PASSENGERS
Written by
Jon Spaihts
FADE IN:
EXT. INTERSTELLAR SPACE
A million suns shine in the dark.
A STARSHIP cuts through the night: a gleaming white cruiser.
Galleries of windows. Flying decks and observation domes.
On the hull: EXCELSIOR - A HomeStead Company Starship.
The ship flashes through a nebula. Space-dust sparkles as it
whips over the hull, betraying the ship's dizzying speed.
The nebula boils in the ship's wake. The Excelsior rockets
on, spotless and beautiful as a daydream.
INT. STARSHIP EXCELSIOR - GRAND CONCOURSE
A wide plaza. Its lofty atrium cuts through seven decks,
creating tiers of promenades framing a vast skylight.
The promenades are empty. Chairs unoccupied. Beetle-like
robots vacuum the carpets and wax the floors.
CAFETERIA
Super-modern and gleaming. Hundreds of tables, all empty.
FORWARD OBSERVATION DECK
Lounge furniture and star-filled windows. Completely
deserted. A robot on spindly legs washes the glass.
HIBERNATION BAY
Endless corridors lined with vertical glass tubes. Inside
each tube stands a PASSENGER. Eyes closed in sleep. If
they're breathing you can't tell by looking.
They sleep on their feet, leaning against padded supports.
Straps secure them in place; sensors adhere to their skin.
They wear shorts and tank tops with HomeStead Company logos.
We survey their faces. No children, no senior citizens. Men
and women of every ethnicity in the prime of their lives.
We settle on one man. JIM PRESTON, 38. Sound asleep. A small
display on his pod reads:
JAMES PRESTON
Rate 2 Mechanical Engineer
Denver, Colorado
2.
AGE: 38
Blood type: A+
Passenger class: silver
FARE: ONE-WAY
A deep BOOM. Echoes roll down the corridors.
Lights wink on in Jim's hibernation pod. Machinery hums to
life. Instruments beep and chitter.
Medical data fills the pod's screen. Jim's temperature rises.
His heart begins to beat. He takes a breath.
Jim opens his eyes.
Groggy, blinking, seeing nothing.
The backrest behind him converts into a recliner, lowering
him into a seated position.
The sensors on his skin drop off and snake back into the
pod's machinery.
A video screen descends before Jim's eyes.
ONSCREEN - A beautiful stewardess appears, beaming at the
camera. She is inhumanly perfect, a computer-generated image.
VIDEO STEWARDESS
Good Morning, James!
JIM
(DISORIENTED)
Jim. What the...
VIDEO STEWARDESS
Don't worry, Jim. It's normal to feel
confused. You've just spent a hundred
and twenty years in suspended
animation.
She makes it sound sexy. Jim scowls and rubs his eyes.
ONSCREEN - An animation. Happy people go to sleep in glass
tubes in a hospital. The tubes are loaded onto a spaceship.
VIDEO STEWARDESS (CONT'D)
You're a passenger on the Starship
Excelsior - a Homestead Company
Starship. We've nearly completed the
120-year flight from Earth to your
new home - the colony world of
Homestead II. Congratulations!
ONSCREEN - The Excelsior leaves a skyscraper-covered Earth
and soars through space to a lush green Homestead II.
3.
JIM
(REMEMBERING)
Oh, yeah.
VIDEO STEWARDESS
The Excelsior is on final approach.
(SENSUALLY)
For the next two months, you'll enjoy
luxury space travel. Food. Fun. New
friends.
ONSCREEN - The ship's lavish amenities: fine dining, sports
facilities, shops, all swarming with happy passengers.
VIDEO STEWARDESS (CONT'D)
Then you'll start your new life on
Homestead II. Back to basics. A fresh
start. Room to grow.
ONSCREEN - Publicity shots of Homestead II. Mountains,
forests, beaches. Settlements ringed by farmland.
VIDEO STEWARDESS (CONT'D)
Your wake-up capsules and nutrient
juice will help you recover from
hibernation!
Pills rattle into a dish; a glass of pink juice appears. He
takes his pills and gulps his juice with a grimace.
Jim's backrest eases him onto his feet. A drawer pops open,
revealing a Homestead Company bathrobe and slippers.
VIDEO STEWARDESS (CONT'D)
Make yourself comfortable in your
complimentary robe and slippers.
He puts them on.
VIDEO STEWARDESS (CONT'D)
Your shipcard is your key to the
starship.
(FLIRTATIOUSLY)
Don't lose it!
The pod produces Jim's shipcard: a plastic ID card on a
lanyard. He hangs it around his neck.
VIDEO STEWARDESS (CONT'D)
Now you're ready to go to your cabin.
Make yourself at home! Enjoy the rest
of your voyage, Jim!
JIM
Right.
4.
Jim steps out of his pod into the corridor.
All the other pods are closed, the people inside asleep. A
look of concern crosses Jim's face.
VIDEO STEWARDESS
Jim, your cabin is this way.
The screen flips around to face him. The video stewardess
points down the corridor.
VIDEO STEWARDESS (CONT'D)
Take Elevator D to deck seven. Your
cabin number is on your shipcard.
JIM
Thanks.
He shuffles down the corridor in his slippers, rubbing his
face. Having trouble keeping his eyes open.
Behind him, his pod closes up. Its screen reads PASSENGER
DISCHARGED.
ELEVATOR FOYER
Jim finds a bank of elevators. As he approaches, the
indicators blink on. An elevator opens, spilling light.
He steps inside, and muzak begins to play.
DECK SEVEN
A corridor lined with doors. A CLEANING ROBOT vacuums.
Jim appears. Instantly the corridor lights brighten. The
cleaning robot rolls past Jim.
CLEANING ROBOT
Hello, Passenger.
JIM
(STARTLED)
Hello, robot.
Jim follows wall markings to his cabin. Lets himself in.
JIM'S CABIN
Cozy but small. A bed, a desk, an armchair. No window.
A SCREEN lights up. The HomeStead Company theme music plays.
An ANNOUNCER speaks.
5.
ANNOUNCER (V.O.)
Welcome to your cabin, Jim! Your home
until we make landfall.
Jim doesn't pay attention. Pokes around, opening drawers.
ANNOUNCER (V.O.) (CONT'D)
Over the next two months, you'll
prepare for your new life on
Homestead II.
Jim peers into the tiny bathroom. There's a little video
screen, and the presentation's running there too.
ANNOUNCER (V.O.) (CONT'D)
Passengers are organized into
Learning Groups for orientation.
You've been assigned to Learning
group...thirty-eight! Don't forget!
ONSCREEN: "Learning Group 38."
The DOORBELL rings.
Jim opens the door eagerly - and deflates. No one there.
He looks down. A waist-high CARGO ROBOT peers up at him with
goggle eyes. It carries two suitcases and a duffel bag.
CARGO ROBOT
Passenger James Preston?
JIM
Jim. Yeah.
CARGO ROBOT
Your luggage, Passenger Jim. Swipe
your shipcard to confirm.
Jim swipes his shipcard through a slot on top of the robot.
The robot scoots inside and deposits Jim's bags on the floor.
CARGO ROBOT (CONT'D)
Enjoy your luggage!
JIM
Thanks.
CARGO ROBOT
Thank you, Passenger Jim!
The robot zips out the door.
Jim looks up and down the corridor. The receding robot is the
only sign of life. He steps back inside.
6.
ANNOUNCER
Your group's orientation starts in
forty-five minutes. Join them in
Conference Room Twenty on Deck One.
Don't forget!
DECK FOUR - SHOPPING DISTRICT
A mall with tiled floors and ornate storefronts.
Jim walks along in his robe and slippers. Storefront signs
flicker to life as he passes.
A dry fountain gushes water at his approach.
DECK ONE - CONFERENCE ROOM TWENTY
Forty chairs around a big table. A large screen on the wall.
ONSCREEN: A digital INSTRUCTOR, a handsome woman of middle
age, waits with a computer's infinite patience.
Jim walks in. The door slides closed behind him.
VIDEO INSTRUCTOR
Hello, Passengers. Will you all
please take a seat.
Jim looks around. He's the only one there. He sits.
VIDEO INSTRUCTOR (CONT'D)
Earth is a prosperous planet. The
cradle of civilization. A world with
a long, proud history. But for many,
it's also overpopulated. Over-priced.
Overrated. Overrun.
Behind the Instructor, video clips of Earth's urban sprawl:
an endless gleaming metropolis glittering with traffic.
JIM
(raising his hand)
Can I just...
VIDEO INSTRUCTOR
No questions until the end, please.
JIM
Wait. Where are all the other...
VIDEO INSTRUCTOR
The Colonies offer an alternative. A
better way of life.
7.
The screen fills with shots of Homestead II: aerial footage
of mountains, beaches, beautiful garden cities.
VIDEO INSTRUCTOR (CONT'D)
And none is more beautiful than
Homestead II, the Jewel of the
Occupied Worlds.
ONE HOUR LATER
Jim sits wearily, chin propped on his hand. The Video
Instructor chatters on. Inspiring footage of Homestead II.
VIDEO INSTRUCTOR
...thriving job markets in mining,
farming and manufacturing. An
explosion in the cultural arts. And
if you long for the life less
civilized, you can apply for a
pioneer permit and seek your fortune
in the wild.
(a pregnant pause)
Any questions?
JIM
(EXPLODING)
Where IS everybody?!
The Instructor pauses. The question seems to confuse her.
VIDEO INSTRUCTOR
We're all on the Starship Excelsior.
Five thousand passengers and fifty-
eight crew members.
JIM
But I'm the only one awake.
VIDEO INSTRUCTOR
No, all the passengers wake up at the
same time.
JIM
Then something's wrong with the other
hibernation pods.
VIDEO INSTRUCTOR
Hibernation pods are fail-safe.
JIM
So why am I the only one here?
VIDEO INSTRUCTOR
I'm sorry. I don't understand your
question.
8.
GRAND CONCOURSE
Jim finds an INFOMAT - an information kiosk. A banner scrolls
across the screen: ASK ME A QUESTION! Jim taps the screen.
INFOMAT
(INSANELY CHEERFUL)
Hello! What's your question?
JIM
I need to talk to a person. A real
live person.
INFOMAT
What sort of person? Personal
trainer? Travel planner? Therapist?
JIM
Someone in charge.
INFOMAT
The Ship Steward handles passenger
affairs. You can find him in his
office on the Service Deck.
ONSCREEN: A dotted line on the map shows how to get there.
JIM
Thank you.
INFOMAT
Happy to help!
SERVICE DECK - CORRIDOR
Jim appears around the corner. The lights brighten, the
ventilation kicks up a notch.
He finds a door marked SHIP STEWARD.
SHIP STEWARD'S OFFICE
The lights flash on as Jim enters, revealing...an office in
mothballs. Empty chairs, barren desks.
JIM
Not good.
ELEVATOR LOBBY
Another Infomat. Jim arrives at a jog.
9.
INFOMAT
Hello! What's your quest...
JIM
Who's flying the ship?
INFOMAT
The bridge crew includes the Captain,
the Pilot, the Chief Navigator...
JIM
The Captain. I want to talk to the
Captain.
INFOMAT
The Captain rarely handles passenger
queries directly.
JIM
Emergency, okay? Where is he?
INFOMAT
The Captain is usually found on the
Bridge, on the Command Deck.
ONSCREEN: A helpful map shows the way. Jim marches off.
COMMAND DECK
Jim finds the door to the Bridge. He opens it eagerly - only
to find a second door behind it - an armored hatch labeled
FIREWALL and SECURE ACCESS AREA.
A porthole of thick glass gives a narrow view of the Bridge.
It's deserted. Instrument lights gleam in the dark.
JIM
(pounding on the hatch)
Come on! What the hell is happening?
DECK THREE - CAFE COURTYARD
Jim RUNS past restaurants, lounges, shops. All deserted.
JIM
(panic in his voice)
Hello? Hello!
SERVICE DECK - CELESTIAL PROMENADE
The highest promenade on the ship: windows on all sides. The
huge skylight just overhead. It's almost like being outside.
The atrium plunges seven stories to the Concourse below.
10.
JIM
(an echoing shout)
Hello!
A SOUND behind him makes him spin.
But it's just a window-washer: a robot with long spindly
limbs. It moves past Jim, polishing windows. Oblivious.
A sign catches Jim's attention: "OBSERVATORY - Your Place In
the Universe."
OBSERVATORY
Jim enters the planetarium of the future: theater seats
facing a holographic "stage."
IN HOLOGRAM: An image of the starship hangs in space. Glowing
text reads "Look through the eyes of the Starship Excelsior!"
Jim goes to the control podium. Touches the screen.
OBSERVATORY
(a voice as deep as God's)
What can I show you?
JIM
We're supposed to land pretty soon,
but it looks like I'm the only one
awake. Is that normal?
OBSERVATORY
I don't understand. What can I show
you?
JIM
(IMPATIENTLY)
Show me Homestead II.
IN HOLOGRAM: The planet Homestead II, Earth's twin sister.
OBSERVATORY
Homestead II is the fourth planet in
the Bhakti system.
JIM
Right. And how soon are we landing?
OBSERVATORY
Approximately ninety years.
JIM
What?
11.
OBSERVATORY
We land on Homestead II in ninety
years, three weeks, and one day.
JIM
No. How long ago did we leave Earth?
OBSERVATORY
Approximately thirty years ago.
Jim stares at the hologram in horrified realization.
JIM
I woke up too soon.
OBSERVATORY
I don't understand.
JIM
Neither do I.
HIBERNATION BAY
Jim sprints down a row of hibernation pods. Heart pounding.
Slides to a stop in front of his empty pod.
Jim fusses with the controls, pressing buttons. But the
screen just reads "PASSENGER DISCHARGED."
Crouching, he pulls at the pod's canopy, trying to open it
with his hands. It doesn't budge.
JIM
I'm supposed to be in there!
HIBERNATION BAY - CORRIDOR
Jim trudges between rows of sleeping passengers to the aft
end of the huge Hibernation Bay.
There he finds a hatch labeled CREW HIBERNATION FACILITY.
Jim opens it eagerly - and finds another armored hatch with a
small porthole. Labels reads FIREWALL and SECURE ACCESS AREA.
Jim presses the switch. No result.
He peers through the porthole. Inside, the entire crew of the
starship stands sleeping.
GRAND CONCOURSE - INFOMAT
Jim stands at another Infomat.
12.
JIM
How do I make a phone call?
INFOMAT
Your cabin telephone...
JIM
No. Long distance. How do I send a
message to Earth?
INFOMAT
Interstellar messages are sent by
laser array. Speak to the Duty
Officer in the Comm Center.
ONSCREEN: The Infomat displays a helpful map.
