDA

Do you think they were venomous?

DAVE

Most definitely, but they’re deadly in more

ways than that. With all those legs getting

hold of you and big jaws tearing at your

flesh you wouldn't last long, even if they

weren't venomous.

AMBER

A pretty ugly way to die! Not to mention

the rest of their family joining in on the

meal, once it grabbed you.

JUSTIN

What do you think, Gord, did I earn my

rations for the day?


98


GORD

Ah, yeah! Sorry about that, you can have

mine too, and thanks by the way.

JUSTIN

You’re welcome; at least I’m useful for

something right!

Gord looks embarrassed and nods his head as Justin touches his earpiece communicator.

JUSTIN

Nasir, do you read me?

NASIR

Yeah, go ahead Justin.

JUSTIN

Look, if you see any large trees with blue

flowers and what looks like nests at the

top, run like hell.

NASIR

Check that, care to fill me in on the

details?

JUSTIN

The nests are full of two meter long

centipedes and they’re of the hungry

variety.

NASIR

Good to know, thanks for the heads up!

We stop and watch Justin's team as they walk off through the forest following the top of the ridge.

EXT: BESIDE THE DOME — AFTERNOON

Back at the crash site, James, Jeffrey, and Victor have attached the SMEM (Synthetic Manufacture of Energy-based Material) to the front of the EATAC and are producing flat rectangular surfaces to be used as tables and beds in the dome. As one of them configures the shape and size of the surface, and it is emitted; others, Michael, Jessie, and Todd are taking the pieces and welding legs onto them with a small handheld device which liquefies and then solidifies two similar surfaces together.

Around the side of the dome on the edge of the forest, Casey, dressed in her orange jumpsuit, is sitting on a fallen tree trunk and drawing something in her data pad.


99


Watching her from inside the forest, we see movement coming towards her, slowly pushing its way through the underbrush, getting closer until it’s just a few meters away. Casey is intent on what she’s drawing, while sitting with her back towards the forest and doesn’t see what’s approaching. Shannon, Casey’s mom is carrying a small crate from the ship to the dome and looks over towards where Casey is sitting, and her eyes grow wide. She drops the crate and begins to run towards Casey and calls out; but it’s too late.

SHANNON

Oh, no! Casey!

Something rushes towards Casey and she can now hear it. She quickly turns towards it, and sees something unidentifiable coming at her, and it growls as it approaches; Casey jumps off the log dropping her data pad and screams.


100


Author’s Closing Remarks: I hope you have enjoyed Episode 1 of Earth Quadra. Please leave a comment about our series on Facebook and/or Twitter. You can also explore our website pages for more information about us, the characters, and you can support the making of the series. Additional graphics will be added from time to time to the website. Plus, if you would like to see what happens next, please join our Facebook page to know when it is available.

Date post:	21-Mar-2019
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