INFOMAT (CONT'D)
Please note that interstellar
messaging is an expensive service.
JIM
(WALKING AWAY)
Bite me.
INFOMAT
Happy to help!
COMMAND DECK - COMMUNICATIONS CENTER
Two communications booths for passenger use. Jim sits at one
of these. Swipes his shipcard.
COMMUNICATIONS BOOTH
Planet and connection?
JIM
Earth. The HomeStead Company.
COMMUNICATIONS BOOTH
There are thirty thousand phone
numbers listed under "HomeStead
Company." What number?
JIM
I don't know. I'm emigrating to
Homestead II. I have an emergency.
COMMUNICATIONS BOOTH
Division of Colonial Affairs,
Homestead II Program. I have a
Customer Help Line.
JIM
Sounds about right.
13.
The booth's camera zooms in on Jim's face. A microphone
extends toward his mouth. The red RECORDING light comes on.
COMMUNICATIONS BOOTH
Begin message.
Jim's a deer in the headlights. He collects himself.
JIM
Hi. I'm Jim Preston. I'm a passenger
on the Excelsior. Something went
wrong with my hibernation pod and I
woke up too soon. Ninety years too
soon. I can't get back to sleep.
Nobody else is awake.
(with growing panic)
If I don't figure something out, I'm
going to die of old age before we get
to Homestead II. So help me out here.
(takes a deep breath)
I'll keep trying to fix this. Maybe I
missed something simple. But I could
use a hand. Thanks.
Jim pushes the "SEND" button. Sits back in his chair.
COMMUNICATIONS BOOTH
Message sent.
JIM
Outstanding.
COMMUNICATIONS BOOTH
Message will arrive in nineteen
years.
JIM
Say what?
COMMUNICATIONS BOOTH
Earliest possible reply in fifty-five
years.
JIM
No.
COMMUNICATIONS BOOTH
We are nineteen light years from
Earth. By the time your message
arrives, we will be thirty-six light-
years from Earth. We apologize for
the delay.
JIM
(DEVASTATED)
Fifty-five years.
14.
COMMUNICATIONS BOOTH
That will be six thousand dollars.
GRAND CONCOURSE
Jim crosses the Concourse like a sleepwalker in his robe and
slippers. He looks shell-shocked.
He comes to the Concourse Bar: the fanciest watering hole on
the ship. Black leather stools along a marble bartop.
Jim touches the bartop...and a MAN swings up behind the bar -
as if mounted on a hinge. A handsome fellow in a bartender's
uniform - his hair and skin eerily perfect. This is ARTHUR.
Jim jumps out of his skin.
ARTHUR
What can I get you?
JIM
I thought I was the only one awake!
ARTHUR
I doubt it. It's the middle of the
afternoon. Are you drinking or not?
He produces a cloth and polishes the bartop. In a startling
movement, he glides the length of the bar, polishing all the
way, and glides back as if on roller skates.
Jim steps up on the footrail and peers behind the bar.
Arthur's body stops at the waist. He's mounted on rails,
built into the bar.
JIM
(DEFLATED)
You're a robot.
ARTHUR
Android, technically. Arthur's the
name.
JIM
(taking a seat)
I'm Jim.
Arthur shakes his hand.
ARTHUR
Pleased to meet you. What'll it be?
JIM
Whiskey, neat.
15.
Arthur pours. Jim knocks the drink back. Points into the
empty glass while his eyes water. Arthur pours another. Jim
takes a big swallow and sets the glass down half-full.
JIM (CONT'D)
Arthur, how much do you know about
the ship?
ARTHUR
I don't know. I know some things.
JIM
What do I do if my hibernation pod
malfunctions?
ARTHUR
Impossible. Hibernation pods are fail-
safe.
JIM
Yeah, well, I woke up early.
ARTHUR
Can't happen.
JIM
(A CHALLENGE)
How long until we get to Homestead
II?
ARTHUR
Ninety years or so.
JIM
And when are all of us passengers
supposed to wake up?
ARTHUR
Not until the last two months.
JIM
So how can I be sitting here with
ninety years to go?
Arthur's eyes take on a faraway look. His head twitches.
ARTHUR
It's not possible for you to be here.
He smiles as if he's solved the problem.
JIM
But I am.
16.
ARTHUR
Sorry, Jim. My specialty is cocktails
and conversation. Take your fancy
trick questions to one of those
Infomats. They think they know
everything.
JIM
Arthur, I'm in trouble. I'm screwed.
I am completely, ridiculously
screwed.
ARTHUR
Lot of self-pity.
JIM
Self pity? I'm going to die of old
age on this ship!
ARTHUR
Jim, we all die. Even androids end up
on the scrap heap. It's not dying
that matters, it's living. This is
your life. Are you going to live it
or lie down and die?
Jim shakes his head in surrender.
JIM
What do I owe you?
ARTHUR
Jim, the booze is on the house.
DECK NINE - AFT OBSERVATION DECK - NIGHT
A moody lounge with panoramic windows. Jim walks in. Strolls
up to the glass.
Stares out at the red stars behind the ship, the cold white
stars all around.
INT. JIM'S CABIN - MORNING
Jim wakes up and rolls out of bed. Shuffles into the shower.
CAFETERIA
Machines offer food and drink in dizzying variety. Each
machine has a card slot and a screen displaying its menu.
Jim enters, dressed in his own clothes - jeans, a T-shirt.
17.
He swipes his shipcard at a coffee machine. It offers sixteen
kinds of coffee, from a simple cup of joe to the "Mocha
Cappuccino Extreme." Jim picks the best of the lot.
COFFEE MACHINE
Sorry. The Mocha Cappuccino Extreme
is reserved for gold-class
passengers. Please select another
item.
Jim presses one button after another, denied each time.
COFFEE MACHINE (CONT'D)
Sorry...sorry...sorry...Large coffee.
JIM
Are you serious?
COFFEE MACHINE
Please enjoy.
ELEVATOR
Jim ascends, sipping coffee and eating an egg sandwich.
The doors open at the Command Deck. A sign reads "Crew Area -
No Passengers beyond this point." Jim breezes past the sign.
COMMAND DECK
Jim prowls the floor, opening doors.
He finds a room marked EMERGENCY GEAR and opens it eagerly.
It's full of space suits and oxygen tanks.
He peers into a red HAZARD cabinet: fire extinguishers, an
axe, an epoxy foamer for atmosphere leaks - all behind glass.
He opens another door marked EMERGENCY MANUALS - and smiles:
shelf after shelf of waterproof, fireproof technical manuals.
Jim pulls a manual labeled HIBERNATION SYSTEMS.
INT. SUBDECK B - PASSENGER CARGO STOWAGE - DAY
A cavernous cargo hold. Jim drives a forklift down the aisle,
scanning container numbers.
He finds a container labeled "PASSENGER #1498, JAMES
PRESTON." The forklift pulls it from the rack.
18.
THE CARGO CONTAINER
Opens to reveal Jim's belongings. Cartons marked "sports" or
"clothes" or "kitchen stuff."
Amidst the cartons, a heavy-duty TOOLBOX. Jim hauls it out.
HIBERNATION BAY
Jim sits in front of his empty hibernation pod. His toolbox
beside him. The Hibernation Systems manual lies open.
Jim tinkers with the electronics inside his pod.
The pod hums to life. Its data screen flickers with
information. Mysterious WHIRS and THUNKS.
The canopy opens.
Elated, Jim bounces to his feet. Strips off his shirt and
scrambles in. The canopy closes over him.
He assumes the position, his back against the backrest,
waiting for the pod to put him to sleep.
Nothing happens. He pokes at the ports where the sensors and
intravenous lines used to protrude. Shakes the machine.
He gives up. It's not working.
But now he's trapped inside the pod.
He pushes at the canopy, but it's locked shut. He pounds on
the glass with no effect. Finally he loses it, shouting and
stamping, hammering and raging - all muffled behind glass.
Exhausted, he sinks to the floor of the pod, staring out at
his tools and his manual, his discarded shirt.
Then he notices the emergency release handle down by the
floor. He pulls it, and the canopy pops open.
OUTSIDE THE POD
The pod's display screen blinks back to its original message.
PASSENGER DISCHARGED.
CREW HIBERNATION FACILITY DOOR
Jim looks through the porthole at the sleeping crew.
Jim swipes his shipcard through the door switch. ACCESS
DENIED. He pokes at the keypad. ACCESS DENIED.
19.
Jim opens his toolbox, selects a tool and starts to remove
the keypad's cover plate.
FADE TO BLACK.
SUPER: THREE WEEKS LATER
INT. CREW HIBERNATION FACILITY DOOR - MORNING
Jim works on the door with an industrial LASER CUTTER. Sparks
fly. He's drenched in sweat. Mussed and unshaven.
He lifts the goggles and inspects the door. The laser cutter
has barely marked the surface.
The door's a mess. Its switch hangs on wires. There are pry
marks around the latch. Gouges around the window. Failed
drill holes. Dents left by an axe.
But the door stands firm.
Jim lets the laser cutter fall. It joins a scrapyard of tools
on the floor: sledgehammer, jackhammer, drill, crowbar, axe.
HIBERNATION BAY - JIM'S POD
Another debris field surrounds Jim's hibernation pod. Tools
and cables, electronic instruments, a diagnostic laptop.
Jim stalks by without so much as a sideways glance.
CONCOURSE BAR - DAY
Arthur stands behind the bar polishing glasses. Jim sits,
sweaty and grimy, a whiskey in front of him.
His speech is soft around the edges. He's had a few.
JIM
I thought I'd figure something out. I
thought it would just come to me.
ARTHUR
Stands to reason.
JIM
But I've tried everything.
ARTHUR
Sometimes you can't catch a break.
Jim gives Arthur a thoughtful look.
20.
JIM
I'm your only customer, but you're
always polishing a glass.
ARTHUR
Trick of the trade. Makes people
nervous when a bartender just stands
there.
JIM
Okay. Lay some bartender wisdom on
me. I'm lost in space here.
Arthur polishes the bar while he thinks that one over.
ARTHUR
You're not where you want to be. You
feel like you're supposed to be
somewhere else. Right?
JIM
You said it.
ARTHUR
Well, here's the thing. Say you could
snap your fingers and be wherever you
wanted to be. Back on Earth, or on
Homestead II.
JIM
Okay.
ARTHUR
I'll bet even if you got your wish,
you'd still feel this way. Not in the
right place. Supposed to be somewhere
else. That's not a crisis, it's the
human condition.
Jim takes a moment to consider that.
JIM
That's not me.
ARTHUR
Well, maybe not. The point is, you
can't get so wrapped up in where
you'd rather be that you forget to
make the most of where you are.
JIM
What are you telling me?
21.
ARTHUR
It's a big ship. You're always
running around banging on things and
yelling at the computers. Take a
break. Live a little.
Jim spins on his barstool, surveying the Grand Concourse.
JIM
Live a little.
When he comes back around he gives a shove. He spins faster.
ARTHUR
That's the spirit.
Jim goes for one more shove. Misses. Falls off his stool.
GRAND CONCOURSE - INFORMATION KIOSK
Jim scans a map of the ship. Second-class cabins. First-class
cabins. And the good stuff: palatial suites named for
European cities.
His finger stops on one of the biggest. The Berlin Suite.
BERLIN SUITE
High ceilings, posh furniture, panoramic windows.
The door jumps in its frame with a THUNK. Slides open. Jim
enters, a crowbar in hand.
A cargo robot follows him in, carrying his toolbox and
suitcases. It deposits them on the floor.
CARGO ROBOT
The Berlin Suite! Enjoy your luggage!
BERLIN SUITE - BATH
Jim cleans up in the opulent bathtub. A robot arm with a
water jet washes his back.
BERLIN SUITE - BEDROOM
Jim unpacks. Stowing clothes in closets, laying out mementos.
He pulls a pair of sneakers out of his luggage.
22.
DECK TWO - GYMNASIUM - BASKETBALL COURT
Jim shoots baskets in sneakers and gym clothes. He's not bad.
He shoots, rebounds, shoots.
SPA
Jim lies on a massage table wearing a towel. A pair of robot
arms emerge from the table and begin to massage him.
DECK THREE - MARCELLO'S - DAY
The Italian restaurant. Cafe tables, white tablecloths.
Jim sits perusing a menu. A robotic waiter - a machine, not a
counterfeit human - rolls up to the table.
JIM
(WITH RELISH)
Let me have the rigatoni alla diabla,
with the sauteed spinach and a glass
of the Montepulciano.
DECK TWO - ARCADE - EVENING
A state-of-the-art game room. Jim inspects the flagship game:
"Z Factor!" A huge holographic display, a futuristic cockpit.
Jim swipes his shipcard. The game speaks like an angry giant.
Z FACTOR
Jim Preston! Welcome to the cutting
edge of gaming! The greatest
challenge you will ever know!
JIM
All right then.
He clambers into the cockpit.
Z FACTOR
(SNARLING)
Are you ready to play Z Factor?
JIM
Yes!
Z FACTOR
(an echoing roar)
Begin!
IN HOLOGRAM: A fortress shines on a hilltop. War machines
crawl over a blasted land. Letters flash: LEVEL ONE.
23.
A WARRIOR appears. Jim's character. Jim works the controls.
IN HOLOGRAM: The Warrior rises off the ground on a beam of
light - and is immediately torn to pieces by enemy fire.
Z FACTOR (CONT'D)
You lose! Z Factor reigns supreme!
The game howls with demonic laughter.
DECK FOUR - MOVIE THEATER - EVENING
A classic theater. Seats for a thousand. A velvet curtain.
Jim enters. Cued by his arrival, the curtain parts. The film
begins. Jim settles into a seat.
FADE TO BLACK.
SUPER: THREE MONTHS LATER
DECK TWO - ARCADE - DAY
Jim is playing "Z Factor!" and he's on fire.
IN HOLOGRAM: The Warrior battles dragons above a crystalline
city. A title announces "Level 40."
Jim moves like a martial artist, dripping sweat.
IN HOLOGRAM: The Warrior challenges the game's Final Enemy -
a colossus with a hundred eyes. The Final Enemy falls dead.
Z-FACTOR
You are victorious!
JIM
Yes!
Z-FACTOR
You are the Grand Master of Z Factor!
JIM
(ELATED)
I am the Grand Master of Z Factor!
GYMNASIUM - BASKETBALL COURT
Jim shoots baskets. He's brought dozens of balls onto the
court. He no longer rebounds, just grabs the nearest ball.
He shoots from half court. From even farther away. Long
shots, bounce shots off the wall.
24.
He launches a full-court shot, bangs it off the rim, and lets
himself topple over backward. Lies staring at the ceiling.
BELLA CANTINA - AFTERNOON
The ship's Mexican restaurant. It has the same robot waiters
as the Italian place, but here they wear sombreros.
Jim sits over the wreckage of his lunch. He downs a margarita
and puts the empty glass down beside several others.
JIM
Another margarita!
MEXICAN ROBOT WAITER
You have had many, senor.
JIM
(DRUNKENLY)
Margarita otra vez!
MEXICAN ROBOT WAITER
Si, senor.
LIBRARY - AFTERNOON
A room full of workstations, each with a reading machine. Jim
sits at one in a headset, taking a Russian Language course.
RUSSIAN TEACHER (FILTERED)
This is the Gudonov Russian Language
Course. Level One. Let's begin.
Repeat after me.
(IN RUSSIAN)
[I am beginning to learn.]
JIM
(IN RUSSIAN)
[I am beginning to learn.]
RUSSIAN TEACHER (FILTERED)
I am beginning to learn.
JIM
I am beginning to learn.
CONCOURSE BAR - EVENING
Jim sits drinking. Three glasses in front of him. Drunk.
JIM
(in bad Russian, subtitled)
[I be study the Russian.]
25.
ARTHUR
(in perfect Russian, subtitled)
[Good for you! It's a beautiful
language.]
JIM
You speak Russian!
ARTHUR
Of course. We have Russian
passengers.
JIM
Well, I'm trying new things. From now
on, every time I sit down, I want a
drink I haven't had before.
ARTHUR
Fair enough.
Arthur mixes a bright green drink, sets it in front of Jim.
Jim takes a sip and makes a horrible face.
JIM
What's that?
ARTHUR
Something new.
FADE TO BLACK.
SUPER: THREE MONTHS LATER
INT. BERLIN SUITE - BEDROOM - MORNING
Jim sleeps in his luxurious bed. The covers knotted around
him. He hasn't shaven in weeks.
His eyes open. He lies staring at the ceiling.
After a long moment he gets up. Shuffles toward the bathroom
in his underwear. He's put on a beer gut.
CAFETERIA - MORNING
Jim walks past empty tables. Dials up a coffee and a roll.
Sits sipping coffee and staring at nothing.
ARCADE ENTRANCE - DAY
Flashes and blasts of noise. The sounds of Z Factor!
Z FACTOR (O.S.)
You are victorious!
26.
AT THE Z-FACTOR MACHINE
Jim sits blank-faced in the cockpit.
Z-FACTOR
New high score!
Bored, Jim punches his name into the High Scores board. JIM.
All the other high scores say JIM.
CONCOURSE BAR - MORNING
Jim walks up to the bar and slides onto a stool.
JIM
(in fluent Russian, subtitled)
[I'm ready for today's new drink]
ARTHUR
(in Russian, subtitled)
[I'm afraid I can't help you, my
friend.]
Jim thumps his fist on the bar.
JIM
(in Russian, subtitled)
[Don't argue with me, robot. Give me
a new drink.]
ARTHUR
(RELUCTANTLY)
There are no new drinks.
JIM
What do you mean?
ARTHUR
I can make two thousand, seven
hundred and thirty-eight cocktails.
You've had them all.
The news hits Jim like a death in the family.
JIM
There are no new drinks.
NIGHTCLUB - EVENING
On the holographic stage, a sexy LOUNGE SINGER in a slinky
dress croons a torch song. Jim stands just inches away.
He touches her face. The hologram dissolves into static.
27.
Jim drops his hand, restoring the illusion. Closes his eyes
in an agony of loneliness.
GRAND CONCOURSE - SHOPPING DISTRICT - NIGHT
Jim walks past the upscale shops, blind to their displays.
He comes to a PHOTO BOOTH. The promotional pictures on the
side catch his attention: people clowning, smiling, kissing.
He pulls back the curtain, sits in the booth. The curtain
falls. The strobe flashes.
A photostrip drops into the tray outside the machine: four
identical shots of Jim staring into the lens without emotion.
ELITE DECK - ELITE PROMENADE - DAY
Jim walks numbly along, ignoring the stellar view. He munches
potato chips out of a bag.
A SWEEPER ROBOT follows him like a dog, collecting crumbs.
Jim feeds it chips. One for Jim, one for the robot.
FORWARD OBSERVATION DECK
Jim enters, still munching chips. The sweeper robot follows.
Jim stands at the windows. Stares out into the dark. Sighs a
terrible sigh.
Suddenly he's wracked by sobs. Tears welling up. He leans his
forehead against the glass. Moaning.
After a moment he sits down blindly.
The whole room begins to slide past him.
Confused, Jim looks around. He's accidentally sat down on the
sweeper robot: it carries him across the room.
TRAVELING SHOT
The robot carries Jim up and down the Celestial Promenade.
Down an elevator.
Past the Concourse Bar. Jim waves. Arthur waves back,
speechless.
DECK ONE
The robot heads into a low hatch. Jim ducks to fit through.
28.
ROBOTICS CENTER
A mechanical hive. Here the ship's robots are cleaned,
repaired, recharged. Robots bustle everywhere - never
colliding, never getting lost. A ballet.
Jim's sweeper robot vomits its load of collected dirt into a
waste chute. Heads into a recharging niche.
Jim jumps off.
He explores: it's an engineer's fantasia. Jim's eyes show
signs of life. But it's a hazardous place, with cranes and
platforms, hoses and blowtorches on the move.
He exits through another low hatch to find himself in the...
HIBERNATION BAY
Thousands of sleepers in their glass tubes. Jim walks among
them, looking at their faces.
Suddenly he stops, staring. Inside a pod, a woman stands
sleeping. This is AURORA DUNN. A breathtaking beauty.
JIM
Who are you?
(peers at her data screen)
Aurora.
He moves on, browsing people. Stops. Backtracks. He stands in
front of Aurora, looking in through the glass.
He glances at her data screen again.
JIM (CONT'D)
New York City. Journalist.
INT. DECK TWO - LIBRARY
A workstation. Jim types "Aurora Dunn" into a search engine.
It returns a list of New Yorker articles. Some titles:
The New Corporate Overlords
Patient or Patent? Genetic Medicine and You
Modern Love: Dating the Database
Jim moves the articles onto a digital slate.
CONCOURSE BAR - EVENING
Jim sits reading one of Aurora's articles. Arthur keeps busy.
29.
JIM
Did you know ninety percent of the
businesses in the world are owned by
just eight companies?
ARTHUR
Is that right?
JIM
She's good. She knows her stuff, and
she's not afraid of anybody.
ARTHUR
Who's that?
JIM
Aurora.
ARTHUR
Who's Aurora?
JIM
A woman. A passenger.
FADE TO BLACK.
SUPER: THREE MONTHS LATER
INT. BERLIN SUITE - MORNING
Jim lies asleep, wearing boxer shorts and a full beard. The
suite's a wreck. Laundry and dishes litter the floor.
His eyes open. He looks at the stars outside. Gropes under
the pillow and pulls out a remote control. Punches a button.
The window shades come down, hiding the view.
CORRIDOR
Jim emerges from his room in boxer shorts and slippers. He's
dragging a blanket.
A housekeeping robot, its dustpan quivering in anticipation,
hovers outside his door.
Jim taps the "Do Not Disturb" button on his door panel and
walks away.
The housekeeping robot squeals in frustration as the door
closes over the mess inside.
30.
CAFETERIA
Jim pours milk over a bowl of cereal.
ELEVATOR
Jim descends, the blanket draped over his shoulders like a
serape. He holds his bowl of cereal in both hands.
HIBERNATION BAY - AURORA'S POD
Jim stands eating cereal and staring at Aurora. His eyes
never stray from her face.
GRAND CONCOURSE - CONCOURSE BAR
Jim glowers at the bar in his boxers and blanket. The cereal
bowl on the bar beside him.
JIM
I'm not saying the universe is evil.
It's just got an ugly sense of humor.
It doesn't just crush you. It crushes
you ironically.
ARTHUR
Things may look dark sometimes...
JIM
You get to fly to another planet, but
you die on the way. You're completely
alone, with the perfect woman right
in front of you, just out of reach.
ARTHUR
Aurora.
JIM
Yes, Aurora! Arthur, I'm falling for
her. I've read all her stuff.
Sometimes I talk to her and I know
exactly what she'd say.
ARTHUR
Jim, Aurora's asleep.
JIM
I know.
(lays his head on the bar)
I know.
31.
DECK NINE - OBSERVATORY - DAY
IN HOLOGRAM: Excelsior's progress diagram.
The Excelsior hangs between Earth and Homestead II. A legend
reads: "TIME TRAVELED: 30 YEARS. TIME REMAINING: 90 YEARS."
Jim stands watching.
The numbers change with a digital click. TIME TRAVELED: 31
YEARS. TIME REMAINING: 89 YEARS.
CONCOURSE BAR - MORNING
Jim walks up to the bar with the HIBERNATION SYSTEMS MANUAL.
Drops the book on the bar with a thud and takes a seat.
JIM
Arthur. Say you were trapped on a
desert island, and you had the power
to wish somebody there with you. You
wouldn't be alone anymore, but you'd
be stranding another person on the
island. Would you make the wish?
ARTHUR
I don't know. I've never been on an
island.
JIM
Okay. Say you figured out how to do
something that would make your life a
hundred times better. But it's wrong,
and there's no taking it back. How
wrong would it have to be to stop
you? I mean, what if it made your
life a thousand times better? How do
you do the math?
ARTHUR
Jim. These are not robot questions.
Jim stares at Arthur in frustration.
JIM
(spelling it out)
I know how to wake up Aurora.
ARTHUR
Sounds like a fine idea. You could
use some company.
32.
JIM
I'd be stranding her on this ship for
the rest of her life!
ARTHUR
Oh. Well, you can't do that.
Jim buries his face in his hands.
JIM
What am I going to do?
ARTHUR
Jim. I'm here for you.
JIM
(LOOKING UP)
Arthur, you're a machine.
Jim hauls the manual off the bartop and stalks away.
EXT. STARSHIP EXCELSIOR
The ship forges through space, its lit windows shining.
Jim paces back and forth on a promenade, a tiny figure
dwarfed by the mighty ship and the tapestry of stars.
DECK TWO - HALL OF FAITH - DAY
Jim passes under a sign reading "Hall of Faith," into a
circular walk.
There's a small fountain in the middle of the circle. Around
the edges, doors labeled: BUDDHISM, JUDAISM, HINDUISM,
CHRISTIANITY, ISLAM, OTHER FAITHS.
Jim walks the circle, looking through the doorways: a cross,
a Buddha, an abstract sculpture in the "Other Faiths" chapel.
He continues around the circle and out into the ship.
DECK FOUR - STARBOARD E.V.A. ROOM
Jim opens a door marked "Starboard E.V.A. Room - No
Passengers Beyond This Point!"
The E.V.A. Room is dominated by an airlock. Spacesuits in
racks. Tools, tethers, shuttle docking rings.
Jim goes to the airlock. Opens the inner door.
A BUZZER sounds a warning.
33.
He steps into the airlock. The door closes behind him.
Jim looks at the red lever that opens the outer door. He
grips the lever. Looks thoughtfully out at the stars.
EXT. STARSHIP EXCELSIOR - STARBOARD AIRLOCK
The airlock outer door opens with a blast of air. Jim emerges
from the airlock - wearing a SPACE SUIT.
He plants his feet on the hull and walks up the side of the
ship on magnetic boots.
ATOP THE SHIP
Jim walks forward across the giant skylight.
AT THE BOW
Jim stands, face uplifted. The cosmos reflected in his visor.
Raises his arms. Imploring the heavens for an answer.
But no answer comes. His lifted arms fall.
INT. HIBERNATION BAY - AURORA'S POD
Jim stands looking at Aurora: a bearded pilgrim in a holy
place.
FADE TO BLACK.
INT. BERLIN SUITE - BATH - DAY
Jim stands at the sink with a futuristic shaver in his hand.
He talks to himself as he takes off his castaway's beard.
JIM
I'm shaving off my beard.
(to his reflection)
It's wrong, man.
The whiskers pile up in the sink, wash down the drain. His
face emerges from its mask.
JIM (CONT'D)
Seriously wrong. You can't do it.
He's finished. Clean-shaven.
34.
JIM (CONT'D)
Don't even think about it.
(astonished at himself)
I'm shaving off my beard.
CORRIDOR
Jim exits his cabin in his coveralls, carrying his toolbox.
He finds a squadron of housekeeping robots waiting outside.
He taps the "PLEASE SERVICE" button beside his door.
The robots zoom inside with squeals of joy.
HIBERNATION BAY - AURORA'S POD
Jim stands in front of Aurora: toolbox in one hand, the
technical manual in the other. He's breathing hard.
He sets the toolbox down. Opens the manual. It's densely
annotated in Jim's handwriting.
He opens the pod's cover panel and goes to work, following
the steps in his manual. His hands shake.
He starts to close a final contact.
Stops.
Gets to his feet. Stands looking at Aurora.
Quickly he kneels and completes the circuit. Pulls his hands
away as if the metal had burned him.
JIM
Okay.
Aurora's pod hums. Medical data flows across its screen. Her
vital signs re-start. Her pale skin flushes with color.
Jim beats a retreat.
AURORA'S POD
Aurora's perfect lips part. She takes a shallow breath - and
then a deep one. Her chest rises and falls.
Her thighs shift as she bends her knees. The sensors on her
body drop off and withdraw into the pod.
She opens her eyes. They're beautiful.
Her pod's backrest flexes, scooping up her knees as it
becomes a seat. A video screen drops in front of her.
35.
VIDEO STEWARDESS
Good morning, Aurora!
BERLIN SUITE
The luxury cabin now tidy and immaculate.
Jim bursts in, wild-eyed. Drops his toolbox. Hides the marked-
up manual in the closet.
He splashes water on his face. Stares into the mirror.
HIBERNATION BAY - AURORA'S POD
Aurora puts on her Homestead Company bathrobe and slippers.
Places her shipcard around her neck on its lanyard.
VIDEO STEWARDESS
You're ready to go to your cabin.
Make yourself at home! Enjoy the rest
of your flight, Aurora!
Woozy, Aurora sees the other passengers still asleep.
AURORA
Wait! Why are all these people still
hibernating?
The screen pivots to face her. The Video Stewardess points.
VIDEO STEWARDESS
Aurora, your cabin is this way!
DECK SEVEN - CORRIDOR
Jim sticks his head out of his cabin, looks up and down the
hall. Steps out warily.
HIBERNATION BAY - AURORA'S POD
Jim approaches Aurora's pod, electrified. The pod is empty.
The screen reads PASSENGER DISCHARGED.
DECK NINE - NUMBER NINE PROMENADE
Aurora finds her cabin. It's a first-class cabin, its door
overlooking the Grand Concourse atrium.
36.
AURORA'S CABIN
Posher than Jim's original cabin. A king-sized bed, a
panoramic window.
A widescreen video screen lights up. The Homestead Company
theme music plays.
ANNOUNCER
Welcome to your cabin, Aurora! Your
home until we...
Aurora slaps the display off. Goes to the phone.
A touch of her finger brings up the ship's telephone
directory. Aurora selects "Information."
PHONE
No one is available at that number.
She touches other phone links, faster and faster.
PHONE (CONT'D)
No one is available...No one is...No
one...No one...No one is available at
that number.
AURORA
What the hell's going on?
DECK FOUR - SHOPPING DISTRICT
Aurora strides down the lane of quiet shops. Actively
searching for other people.
ELITE DECK - ELITE PROMENADE
Jim paces nervously, glancing around. She could be anywhere.
AURORA (O.S.)
Hello?
Jim rushes to the railing. Below on the Grand Concourse,
Aurora is turning in circles, looking up at the balconies.
AURORA (CONT'D)
(SHOUTING)
Hello!
JIM
(a husky whisper)
Hi.
(mustering a shout)
Hello!
37.
Aurora spins. Spots him.
AURORA
(SHOUTING)
Hey! I want to talk to you!
JIM
(SHOUTING)
I'll come down.
Jim runs down six flights of stairs, his heart in his throat.
He reaches the Grand Concourse out of breath. He stops a few
paces away, just looking at Aurora, getting his wind back.
AURORA
Passenger or crew?
JIM
Passenger. Jim Preston.
He sticks out a hand. She shakes it firmly. Electric for Jim.
First contact.
AURORA
I'm Aurora.
Jim's lips move as she speaks her name, almost saying it with
her. Aurora. She doesn't pick up on it.
AURORA (CONT'D)
Do you know what's happening? Nobody
else in my row woke up.
JIM
Yeah, I...same for me.
AURORA
The crew's supposed to wake up a
month before we do. But I haven't
seen anybody.
Jim swallows hard.
JIM
The crew's still sleeping. They've
got a special facility. I can see
them in there but I can't get in.
Aurora stares at him.
AURORA
You're saying nobody's awake?
JIM
Just me.
38.
AURORA
Just you?
JIM
Just us.
AURORA
But somebody's got to land the ship
in a few weeks.
Jim's finding it unexpectedly hard to deliver the bad news.
JIM
I have to show you something.
ELEVATOR A
Jim and Aurora ride upward. She looks out into the atrium,
watching the floors go by.
AURORA
Typical. There's so much incompetence
in these big companies. No
accountability! They lost my luggage
on the flight to the spaceport. I'm
leaving the planet and my bags almost
didn't make it! And nobody
apologizes. Nobody even feels bad.
Jim is only half listening - his eyes drawn to the spill of
her hair over her neck, the line of her jaw.
AURORA (CONT'D)
It's the corporate mentality.
(looking at Jim)
Where are we going?
Jim yanks his eyes away from her neck.
JIM
The Observatory.
OBSERVATORY
Aurora's eyes, wide and staring. Her face a mask of horror.
In front of them hangs the starship's progress indicator -
the Excelsior hanging between Earth and Homestead II. Thirty-
one years elapsed; Eighty-nine years to go.
AURORA
(a shocked whisper)
Eighty-nine years to go.
39.
JIM
The other passengers aren't late
waking up. We're early.
Aurora stares at Jim.
AURORA
We've got to get back to sleep.
HIBERNATION BAY
Jim and Aurora walk down a row of hibernation pods.
AURORA
Nobody strands me on a spaceship for
a hundred years. I work for the New
Yorker. I'll write an expose so hot
you'll need oven mitts to read it.
Trust me.
JIM
It's not that simple. Putting
somebody into hibernation takes
special equipment. Remember the
facility where they put us to sleep?
Jim points at a pod beside them. A middle-aged woman inside.
JIM (CONT'D)
This pod will keep her in hibernation
as long as you want. And it can wake
her up. But it can't put her back to
sleep.
AURORA
(GETTING IT)
You don't think there's a way back
into hibernation.
JIM
Not that I can see.
AURORA
There has to be. There's always a
way. Where's the crew?
CREW HIBERNATION FACILITY DOOR
Jim and Aurora stand staring at the door: scarred by Jim's
many assaults.
Aurora looks through the porthole at the crew inside. She
runs her hands thoughtfully over the door's dents and gouges.
40.
AURORA
(dreading the answer)
How long have you been awake, Jim?
JIM
A year and three months.
Aurora covers her mouth. Her eyes full of horror.
AURORA
Oh, my God. No.
She turns her back. Suddenly she walks briskly away. And
breaks into a run. Jim watches her go, astonished.
After a moment he runs after her.
HIBERNATION BAY
Aurora runs down a row of hibernation pods, her eyes
searching wildly among the glass tubes. She turns a corner.
Hesitates. Runs down another row. She's fighting tears.
She puts on speed. Her sash unknots itself and her robe
billows behind her.
IN ANOTHER ROW
Jim jogs along, worried. He's lost her. He pauses, listening.
In the distance, slippered feet. He runs that way.
He stops: the sash of Aurora's robe lies on the deck. He
picks it up. Runs on.
JIM
Aurora!
He turns another corner and sees her. She's sitting down, her
back against a hibernation pod. Laughing at her own tears.
AURORA
I can't even find the one I'm
supposed to be in.
Jim extends a hand. She lets him pull her to her feet. He
gives her the sash, and she ties her robe around her.
AURORA (CONT'D)
Thanks.
Jim looks back at her, miserable with guilt.
JIM
I shouldn't have told you like that.
41.
AURORA
No, I'm sorry. It just hit me how
serious this is. How did you wake up?
JIM
I just did. I woke up, my pod dumped
me out, and there I was.
AURORA
Me too. We have to get help.
COMMAND DECK - COMMUNICATIONS CENTER
Jim and Aurora stand in at a Passenger Communication Station.
Jim swipes his card through the Comm Station's slot. It
brings up his account information.
JIM
I've sent...sixteen messages to
Earth. A bunch to the Homestead
company, one to the Space
Administration, one to the United
Nations. A couple to Homestead II,
just for the hell of it. My phone
bill's about eighty grand.
AURORA
How soon could we hear something?
JIM
With speed-of-light lag, fifty-six
years. That'll be from Earth. Nothing
from Homestead II until we're almost
there anyway. Eighty years or so.
Aurora's mouth goes dry. She swallows hard.
AURORA
What about the other planets?
JIM
The other occupied worlds are even
farther away. We'd die of old age
before they could answer.
AURORA
What about other ships?
(off Jim's stare)
Jim?
JIM
(feeling very stupid)
I never thought of other ships.
42.
AURORA
Jim, you've had more than a year!
There has to be a flight plan or
something...
They search the Comm Center and find a map table showing the
Excelsior's position relative to the Occupied Worlds.
Aurora fiddles with the controls. Interstellar flight plans
appear: a spiderweb of starship tracks between the worlds.
AURORA (CONT'D)
There!
They inspect the threads of light - an icon on each thread
representing a starship. Even Jim is excited now.
AURORA (CONT'D)
How do we tell how far away they are?
JIM
The computer knows. Give me a ship.
AURORA
(peering at the star map)
The starship Zephyr.
JIM
Round-trip message lag...ninety-nine
years.
AURORA
The starship Andromeda.
JIM
One hundred thirty-two years.
AURORA
The Maximilian.
JIM
Eighty-one years.
Jim and Aurora deflate visibly.
AURORA
That's the closest one.
GRAND CONCOURSE - EVENING
The ship's lights turn the cool blue of evening. Jim and
Aurora walk across the plaza.
43.
AURORA
I know I should be working the
problem right now, but I can barely
keep my eyes open.
JIM
You just came out of hibernation.
It'll be a couple days before you're
a hundred percent. You should rest.
AURORA
(YAWNING)
I think I have to.
JIM
I'll walk you to your cabin.
AURORA
No, I'm all right.
JIM
Okay.
AURORA
Jim. Don't look so down. It's going
to be okay. You've got me on the team
now. Chin up, all right?
Jim nods, speechless.
AURORA (CONT'D)
I'm in cabin ninety forty-eight, if
you need me.
Jim watches her walk away.
JIM
I'm in the Berlin Suite if you need
me.
She stops. Turns to look back at him.
AURORA
A year and a half? Must have been
hard.
JIM
It was.
AURORA
Good night, Jim.
GRAND CONCOURSE - CONCOURSE BAR
Jim sits down at the bar.
44.
JIM
Whiskey. Rocks.
ARTHUR
Sure thing. How's your day been?
Jim takes a stiff drink.
JIM
Aurora's awake.
ARTHUR
Congratulations.
(off Jim's face)
You don't look happy.
JIM
Arthur. Can you keep a secret?
ARTHUR
I'm a bartender.
JIM
Don't tell Aurora I woke her up. She
thinks it was an accident. Let me
tell her. Okay?
AURORA'S CABIN - NIGHT
Aurora sleeps, her hair a fan of gold on the pillow.
BERLIN SUITE - BEDROOM - NIGHT
Jim lies awake, fidgeting and staring at the ceiling.
GRAND CONCOURSE - INFOMAT - MORNING
Aurora talks with a relentlessly cheerful Infomat.
She's wearing her own clothes, and it's a transformation: she
looks hip and urban, beautiful.
AURORA
How can there be no way to put
someone into hibernation aboard ship?
What if a pod breaks down?
INFOMAT
No pod has malfunctioned in thousands
of interstellar flights.
AURORA
Well, I'm awake.
45.
INFOMAT
Hibernation pods are fail-safe.
Jim appears behind Aurora.
JIM
Good morning. Have you eaten?
AURORA
I'm starving. This is the dumbest
machine.
CAFETERIA
Jim watches in astonishment as Aurora blithely orders the
snacks that the machines deny him. The Mocha Cappuccino
Extreme. The French Breakfast Puff. The Gourmet Fruit Salad.
They sit. Aurora eyes Jim's tray.
AURORA
You're a man of simple tastes.
JIM
I'm a silver class passenger. The
French Breakfast Puff is above my pay
grade.
AURORA
Oh, no! All this time? What can I get
you?
JIM
No, I'm fine, really...
AURORA
Shut up. I'll be right back.
She gets up. In a minute she's back, setting a tray down in
front of Jim: A western omelette with a side of bacon...a
cafe latte...half a honeydew melon.
Jim shoves his old breakfast aside.
JIM
Thank you.
They dig in.
AURORA
You think the crew members would know
what to do?
JIM
I was hoping so.
46.
AURORA
Could we wake them up if we got in
there?
JIM
(AWKWARDLY)
I'm no expert. But I think so.
AURORA
Maybe there's another way to go to
sleep. Did you check out the
infirmary?
JIM
I looked around. It's the usual
hospital stuff. Scanners, autodocs.
AURORA
Did you look for ways of going to
sleep?
JIM
Not really.
AURORA
Well, Jim!
JIM
You think they've got suspended
animation pills sitting around?
AURORA
You don't know until you look. What
about cargo? Maybe there's a
hibernation machine in the hold.
JIM
I looked at the manifests. It's
mostly farming stuff, industrial
machines. We're not going to find a
hibernation facility in a box.
AURORA
You don't know that! We have to think
big here. Maybe we can build our own
hibernation machine.
JIM
No, we can't.
AURORA
You're not even trying!
JIM
I've been awake a year and a half.
I've tried everything I can think of.
47.
AURORA
(she gets up angrily)
Well, it looks to me like you missed
some possibilities. And I'm not ready
to give up.
She strides out. Jim watches her go. Reaches over and takes
the Gourmet Fruit Salad off her tray.
DECK TWO - LIBRARY - DAY
Aurora sits at a library workstation.
WORKSTATION
No plans are available.
AURORA
What about research articles, any
kind of technical documents?
WORKSTATION
Hibernation technology is
proprietary. The following articles
deal with the subject on a
theoretical level.
COMMAND DECK - COMMUNICATIONS CENTER - DAY
Aurora sits at the Passenger Communications Booth.
COMMUNICATIONS BOOTH
Planet and connection, please.
AURORA
Earth. The New Yorker magazine,
office of the Editor in Chief.
COMMUNICATIONS BOOTH
Begin message.
AURORA
(INTO CAMERA)
My name is Aurora Dunn. I'm doing a
long-term piece on the colony worlds.
I know you won't get this message for
a long time...but you should know I'm
in trouble.
SERVICE DECK - INFIRMARY - DAY
Aurora inspects the gleaming medical equipment. Rummages
through cabinets full of medicines and instruments.
48.
She opens a steel vault. A deep freeze: icy vapor rolls out.
Inside: racks of steel capsules at subzero temperatures.
She leans close: each frosted capsule is labeled with a
passenger's name and the word SPERM or OVA.
CREW HIBERNATION FACILITY DOOR - EVENING
Aurora frowns through the window at the sleeping crew.
A litter of tools still surrounds the battered door. Aurora
snatches up a crowbar and bashes the porthole. The bar spins
from her stinging hands, but the window's not even marked.
ELITE DECK - ELITE PROMENADE - EVENING
Jim sits at a table with his tools, struggling with a high-
tech mechanism.
Aurora drops into a chair across from him. He looks up. Takes
in her condition: weary and frustrated.
AURORA
There's no way we're going to build a
hibernation machine.
JIM
No.
AURORA
And there's no magic sleeping drugs
in the infirmary.
JIM
No.
AURORA
I did find the gene bank. Five
thousand sperm and egg samples on
ice. I should be glad they do that.
By the time we get to Homestead II,
that little capsule in the freezer is
going to be all that's left of me. We
really are screwed, aren't we?
JIM
Pretty much.
BELLA CANTINA - EVENING
Jim and Aurora sit across a Mexican dinner they've already
put a dent in. An electric candle burns between them.
49.
A robot in a sombrero drops off two mojitos and scoots away.
AURORA
So who are you, Jim? I'm going to be
seeing you around. I should know who
I'm talking to.
JIM
I'm from Denver. Lived there all my
life.
AURORA
What kind of work do you do?
JIM
A little of everything. Transport,
robotics, industrial systems. I fix
what's broken. On the emigration
forms I'm a "rate two" mechanical
engineer. Means I don't have a Ph.D.
AURORA
Neither do I. But a journalist
doesn't need one; she just needs a
way with words and an attitude. I'm
from Manhattan, so I had the
attitude.
JIM
I noticed.
AURORA
And the words have always been there
when I needed them.
(SHE LAUGHS)
I would never have lasted a year with
no one but robots to talk to. They're
all such idiots!
JIM
Not all of them.
GRAND CONCOURSE - CONCOURSE BAR - NIGHT
Jim leads Aurora up to the Concourse Bar. It appears
deserted. Aurora is all curiosity.
Suddenly Arthur appears, doing his swinging-up-on-hinges
trick. Aurora gives a squeal of surprise.
ARTHUR
Evening, Jim. Who's the lovely lady?
50.
JIM
Arthur, this is Aurora. Aurora,
Arthur.
ARTHUR
Aurora. A pleasure.
He takes her hand formally.
AURORA
Arthur! Lovely to meet you.
She peeks over the bar at Arthur's mechanical mounting, the
rails he rolls on.
ARTHUR
What'll it be?
AURORA
Dirty martini!
(TO JIM)
Now this is a robot I can talk to.
JIM
Android, technically.
(TO ARTHUR)
Whiskey and soda.
LATER
Empty glasses show that Jim and Aurora have been doing
yeoman's work at the bar. Both are tipsy and laughing.
AURORA
(COLLECTING HERSELF)
My God, I almost forgot my life is in
ruins.
That wipes the smile off Jim's face.
JIM
Sorry.
AURORA
What for? It's time to sleep. In the
morning we'll think of something
brilliant.
JIM
All right.
AURORA
Good night, Jim. Good night, Arthur.
She exits.
51.
ARTHUR
Good night.
(to Jim, sotto voce)
She's wonderful. Excellent choice.
Jim drops his head into his hands.
AURORA'S CABIN - NIGHT
Aurora stows clothing in drawers and closets.
She hangs snapshots on the wall: family and friends. Most of
the pictures were apparently taken at the same grand party.
She looks at them wistfully - and a look of astonishment
crosses her face.
AURORA
Of course!
ELITE DECK - BERLIN SUITE DOOR
Aurora pounds on the door.
AURORA
Jim! Wake up!
The door opens. Jim stands blinking in his bathrobe.
AURORA (CONT'D)
We'll go home!
JIM
What?
She pulls him down the hall, chattering.
AURORA
It takes too long to get to Homestead
II. But we're still closer to Earth.
We'll turn the ship around.
ELEVATOR
Aurora drags Jim in and punches the button.
AURORA
We'll go home.
JIM
It would take decades.
52.
AURORA
It's our only chance of getting off
this ship in our lifetimes.
COMMAND DECK
Aurora drags Jim out of the elevator. Looks around.
AURORA
Where's the...navigating place?
JIM
That way. But...
She drags him toward the Bridge.
AURORA
We can learn how to pilot the ship.
We have all the time in the world.
JIM
There's just one problem.
COMMAND DECK - BRIDGE DOOR
Aurora opens the Bridge door - revealing the armored firewall
hatch just beyond it.
JIM
Everything important - the reactor,
the gravity drive - it's all behind
firewalls. There's no way through.
AURORA
Oh.
JIM
Sorry.
AURORA
(CRUSHED)
That was my last good idea.
FORWARD OBSERVATION DECK - DAY
Aurora sits curled up in an armchair. Around her, a dizzying
view of the cosmos.
There's a cup of coffee on a table beside her. In her lap, an
electronic slate with an attached microphone.
AURORA
New file. My Voyage.
53.
A clean page opens on the slate. The title in the corner: "My
Voyage." As Aurora speaks, the page fills with words.
AURORA (CONT'D)
I boarded the Excelsior on
assignment. Maybe the most ambitious
writing assignment ever given. But
things have taken an unexpected turn.
I'm not writing for The New Yorker
anymore. I'm writing for me.
ELITE DECK - CORRIDOR - DAY
Aurora jogs in sneakers and sweats. Cabin doors flash past.
AURORA (V.O.)
I've been awake on this ship for
seven days, awake far too soon...
Dead end. She's reached the aft end of the ship. She crosses
a lobby and runs back the other way.
AURORA (V.O.) (CONT'D)
...and I might spend the rest of my
life here...
Running along a promenade, Aurora reaches the forward end of
the ship. Dead end again.
AURORA (V.O.) (CONT'D)
...in a little steel world five
hundred meters long.
GRAND CONCOURSE
Jim sits at a table, a technical manual open in front of him.
He looks up. Watches Aurora jog around the atrium and vanish.
AURORA (V.O.)
I'm not alone. Another passenger
shares my fate. A mechanic named Jim
Preston.
SWIMMING POOL - DAY
The swimming pool is a marvel: one entire wall is a window
extending from the ceiling to the bottom of the pool.
Aurora enters in her HomeStead Company bathrobe. Drops the
robe to reveal a bathing suit.
54.
AURORA (V.O.)
The other passengers will sleep for
another ninety years.
She dives into the pool.
EXT. STARSHIP EXCELSIOR - SWIMMING POOL WINDOW
Aurora swims, a slender shape moving on the water's surface.
We pull out, the ship dwindling, the blue window receding.
AURORA (V.O.)
By the time they wake, Jim and I will
have lived, grown old and died.
INT. FORWARD OBSERVATION DECK
Back on Aurora in her armchair, writing.
AURORA
Vanished, like a dream, in the blink
of an eye.
She falters, frightened by her own words.
CAFETERIA - DAY
Jim sits eating and tinkering with a small robot. The table
is strewn with dishes and tools.
Aurora sits down across from him.
AURORA
Why did you do it?
Jim is thunderstruck. The game is up. He swallows hard.
JIM
Do what?
AURORA
Emigrate. Leave Earth. I'm
interviewing you.
JIM
You're what?
AURORA
Interviewing you. You're the first
victim of hibernation failure in the
history of space travel. That makes
you news.
55.
JIM
Who are you going to tell?
AURORA
Posterity. So why'd you give up your
life on Earth?
Jim seems stunned by the question. He hadn't thought about it
in quite those words.
AURORA (CONT'D)
A hundred and twenty years'
hibernation means you never see your
family and friends again. You sleep
your way to another planet and
another century. The ultimate
geographical suicide.
JIM
I, uh...I never really...
AURORA
Were you running away from something?
JIM
No. Things were okay.
AURORA
So?
JIM
I just wanted more, I guess. You
know. More room. A fresh start. Back
to basics.
AURORA
(CHIDING)
That's HomeStead Company propaganda.
JIM
I guess.
AURORA
Jim!
JIM
I'm a mechanic. A rate-two mechanic.
We're a dying breed on Earth. But in
the colonies, they still have
problems to solve. My kind of
problems. In the colonies, a handyman
is somebody.
Nothing there for Aurora to scoff at. She looks impressed.
56.
JIM (CONT'D)
And there's room! Open country. Woods
and fields. I like the outdoors. You
know, room to grow.
AURORA
Now you're back to advertising.
JIM
Can't it still be true?
HIBERNATION BAY
Jim and Aurora walk down an aisle of hibernation pods.
AURORA
You know how much the Homestead
Company's made off its first planet,
Homestead I? Over eight quadrillion
dollars. That's eight million
billions. Colony planets are the
biggest business there is. Did you
pay full price for your ticket?
JIM
No, I'm in a desirable trade.
AURORA
(TRIUMPHANTLY)
So they fill your head with dreams,
discount your ticket, and you fly off
to populate their planet and pay
HomeStead ten percent of everything
you do for the rest of your life. You
think you're free? You're just part
of the business plan.
Jim waves at the rows of sleepers.
JIM
All you see here is five thousand
suckers?
AURORA
I see zeroes on the HomeStead
Company's bottom line.
JIM
I see five thousand men and women
changing their lives. For five
thousand different reasons. You don't
know these people.
Jim walks up to a hibernation pod. Glances at the data
screen. He covers the screen with his hand.
57.
JIM (CONT'D)
This guy. Banker, teacher, or
gardener?
Aurora studies the sleeper: a barrel-chested man of 50 with
gray temples and a jutting jaw.
AURORA
Banker.
JIM
Gardener.
Jim moves down the row, peeks at another screen, covers it.
JIM (CONT'D)
Is this Madison, Donna, or Lola?
Aurora peers: a birdlike young woman with long red hair.
AURORA
She's too silly to be a Donna. I
think she's a Lola.
JIM
Madison. Chef, accountant, or
midwife?
AURORA
She has to be a midwife. There's no
way you made that one up.
JIM
(chuckling, caught)
She's a midwife. I didn't know they
still had midwives.
They move among the sleepers, quizzing each other.
AURORA
(pointing at a man and
woman side by side)
Married, or strangers?
JIM
Married.
AURORA
(IMPRESSED)
Yes.
JIM
(indicating a young woman)
Sixteen, twenty-six, or thirty-six?
58.
AURORA
I'd almost say sixteen...twenty-six.
JIM
Right.
AURORA
(about an older woman)
Politician, historian, or artist?
JIM
I don't know. Artist?
AURORA
It doesn't say. But I'll tell you
this: I like her. We'd be friends.
Jim looks at Aurora seriously.
JIM
You think you can see that?
AURORA
Don't you?
Jim looks at the woman in the pod. Smiles.
JIM
Yeah.
FORWARD OBSERVATION DECK - DAY
Jim and Aurora sit at opposite ends of a sofa - their feet
almost but not quite touching. They sip cocktails.
AURORA
That was my plan. Travel to Homestead
II. Live there for a year and see
what emigrating's really like. Then
back to Earth. I'm the only passenger
on board with a round-trip ticket.
JIM
(PERPLEXED)
I left Earth for a new life. But you
end up back where you started.
AURORA
No! I end up in the future. Two
hundred and fifty years in the
future. On Earth, which is still the
center of civilization, overcrowded
or not. And I arrive in the future
with an amazing story.
(MORE)
59.
AURORA (CONT'D)
A perspective no other writer has.
Literary immortality.
JIM
And what's this amazing story?
AURORA
The selling of the colonial dream.
JIM
Big plans.
AURORA
My friends threw me this huge
farewell party. Everyone came. It was
the happiest, saddest night. And look
what it's all come to.
(SHE SIGHS)
Jim, I can't think of anything else
to try. To save us, I mean. I don't
even want to think about it anymore.
So. What is there to do around here?
MOVIE THEATER - DAY
Jim leads Aurora into the movie theater. The lights come up.
The curtain opens. Aurora looks around in wonder.
A bundle of cables snakes down the aisle.
JIM
Watch your step. I've made a few
changes.
Next to Jim's favorite seat there's a cluster of machines
with power cables and hoses running to them.
Jim and Aurora sit. A screen beside Jim lists movies.
JIM (CONT'D)
I got tired of running up to the
projector room, so I moved the
controls down here. Thirty thousand
movies to choose from. I've only
watched about five hundred of them.
He taps a button on another machine, which produces a bucket
of hot popcorn. He offers Aurora some.
JIM (CONT'D)
Popcorn?
Aurora grins and takes some.
60.
GYMNASIUM - BASKETBALL COURT - DAY
Jim and Aurora play one-on-one. She's not especially good,
but fiercely competitive. They jostle and scramble, laughing.
Aurora snags the ball. For a minute she just stands there,
beaming.
JIM
What are you so happy about?
AURORA
I'm up two points!
She cuts around him toward the basket.
DECK TWO - VIRTUAL MUSEUM - EVENING
Jim and Aurora walk through the museum's white rooms. The
walls display a Jackson Pollock collection.
Aurora goes to the control podium. Scrolls through the menu,
covers her eyes and chooses blind.
The wall panels fill with Heironymous Bosch paintings -
medieval visions of Hell. She winces and chooses again. A
somber collection of portraits by Dutch masters. She frowns.
Jim steps to her side and makes a selection.
The walls fill with abstract landscapes - stark plains and
oceans, with lonely figures isolated in the vastness.
The images pull Jim and Aurora in: they stand before a dark
seascape.
Without thinking she reaches out and tucks her hand in the
crook of his elbow.
FADE TO BLACK.
SUPER: ONE MONTH LATER
SWIMMING POOL - MORNING
Aurora swims laps, cutting through the water.
In the balcony above the pool, Jim stands watching her.
Aurora, making a turn at the end of a lap, catches a glimpse
of him but doesn't let on.
Underwater she smiles.
61.
DECK THREE - SHOPPING DISTRICT - MORNING
A cleaning robot scurries along the shopping street, looking
for spots to polish.
Jim's hands reach into frame, pluck the robot off its wheels.
DECK NINE - NUMBER NINE PROMENADE
Aurora stands at the railing, watching curiously as Jim
crosses the Concourse below with the robot under his arm.
SUBDECK C - MACHINE SHOP - DAY
Jim stands at a workbench, the robot in front of him. He
tinkers with its complex works.
GRAND CONCOURSE - DAY
Jim sits in an armchair with his industrial laptop. He types
a string of commands, hits EXECUTE.
Beside him on the floor, his kidnapped cleaning robot does a
figure-eight. Jim smiles in satisfaction.
FORWARD OBSERVATION DECK - DAY
Aurora sits in her habitual writing position: cross-legged on
her favorite sofa, her writing slate in her lap.
AURORA
The starship's designers gave the
ship a daily rhythm. The light is
warm in the morning, bright during
the day, cool at night. We need those
changes. But I miss other rhythms.
There are no holidays here. Every day
is a day of leisure. There are no
seasons. The sky never changes.
A mechanical whir distracts her. She looks down.
Jim's pet robot looks up at her with binocular eyes. It
carries a note in a clip on its back. Aurora pulls it free.
A handwritten invitation from Jim. It reads:
Come to dinner with me tonight?
- JIM
Aurora reads the note with a grin.
62.
AURORA (CONT'D)
(to the robot)
Is he asking me on a date?
SUBDECK C - MACHINE SHOP
Jim sits at his laptop, watching the screen: a robot's-eye-
view of Aurora.
He wiggles a joystick on his laptop, and...
FORWARD OBSERVATION DECK
...the robot nods its goggle head.
Aurora laughs.
Beside the note-clip, the robot carries a pen in a makeshift
holder. Aurora takes the pen, scribbles on the paper. Tucks
it back into the robot's note clip.
GRAND CONCOURSE - CONCOURSE BAR
Arthur polishes glasses behind the bar.
The robot crosses the Concourse, note clipped to its back.
Arthur watches it pass.
SUBDECK C - MACHINE SHOP
Jim plucks the note from the robot's back. Aurora's reply is
written in bold letters:
Love to.
-A
AURORA'S CABIN - EVENING
Aurora gets ready for dinner. A slim gown, a few pieces of
jewelry, her hair up. She looks like a goddess.
The doorbell rings. She answers it.
Jim stands on her doorstep in a black jacket, looking dapper.
His eyes widen as he takes Aurora in.
JIM
Wow.
63.
AURORA
You clean up all right yourself. You
went shopping.
JIM
I went shoplifting.
In the corridor stands a cargo robot to which Jim has
attached an upholstered loveseat. He helps Aurora aboard and
takes a seat beside her. She's charmed.
JIM (CONT'D)
Rutherford! To the bar!
CARGO ROBOT
Yes, Passenger Jim!
The robot zooms off to the sound of Aurora's laughter.
GRAND CONCOURSE - CONCOURSE BAR
Jim and Aurora take seats. Arthur puts on his best manners.
ARTHUR
Evening. What can I get for you?
AURORA
A manhattan, please.
JIM
Single malt, rocks.
Arthur pours.
ARTHUR
You two look fine this evening.
AURORA
(CONFIDENTIALLY)
We're on a date!
ARTHUR
Very nice.
AURORA
(to Jim, teasing)
Took you long enough to ask.
JIM
I was giving you space!
AURORA
Space is one thing I don't need more
of. I've been doing research.
(MORE)
64.
AURORA (CONT'D)
I found a drug that would put us in a
coma indefinitely, and machines that
would keep us alive.
JIM
Really?!
AURORA
But it's not suspended animation.
We'd still be aging.
JIM
Oh.
AURORA
Yeah. If I have to grow old on this
ship, I'd at least like to be awake
for it. So that was a failure.
JIM
A highly ambitious failure.
AURORA
There's the title of my memoir. "A
Highly Ambitious Failure," by Aurora
Dunn.
Jim laughs. He thinks for a minute.
JIM
"Voyage to Nowhere," by Jim Preston.
AURORA
(LAUGHING)
"My Life in a Tin Can."
JIM
"A Spaceship Built For Two."
THE STARDOME - XANADU
A great glass dome, the highest point on the ship. Outside
the dome, a riot of stars. Inside, a luxury restaurant.
Jim and Aurora emerge into the dome.
She turns, looking at the glittering river of the Milky Way,
the blue stars ahead of the ship, the pink stars behind them.
AURORA
Incredible.
They sit at the best table. Robots attend to their every
need. The blue stars frame Jim's head; the pink, Aurora's.
Beautiful dishes arrive: new wines with every course.
65.
NIGHTCLUB - NIGHT
A holographic 12-piece band plays on stage: a jazz standard.
Jim walks onto the dance floor. Holds out his hand to Aurora.
She comes to him, and they dance. They're pretty good. Smiles
grow on their faces.
Jim spins her out, spins her back - close enough to kiss.
They almost do - but they don't.
DECK THREE - SHOPPING DISTRICT - NIGHT
Jim and Aurora ride along on the cargo robot. Her head rests
on his shoulder. Suddenly she sits up.
AURORA
Rutherford, stop!
The robot stops. She pulls Jim off.
AURORA (CONT'D)
Come on, we have to do this!
She pulls him to the photo booth. They tumble inside. As the
strobe flashes, she kisses him hard.
Outside, the photo strip drops into the tray: four color
pictures. In the first they laugh; in the second they clown;
in the third, they kiss. In the last image, Aurora smiles at
the camera; Jim looks at Aurora.
Aurora taps the pictures: they start to move: each is a one-
second movie clip. The pictures laugh, and clown, and kiss.
DECK NINE - CORRIDOR - OUTSIDE AURORA'S CABIN
The robot pulls up to Aurora's door. Jim helps her down.
Aurora opens the door. Turns back to him.
AURORA
Thank you. I had an amazing time. A
great night.
JIM
Yeah, me too. Well, good night.
He turns to go.
AURORA
Jim.
He turns back. Aurora grabs him and drags him into her cabin.
66.
AURORA'S CABIN
They stagger across the room together. He backs her up
against a wall, kisses his way down her throat.
She drags his jacket off his shoulders. Pulls at his shirt.
He slips the straps from her shoulders. Her dress slides to
the floor. They roll onto the bed.
CAFETERIA - MORNING
Breakfast. Jim watches Aurora eat.
AURORA
This is so good. I'm starving.
(she smiles at him)
Last night was just what I needed.
JIM
You are the most beautiful woman I've
ever seen. You're so beautiful it
hurts me.
She stares, shocked. Leans across the table and kisses him.
Soon they're making out right on top of breakfast.
A passing robot pauses to observe the scene - then moves on.
SERIES OF SHOTS
1. Jim and Aurora make out fiercely in the movie theater
while a movie plays onscreen.
2. Aurora straddles Jim in a jacuzzi in the ship's Spa. She
moves against him: she's close. She climaxes gorgeously.
3. Jim stands on a promenade. Aurora passes, jogging. He
gives her a smile as she goes by. A moment later she runs
back into frame and tackles him. They tumble to the deck.
BERLIN SUITE
Jim and Aurora lie in Jim's imperial bed, glistening with
sweat and breathing hard. She lays her head on his shoulder,
her eyes far away and wistful.
JIM
You okay?
AURORA
Yes, I'm fine. It's just...
67.
She waves her hand in the air as if to signify, all of this.
JIM
I know.
She snuggles in tighter, and he holds her close.
EXT. STARSHIP EXCELSIOR - BERLIN SUITE WINDOW
Through the window, Jim and Aurora lie together in the
luxurious bed.
We pull out, the window dwindling, as the Excelsior soars
away from us into the stars.
FADE TO BLACK.
SUPER: THREE MONTHS LATER
ELITE DECK - CORRIDOR - MORNING
A luxury cabin door: the doorplate reads "Vienna Suite."
VIENNA SUITE - BEDROOM
The best suite on the ship. One one side of the bedroom,
Aurora's mementos and possessions. On the other side, Jim's.
They wake together. She kisses him on the cheek with the ease
of long habit and heads for the shower. He watches her go.
SWIMMING POOL - MORNING
Swimming, Aurora reaches the end of a lap. A hand reaches
down and catches her before she can turn.
Jim kneels at the edge of the pool, in coveralls and work
boots, a tool belt slung over his shoulder.
Aurora pulls herself up and kisses him.
JIM
I'm going to finish my survey of the
cargo hold. See what there is to play
with.
AURORA
Be careful.
JIM
Back by happy hour.
68.
FORWARD OBSERVATION DECK - DAY
Aurora writes on her sofa, surrounded by electronic slates,
each displaying a reference book or research paper. On one, a
map of the Polynesian archipelago.
AURORA
The Polynesians set out into the
Pacific Ocean with no destination.
Searching for islands. They sailed
into the endless sea on faith.
SUBDECK A - NUMBER EIGHT CARGO HOLD - DAY
Jim walks among the towering cargo racks. His flashlight
illuminates machines stacked from floor to ceiling: tractors
and combines, helicopters and seaplanes.
AURORA (V.O.)
Some never returned, but others found
land, and prospered. What drove them
out onto the sea? Curiosity?
Tradition? The wish for something
better?
Jim opens cargo containers. He finds ingots of metal,
computer components, spools of superconducting wire. Raw
materials for a young world.
AURORA (V.O.) (CONT'D)
The urge to move is as primal as
hunger or thirst. We run, we drive,
we sail, we fly.
Jim finds a stash of utility golf carts and his eyes light
up. He unpacks one, starts it up. Drives off into the dark.
GRAND CONCOURSE - CONCOURSE BAR - DAY
Aurora sits at the bar with her slate, sipping a drink.
AURORA
Is it movement that we need? Or the
possibility of something new?
ARTHUR
What's that?
AURORA
I'm writing, Arthur. Hush.
Aurora's slate has recorded this exchange: she erases the
extra words with her fingertip.
69.
SUBDECK A - NUMBER SEVEN CARGO BAY
Jim drives his cart into a new bay - and stares in wonder.
In oversized hibernation pods: cattle, horses, sheep, oxen.
All asleep. Chickens, ducks and geese in individual cells.
AURORA (V.O.)
Like seeds, we carry what we need.
The wind drives us - whether the
trade winds, the solar winds, or the
winds of chance.
The next aisle holds plants in stasis: saplings in tubes,
seedlings in individual vials.
Jim stops in front of a glass case. Rosy light bathes his
face. He smiles. We don't see why.
AURORA (V.O.) (CONT'D)
We take root where we fall. And
helplessly we grow.
VIENNA SUITE - BEDROOM - EVENING
Aurora sits with her slate. Eyeing Jim's side of the room.
Giving in, she begins to explore Jim's possessions: poking
into the drawers of his nightstand and dresser.
She opens his closet. Shifting things, she finds a dog-eared
manual on hibernation pods. She pulls it out.
There's a bookmark in the pages. She goes to open the book -
and the bookmark slides into her hand.
It's the photo strip Jim took during his isolation: Four
identical shots of his face, bearded and hollow-eyed. The
melancholy images hit her hard.
She touches the pictures to make them move: but Jim sits
immobile. In the fourth image, he sighs heavily.
Voices in the hall.
CLEANING ROBOT (O.S.)
Hello, Passenger.
JIM (O.S.)
Hello, robot.
Hastily Aurora replaces the manual. Closes the closet.
Jim appears in the doorway: tool belt over his shoulder,
duffel bag in hand.
70.
AURORA
Hi.
JIM
Hi. How was your day?
AURORA
I don't know. I wrote a few pages.
I'm not sure what I'm doing anymore.
I was writing a book, and I was
keeping a diary. But the book and the
diary are running together. I think
I'm writing about us.
JIM
Makes sense to me.
AURORA
I'm not sure I want to write about
this life. I don't even know how to
think about it. I live in a palace.
But it's also a prison. I'm moving at
half the speed of light and I can't
go anywhere!
Jim takes that in.
JIM
The cargo hold is full of pioneer
gear. There's a submarine down there,
can you believe it? Ships and
airplanes and bulldozers. That's what
I wanted, a world still being built.
But I'll never see it.
They sit for a moment in glum contemplation.
AURORA
Did you find anything that could help
us?
JIM
Yes. I found these.
Jim unzips his duffel bag and takes out a bouquet of long-
stemmed roses. Aurora gasps. Reaches out to touch them.
AURORA
Are they real?
JIM
I cut them myself.
Aurora leaps into action. She finds scissors, a pitcher. At
the sink she trims the stems, arranges the flowers.
71.
AURORA
Thank you.
JIM
You're welcome.
She looks into his eyes.
AURORA
For very unlucky people, we got
pretty lucky.
FADE TO BLACK.
SUPER: THREE MONTHS LATER
INT. ELITE DECK - CORRIDOR - DAY
Jim and Aurora sprint down the hall, cabin doors flashing by.
Jim's practically dragging her along.
A deep background RUMBLE.
JIM
It's coming! Run!
CELESTIAL PROMENADE
Jim and Aurora run up the stairs onto the highest promenade
on the ship: glass all around, skylight above.
The deep RUMBLE is louder. A bloody light fills the sky.
A STAR looms ahead of the ship: a RED GIANT. The Excelsior
rockets toward the star.
The passage takes less than a minute. The Red Giant swells in
the windows. The ship shudders. The engines howl. Aurora
falls into Jim's arms. The ship bathed in red light.
The star fills the skylight, fills the sky itself. A fiery
surface turbulent with sunspots and mysterious currents. The
engines howl.
And then they're past. The star recedes, dwindling as quickly
as it grew. The engines quiet. The ship's calm restored.
AURORA
(BREATHLESSLY)
That was incredible.
JIM
Closest we'll get to a star on the
whole trip. Happy birthday.
72.
She throws her arms around him.
VIENNA SUITE - BEDROOM - EVENING
Aurora stands in her bathroom, getting pretty for dinner.
SUBDECK C - MACHINE SHOP
Jim puts the finishing touches on a beautiful RING woven from
gold and silver wire. It's crowned with a flower of gold.
He removes the ring from its clamp: inspects it thoroughly.
Satisfied, he wraps it in a cloth and tucks it in his pocket.
STARDOME - XANADU - EVENING
Jim and Aurora dine. They laugh and flirt with easy intimacy.
Their plates emptied, they sit back, sipping wine. Jim lifts
the table's candle and waves it in the air. A robot rolls up
with a birthday cake, candles alight.
JIM
(SINGING)
Happy birthday to you...
Happy birthday to you...
Happy birthday, dear Aurora...
Happy Birthday to you.
Aurora sits bathed in candlelight, and for this moment she is
truly and fundamentally happy. She blows the candles out.
GRAND CONCOURSE - CONCOURSE BAR - NIGHT
Jim and Aurora sit at the bar, tipsy. Arthur pours.
ARTHUR
Birthday cocktail for the birthday
girl.
AURORA
Aren't you going to check my I.D.? I
might not be old enough to drink.
ARTHUR
I'd never ask your age in front of a
gentleman.
AURORA
Jim's not a gentleman. Anyway there's
no secrets between me and Jim.
73.
ARTHUR
(looking at Jim)
Is that so?
JIM
You heard the lady. Be right back.
He walks away.
AURORA
You know what I like about you,
Arthur? You have a sense of occasion.
I bet ladies fall for you on every
trip.
ARTHUR
I'd say you were pulling my leg, but
I haven't got any.
AURORA
(LAUGHING)
Exactly! There you go.
ARTHUR
I remember your last birthday, a year
ago. Jim was really looking forward
to meeting you.
Aurora frowns, processing this sentence - her smile fading.
AURORA
What?
MEN'S WASHROOM
Jim stands at the mirror, straightening his lapels, touching
up his hair.
He unwraps the ring. Looks it over. Smiles at his reflection.
CONCOURSE BAR
Aurora scowls at Arthur, trying to get her bearings.
AURORA
What do you mean, he was looking
forward to it? How could he...
ARTHUR
He couldn't stop talking about you,
let me tell you. He spent months
deciding whether to wake you up.
Aurora eyes widen in shock.
74.
AURORA
Jim woke me up.
ARTHUR
Oh, yes. Said it was the hardest
decision of his life, but I see it
worked out just fine.
Aurora stops breathing. She stares at the bartop.
Jim strolls up to the bar. His hand slides into the jacket
pocket where the ring lies hidden.
But Aurora's body language is all wrong. He stops, perplexed.
JIM
What?
She looks up, her face rigid. Her voice a whisper.
AURORA
Did you wake me up, Jim?
Jim's hand slides out of his jacket pocket. He shoots a look
at Arthur, who smiles back, oblivious.
Aurora's eyes bore into him. Finally Jim finds his voice.
JIM
Yes. I woke you up.
AURORA
(IN AGONY)
How could you do it?
JIM
I tried not to.
AURORA
You pulled me out of hibernation. You
destroyed the rest of my life. You
murdered me!
JIM
That's a little strong...
AURORA
You murdered me. I'm going to be
sick. Oh, my God. I...I can't see.
She gets up to leave.
JIM
Aurora.
He goes after her.
75.
AURORA
Get away from me!
She slaps at him blindly, almost hysterical. Stumbles away.
SERVICE DECK - CELESTIAL PROMENADE
Aurora stares out at the stars. Jim appears behind her.
She speaks without turning.
AURORA
(BITTERLY)
How did you decide?
(turning on him)
Did you just go shopping? A couple
thousand women in their underwear,
and you get to pick your favorite.
JIM
It wasn't like that.
AURORA
What was it like? And you had it all
planned out! Dinner and movies and
our big date...Oh, my God! And I just
ate it up. Fake! All fake!
JIM
This was real. I didn't plan this.
It...happened.
AURORA
(MOCKING)
"Find true love on the Starship
Excelsior! Romance between the Stars!
The woman of your dreams!" Was it
everything you thought it would be?
JIM
Aurora. I love you.
AURORA
This is sick.
(she glares at him)
Show me how you did it.
HIBERNATION BAY - AURORA'S POD
Aurora walks up to her old hibernation pod. Jim trails her.
AURORA
So?
76.
Jim stares at her, unbelieving. But she means it. He opens
the cover panel, points out the key components.
JIM
I looked at my pod. A couple
different processors burned out at
the same time. I triggered the same
failure in your pod. Short circuit
across these two contacts, and then
these two. And cut these wires.
AURORA
Just like that.
JIM
Just like that.
AURORA
I'm so stupid. I fell for all of it.
I fell for you. I thought you saved
me. But you didn't save me, Jim. You
did this to me. And now I'm stuck
with you. Stuck with the second-rate
mechanic who ruined my life.
JIM
(LAMELY)
Rate two mechanic.
But Aurora's already walking away.
VIENNA SUITE - DAY
Aurora walks in, barely under control, and breaks down. Sinks
to her knees, racked by sobs.
HIBERNATION BAY - AURORA'S POD - DAY
Jim sits at the foot of Aurora's hibernation pod, staring
into the empty tube.
VIENNA SUITE - EVENING
Jim walks in. All of Aurora's things are gone. Her half of
the bed has been made. She's moved out.
DECK THREE - CAFETERIA - MORNING
Aurora sits finishing her breakfast. Jim enters and
approaches her table.
77.
JIM
Can I talk to you?
AURORA
I don't want to talk anymore. I don't
want to look at you anymore. If you
see me coming, get out of my way. If
you see me sitting, find somewhere
else to be. There's plenty of
choices. It's a big boat.
DECK FOUR - SHOPPING DISTRICT - DAY
Jim walks alone, hands in his pockets, in a deep funk.
A little robot crosses his path: he KICKS it down the street.
SWIMMING POOL
Aurora swims. Reaches the end of a lap and rests.
She looks up abruptly as if she senses someone watching her -
but the balcony above the pool is deserted.
ELITE DECK - FORWARD OBSERVATION DECK - DAY
Aurora sits reading. Digital slates surround her. A whir
distracts her. She looks down.
Jim's pet robot sits beside her. A note on its back.
She picks up the note. It's the photo strip from her first
date with Jim: their first kiss captured on film. Clipped to
the photo strip is a handwritten note: "This was real."
Aurora leans down toward the robot's binocular eyes.
ROBOT'S POV
Aurora looms close. She holds the note up to the robot's eyes
and crumples it up.
AURORA
Watching me through a robot is
creepy, Jim. Cut it out.
SUBDECK C - MACHINE SHOP
Jim sits in front of his laptop: Aurora's accusing eyes stare
out of the screen. He closes the laptop.
78.
COMMAND DECK - COMMUNICATIONS CENTER - DAY
Jim sits at the security console, disheveled and bearded.
Twenty screens give different views of the ship.
One screen shows the Elite Promenade. As he watches, Aurora
jogs by in sneakers and shorts.
Jim has her route mapped: as she vanishes from one screen she
appears on the next. He follows her from screen to screen.
He picks up a microphone.
ELITE DECK
Aurora circles the atrium.
OVER THE P.A. SYSTEM: Jim clears his throat.
JIM (VIA INTERCOM)
Aurora.
Aurora stops in surprise, looking up.
JIM (VIA INTERCOM) (CONT'D)
Please, just hear me.
Aurora rolls her eyes and resumes running.
COMMAND DECK - COMMUNICATIONS CENTER
Jim watches Aurora move from screen to screen. He holds the
mic in both hands. His voice reverberates through the ship.
JIM
The day I first saw you, my life
changed. I couldn't forget your face.
I kept coming back to see you. Trying
to know you through the glass. I read
every word you ever wrote, trying to
hear you. The day you woke up...
DECK NINE - NUMBER NINE PROMENADE
Aurora doesn't break stride. But she's listening.
JIM (VIA INTERCOM)
When you woke up I had no idea what
would happen next. I had no reason to
believe you would see anything in me.
When you did, when we found each
other, this ship I'm trapped inside
suddenly felt like a limitless place.
(MORE)
79.
JIM (VIA INTERCOM) (CONT'D)
My pointless life suddenly had
meaning.
Aurora skids to a stop beside a Deck Steward's station.
She leans over the counter, finds an intercom terminal and
grabs the microphone. A whine of feedback. She looks into the
lens of the nearest security camera.
AURORA
That's great, Jim. Just great. I'm
glad that ruining my life somehow
improved yours. But I have a run to
finish, so...
GRAND CONCOURSE - CONCOURSE BAR
Arthur looks up, listening, as voices echo through the ship.
JIM (VIA INTERCOM)
Wait. Aurora. Don't go.
AURORA (VIA INTERCOM)
You may be the only game in town,
Jim, but that doesn't mean I have to
play. Just pretend I'm not here.
Because as far as you're concerned,
I'm not.
DECK NINE - NUMBER NINE PROMENADE
At the Deck Steward's station, Aurora stares into the camera.
JIM (VIA INTERCOM)
I don't want to lose you.
COMMAND DECK - COMMUNICATIONS CENTER
Jim stares at Aurora on the video screen.
AURORA (VIA INTERCOM)
Jim, you lost me.
She drops the microphone and walks out of frame. Jim slumps
over the console in defeat.
FADE TO BLACK.
SUPER: THREE MONTHS LATER
ELITE DECK - VIENNA SUITE - BEDROOM (DAY)
Jim lies asleep on his bed in dirty clothes and shoes. He has
a shaggy beard.
80.
Half-finished dishes in bed with him. The suite is squalid.
ELITE DECK - CAFE MAXINE
The ship's posh French cafe.
Aurora eats a fancy lunch, reading a novel on a digital
slate. She's groomed and put together.
DECK THREE - CAFETERIA
Jim sits in front of a bowl of breakfast cereal, a dry slice
of toast. He stares into space. He has milk in his beard.
FORWARD OBSERVATION DECK
Aurora sits in her writing chair, dictating to her slate.
AURORA
It's the modern way of life. We
surround ourselves with people. A
constant din of conversation. As if
we need the mirror of other faces to
see ourselves. The clamor of voices
in our ears to reassure us that we
exist. Do we need it? Can we live
without it?
VIENNA SUITE - DAY
The TV blares. Jim lies asleep in an armchair, covered with
snack chips.
AURORA (V.O.)
I think the secret to survival is
productive activity.
SHOPPING DISTRICT - CRAFT SHOP - DAY
Aurora investigates the craft shop's shelves. Collects an
electronic book on painting. Paints and canvasses. An easel.
AURORA (V.O.)
We need to be good for something.
VIENNA SUITE - BATHROOM - DAY
Jim lounges in the bathtub in his bathrobe: sopping wet and
drunk. Gold glitters in his hand: the RING he made for
Aurora. He scowls at the ring.
81.
AURORA (V.O.)
A challenge equal to our character.
With a snarl, Jim tosses the ring into his mouth. Chases it
with a slug of vodka straight from the bottle. Swallows hard.
SERVICE DECK - CELESTIAL PROMENADE
Aurora stands in front of her easel on the promenade. She
looks out the window and begins to paint.
AURORA (V.O.)
Something worth doing.
SHOPPING DISTRICT - AVENUE
Jim plays kick-the-can with the empty vodka bottle. Drunk.
The bottle clatters against the PHOTO BOOTH.
Muttering in Russian, Jim attacks the booth, punching and
kicking - and hurts his foot with a shout. He limps away.
A moment later he's back - wearing his tool belt. He pulls a
LASER CUTTER and starts carving the booth away from the wall.
SHOPPING DISTRICT - LATER
Jim drives his golf cart unsteadily across the deck.
A HORRIBLE NOISE: he's dragging the photo booth across the
floor by its power cord.
STARBOARD E.V.A. ROOM
Jim looks into the airlock through the small porthole in the
inner door. Red lights flash.
The photo booth is crammed into the airlock.
EXT. STARSHIP EXCELSIOR - AIRLOCK
The airlock shoots open. The photo booth tumbles into space.
GRAND CONCOURSE - CONCOURSE BAR - EVENING
Arthur does make-work behind the bar.
Jim and Aurora approach simultaneously. They meet awkwardly:
they haven't spoken in a long time.
82.
AURORA
What are you doing here?
JIM
(DRUNK)
You! Tuesday's my day with Arthur.
You're trespassing.
ARTHUR
Actually, today's Wednesday.
JIM
I slept through Tuesday?
AURORA
Forget it. The bar's all yours. But
I'd say a drink is the last thing you
need. You're pathetic.
Aurora leaves. Jim takes a seat.
ARTHUR
What'll it be?
JIM
I'm going to kill myself.
ARTHUR
Why's that?
JIM
I'm a murderer.
ARTHUR
Who'd you murder?
JIM
Aurora.
ARTHUR
But she's alive. She was just here.
JIM
She won't talk to me. She won't let
me tell her what happened. How I fell
in love with her. How I want to be
with her. And I'm not sorry I woke
her up. I'm not. I love her. And you
know what? She loves me.
Around the corner, out of sight, Aurora stands listening.
JIM (CONT'D)
What was I supposed to do? I couldn't
live without her. It was now or
never, and I chose now. I chose now.
(MORE)
83.
JIM (CONT'D)
And I was right. But I woke her up,
Arthur. I woke her up, and she says I
killed her. And now she's gone. She's
gone.
(SOBBING)
Gimme another bottle.
ARTHUR
I think you've had enough.
Jim looks at Arthur as if he's said something profound.
JIM
You know what? You're right. I've had
enough.
SUBDECK A - CARGO HOLD - DAY
Jim drives his cart up to a rack of large batteries: they're
identical to the battery that powers the golf cart itself.
Jim starts loading his cart with extra batteries.
SERVICE DECK - CELESTIAL PROMENADE
Paintings leans against the windows: Aurora's starscapes. The
first few are rudimentary, the later ones quite good.
She works on a new one: a red nebula. She looks out the
window - and her focus changes. She sees her own reflection.
Her brush moves across the canvas. She adds the suggestion of
a cheekbone...a slender neck...an eye. A face made of stars.
SUBDECK C - MACHINE SHOP
Jim finishes connecting a bank of batteries to his cart's
motor: quadrupling the power.
He rolls a huge tractor tire up to the cart and bolts it on.
DECK FOUR - SHOPPING DISTRICT
Aurora jogs.
A rumble and wail of rubber behind her. Jim's monster golf
cart comes ROARING toward her.
Aurora leaps for safety as the cart passes. Jim blasts past
her with a war whoop and a wave. He wears welding goggles.
Aurora looks after Jim in astonishment.
84.
DECK FOUR - SERVICE CORRIDOR
Jim races down a long straightaway. Squeals around a corner.
Puts the cart on two wheels as he dodges a cleaning robot.
He steers down a stairway: The cart bounces crazily down to
the deck below. At the bottom Jim takes the corner too hard.
The cart tumbles and SLAMS into the bulkhead. Debris rains
down. Jim lies crumpled in the wreckage, his goggles askew.
FORWARD OBSERVATION DECK
Aurora sits in her writing chair, a slate in front of her.
But the slate is blank, and her face is tense.
AURORA
I haven't written in days. I don't
know why. It's the old problem, I
guess. Who's my reader? Who am I
talking to? What's it for?
(SHE SIGHS)
I used to love it.
SERVICE DECK - INFIRMARY
Jim lies in the autodoc in his underwear - his head
protruding, his body visible behind glass.
Lasers and sensors pass over his body.
AUTODOC
Two separated ribs. Fracture of the
right arm, radius and ulna. One
fractured finger. Dislocated thumb.
JIM
Am I gonna be okay?
Blindingly fast, robot arms straighten Jim's elbow. Wrap his
ribs and arm with smooth white bandages. Jim shouts in shock.
AUTODOC
Leave the bandages on for one week.
The autodoc opens and Jim climbs out, testing his arm. A
bottle of pills rattles into a tray in front of him.
AUTODOC (CONT'D)
Take one of these pills each day
until they are gone.
85.
JIM
Thanks, doc.
AUTODOC
And take better care of yourself.
FADE TO BLACK.
SUPER: THREE MONTHS LATER
FORWARD OBSERVATION DECK - DAY
Aurora paints, wild-eyed and fragile.
Her brushstrokes are fierce. She slashes at the canvas. As
she paints she begins to cry, silently. She doesn't stop
painting. The easel shakes as she works.
GRAND CONCOURSE
Jim kneels on the Grand Concourse. He's torn a huge hole in
the carpet to expose the deck plates beneath.
With his laser cutter he cuts a large rectangular hole. Pries
the plate up with a crowbar, opening a cavity in the deck.
AURORA'S CABIN
Aurora paces in her bathrobe, hair wrapped in a towel.
She looks at her gallery of snapshots. Touches the pictures
one by one. The faces begin to move and speak. A cacophony of
good wishes. Laughter and cheers.
Finally only one clip still plays. Aurora's mother.
AURORA'S MOTHER
I promise you we'll think of you
every day. When you wake up, I know
we'll be gone...but you just know
that we lived our lives remembering
you, and holding you in our hearts.
(She starts to cry.)
I don't understand, baby. I'm trying,
but I can't believe I'm losing you.
(She tries to soldier.)
I hope you find what you're looking
for. I hope it makes you happy.
Aurora watches, devastated.
86.
GRAND CONCOURSE - CONCOURSE BAR - DAY
Jim, in work clothes and tool belt, drops by the bar. He's as
dirty as a coal miner but he looks happy.
ARTHUR
Hello, Jim. Whiskey?
JIM
Iced tea.
ARTHUR
Coming up. Are you getting my
barstool dirty?
JIM
Got to get dirty to get things done,
Arthur. If your hands are too clean,
it means you're not making anything.
ARTHUR
And what are you making?
JIM
Improvements.
ELITE DECK - ELITE PROMENADE - EVENING
Aurora strolls listlessly. Glances over the railing at the
Grand Concourse below - and gasps. She runs for the elevator.
GRAND CONCOURSE
Aurora walks wonderingly up to a GARDEN on the Concourse: a
ten-foot OAK TREE surrounded by flowerbeds and green grass.
ELITE DECK - FORWARD OBSERVATION DECK
Jim walks through Aurora's informal art gallery.
She has abandoned starscapes in favor of self-portraiture.
The painted faces ever more tragic.
The last one is a field of white. Aurora fading away.
INFIRMARY - GENETIC BANK - DAY
Wisps of cold mist roll off the metal capsules. Aurora
browses the rotating racks, reading names.
With a start she comes across her own name. AURORA DUNN,
FEMALE, BORN 4/27/2819.
87.
She punches buttons. The racks rotate, shedding flakes of
frost. She finds what she's looking for. JAMES PRESTON, MALE,
BORN 9/9/2810.
She looks at the metal cartridge for a long moment. Then she
slaps a switch, and the genetic bank closes up on itself.
GRAND CONCOURSE - LOUNGE
Jim sits reading an electronic slate. He looks up to find
Aurora standing over him.
AURORA
I need you.
The last thing Jim expected to hear.
AURORA (CONT'D)
I mean, I need a repairman.
Jim's face falls.
EXT. AURORA'S CABIN
Jim opens the door. Inside is chaos: the lights throb. Static
sizzles on video screens. Speakers blare noise. The blinds
jerk and flap. The adjustable bed convulses like a monster.
JIM
Wow. You do need a repairman.
INT. AURORA'S CABIN - LATER
A dark room. In the light of a utility lamp, Jim re-attaches
a control panel to the cabin wall. Aurora watches.
JIM
The control unit burned out. I took
the one from the cabin next door.
He throws a switch. The lights come on. Back to normal.
JIM (CONT'D)
All better.
Aurora gives him a brittle smile and sits on the bed.
JIM (CONT'D)
So how are you doing? You all right?
AURORA
I'm fine, Jim. Thanks for your work.
88.
She sits immobile, frosty. After a moment Jim walks out.
FADE TO BLACK.
GRAND CONCOURSE
Jim passes a cleaning robot stuck in a corner. He frees the
robot: it plows right back into the corner.
Another robot zooms in - and gets stuck beside the first one.
Jim studies the robots thoughtfully.
SUBDECK C - MACHINE SHOP - DAY
Jim tinkers with a malfunctioning robot.
A squawk of static comes over the P.A. system.
Jim looks up, listening.
FORWARD OBSERVATION DECK
Aurora sits with her digital slate in her lap. She too is
looking up, listening.
VOICE (VIA INTERCOM)
Hello! Anybody there?
Aurora bolts to her feet, wide-eyed.
SUBDECK C - MACHINE SHOP
Jim has vanished - the robot still rocking on the workbench.
DECK ONE - HIBERNATION BAY
Jim sprints down the hallway, eyes searching left and right.
VOICE (VIA INTERCOM)
This is Deck Chief Gus Mancuso.
Jim skids to a stop, astonished: the door to the Crew
Hibernation Facility stands open.
VOICE (VIA INTERCOM) (CONT'D)
Who the hell planted a tree on my
ship?
The Grand Concourse! Jim spins and runs back the other way.
89.
GRAND CONCOURSE
GUS MANCUSO stands at a deck steward's station, intercom mic
in hand. A stocky man of 55, with a bristling mustache,
wearing a crewman's coverall. Haggard and weary. He stares in
consternation at the garden in the middle of the Concourse.
Running footsteps.
Jim and Aurora race into the Concourse from opposite
directions. They see Gus and stop, astonished.
GUS
(pointing at the tree)
Who did that?
Jim raises a hand sheepishly. Gus shakes his head.
GUS (CONT'D)
I can't even talk about that now. Who
are you?
JIM
Jim Preston. Rate-two mechanic.
GUS
Mechanic, huh?
(TO AURORA)
And who are you?
AURORA
Aurora. Aurora Dunn.
GUS
Gus Mancuso, Senior Deck Chief. Nice
to meet you.
(looks at the tree again)
How long have you been awake?
AURORA
A year.
JIM
Two years.
GUS
This is not good.
CAFETERIA
Jim, Aurora, and Gus sit around a table. Gus leans heavily on
his elbows, sipping from a mug.
90.
GUS
I always get a hibernation hangover
but this is the worst ever.
(HE DRINKS)
So it's just the two of you?
JIM
Yeah.
GUS
Two years. Ouch.
(looks them in the eye)
You know what it means, right?
There's no way back into hibernation.
AURORA
I was hoping you'd know something we
didn't.
GUS
No. We're awake for the duration. How
far along are we? You know?
JIM
Thirty-two years. Eighty-eight years
to go.
Gus blows air.
GUS
That's tough.
(he shakes his head)
Hibernation failure! They said it
couldn't happen. And now three on one
trip.
Aurora shoots Jim a look. Gus doesn't notice.
GUS (CONT'D)
Well, let's see what we can do.
COMMAND DECK
Gus leads Jim and Aurora to the Bridge's armored hatch. He
swipes his crew card and the door opens.
JIM
You have no idea how long I've been
trying to get in here.
GUS
Now you're in. Don't touch anything.
91.
BRIDGE
The computer consoles of the Bridge brighten as they enter.
Gus walks from station to station, studying the screens.
GUS
We're on course....Whatever's wrong
with the ship, NavComp's still
minding the store.
JIM
What do you think is wrong?
GUS
Three pod failures? Something's
wrong. Question is what.
He turns to leave.
AURORA
Wait. What about diverting the ship?
Can we go back to Earth?
Gus almost laughs.
GUS
We're going forty percent of
lightspeed away from Earth. To go
home we'd have to come to a stop,
accelerate back towards Earth, and
then come to a stop again. It'd take
as long as going on to Homestead II.
Anyway, navigation's not for
amateurs. Space is a big place, and a
planet's just a little thing.
Gus has a coughing fit. Wipes his mouth with his fist.
GUS (CONT'D)
Let's go next door. See how the old
girl's doing.
DIAGNOSTIC CENTER
Gus opens a secure compartment beside the bridge. Inside, the
Diagnostic Computer stands dark and dead.
GUS
I thought we'd see a lot of red
lights here. That would mean trouble.
AURORA
So everything's okay?
92.
GUS
No, if everything was okay we'd see a
lot of green lights here.
AURORA
What does no lights mean?
GUS
No lights means big trouble.
Diagnostic Computer's down. We've got
some work to do.
JIM
What do you need?
GUS
Right now? Cheeseburger.
ELITE DECK - STARDUST DINER
Gus eats a cheeseburger. Jim and Aurora sit across from him.
GUS
(with his mouth full)
Never been so hungry. Worst
hibernation hangover ever.
Jim can't take his eyes off Gus. A new person.
JIM
So where you from, Gus?
GUS
Grew up in Chicago. But I've lived on
this ship a long time. The
Excelsior's made five inter-planetary
runs, and I've been on every one. I
live aboard. When she makes port, I
live where she lands until she lifts
again.
JIM
(doing the math)
How old does that make you?
GUS
Fifty-six.
JIM
But how long ago were you born?
GUS
Oh. Hang on...
(he does mental math)
About six hundred years ago.
(MORE)
93.
GUS (CONT'D)
Most of that I lost to hibernation or
relativity. Doesn't really count.
(he coughs again)
I tell you, I feel about six hundred
years old right now. I woke up hard.
AURORA
You should rest.
GUS
I think I will.
(he climbs to his feet)
Tomorrow morning, eight bells, you
meet me beside that tree of yours.
Until I figure out what's wrong with
the Excelsior, you work for me.
Jim and Aurora smile.
JIM
Yes, sir.
AURORA
Good night, Gus.
Gus waves and walks off. That leaves Jim and Aurora sitting
awkwardly on the same side of a diner booth.
After a moment Aurora moves over to the other side. Looks at
Jim across the table.
AURORA (CONT'D)
Six hundred years old!
JIM
I've missed you.
Aurora stares, caught off guard. She gets up.
AURORA
See you in the morning.
COMMAND DECK - DIAGNOSTIC CENTER - MORNING
Gus and Jim examine the Diagnostic Computer. Jim holds a
flashlight while Gus pokes around with a voltmeter inside.
Behind them, Aurora stands watching with a digital slate.
GUS
The CPU's burned out, can you believe
it? Why should that happen? It's
rated for five hundred years.
AURORA
Can you fix it?
94.
GUS
You don't fix it, you replace it.
There are spares for everything in
storage. Make a note. Diagnostic
Computer CPU. And a new cooling fan,
this one looks shot.
AURORA
Got it.
GRAND CONCOURSE
Gus and Aurora stand waiting as if for a bus.
AURORA
Don't take this the wrong way - I
wish for your sake you were still
asleep - but I'm glad you're here.
GUS
Thank you, sweetheart.
A GROWL of gears. Jim drives up in his souped-up golf cart.
GUS (CONT'D)
What's this?
JIM
The golf cart.
Gus takes in the bank of batteries, the giant tractor wheels.
GUS
This I like.
SUBDECK A - NUMBER TEN CARGO BAY
Jim pilots the cart through the stacks. Aurora rides shotgun.
Gus, in the back seat, plays a flashlight over the stacks.
GUS
Next bay is the ship's stores. So how
fast can she go?
Jim puts the pedal down. The cart lays rubber on the deck
plates and shoots down the aisle while Aurora and Gus yell.
SHIP'S STORES
Up on a hydraulic lift, Gus digs components out of storage.
Hands them to Aurora, who hands them to Jim, who loads them
into the cart.
95.
DIAGNOSTIC CENTER
Gus works on the Diagnostic Computer while Jim looks on.
Nearby, Aurora thumbs through Gus's technical manuals.
Gus clamps a final component in place and nods at Jim.
GUS
Start `er up.
Jim closes a circuit breaker and powers up the computer. A
deep electrical HUM as the machine boots up.
The screen flashes a message: RUNNING VESSEL DIAGNOSTIC. A
progress bar shows that the diagnostic is 0.0% complete.
The lights on the indicator panel remain dark. The first
light begins to flicker as the diagnostic runs.
JIM
How long will it take?
GUS
Full diagnostic from a cold start?
Days. But it'll tell us everything.
GRAND CONCOURSE
Gus strolls through the ship, looking around nostalgically.
He passes Jim's garden and shakes his head.
CONCOURSE BAR
Gus walks up to the bar.
ARTHUR
Chief Mancuso! Good to see you.
GUS
Good to see you too, Arthur.
ARTHUR
What can I get you?
GUS
Just an ice water with a little
lemon. I feel hot as hell.
Gus mops sweat from his brow and sips his water. His hand
trembles hard enough to rattle the ice cubes.
96.
GUS'S CABIN
A homey space, filled with Gus's possessions: pictures of
fellow spacers and vacation spots on half a dozen planets.
Books, keepsakes and mementos.
Gus sits on his bed, on a handmade quilt. Coughs violently
into a handkerchief, leaving the cloth spotted with blood.
GRAND CONCOURSE - GARDEN - MORNING
Aurora stands waiting by the oak tree. Jim arrives with two
cups of coffee, and hands her one. Aurora smiles, touched.
AURORA
Thank you.
Gus arrives in a fresh coverall, a steaming mug in hand. No
signs of frailty. He hands each of them a digital slate.
GUS
All right. Last night I checked ten
atmosphere stations and two of them
were burned out. Twenty percent
failure rate. Unheard of. So we're
going to see how far the rot runs.
(TO AURORA)
You. You're going to walk Decks Two,
Three, and Four, and check every
atmosphere station. Green light good,
red light bad, no light really bad.
Write down what you find, I want a
complete census.
AURORA
Yes, sir.
GUS
(TO JIM)
You. Go down to the Ship's Stores.
Find atmosphere station CPUs and take
an inventory of the spares. I know
what the manifest says, but lists
ain't facts.
JIM
Got it.
GUS
I'm going down to the Hibernation Bay
to look at our pods. Maybe I can spot
what went wrong.
Jim and Aurora exchange glances.
97.
AURORA
That should be interesting.
HIBERNATION BAY - AURORA'S POD - DAY
Gus kneels in front of the pod, examining the mechanism.
Alone, he doesn't hide his difficulty: sweating and panting.
Something he finds inside the machine makes him forget his
symptoms. He stares, astonished.
GUS
Son of a gun.
A sound behind him. Gus turns to find Jim watching. He looks
from Jim to the pod mechanism and back again.
GUS (CONT'D)
You're supposed to be doing
inventory.
JIM
I finished.
GUS
(holding Jim's eyes)
I looked at your pod. Very simple.
The clock chips burned out. Not
supposed to happen, but it's simple.
Jim fidgets. Starts to speak. Gus cuts him off.
GUS (CONT'D)
My pod was complicated. A bunch of
different failures at once, the whole
thing went haywire. I think that's
why I feel so bad.
(points at Aurora's pod)
But this pod...
JIM
Gus...
GUS
You did this.
JIM
Yeah.
GUS
I was thinking what a lucky son of a
bitch you were, stuck with a beauty
like Aurora. But it wasn't luck.
98.
JIM
No.
Gus sits down heavily, looking at Jim.
GUS
She knows?
JIM
She knows.
Gus thinks that over, shaking his head at the idea.
GUS
I could see there was some trouble
between you.
Gus starts putting his tools away. Jim lays the electronic
slate down beside him.
JIM
Here's your inventory. I'll be in the
machine shop if you need me.
COMMAND DECK - DIAGNOSTIC CENTER
Gus sits working. Behind him the Diagnostic Computer displays
its progress bar: the diagnostic is 9% complete.
Aurora enters with a digital slate.
AURORA
I finished the census.
(SHE HESITATES)
You saw the hibernation pods?
GUS
Yeah.
AURORA
So you know. What Jim did.
Aurora's chin begins to tremble.
GUS
Yeah, he told me.
AURORA
He told you? Just like that? And?
She waits, trembling with righteous indignation. Gus doesn't
want to get into this: he looks away uncomfortably.
99.
AURORA (CONT'D)
It's not forgivable, Gus. It's not.
Don't tell me it is.
GUS
No, it's a bad thing. But...
(he shrugs helplessly)
Look. When a drowning man drags
somebody down with him, you don't
call it right. But he's drowning. A
starving man steals a loaf of bread,
what can you say? You should have
starved?
AURORA
I would have starved.
GUS
Really?
Aurora looks hard at Gus, thinking, and says nothing.
ELITE DECK - ARGENTINA STEAKHOUSE - EVENING
A rustic restaurant. Gus, Jim, and Aurora sit around a table.
Gus reads an electronic slate.
GUS
By Aurora's count, about thirty
percent of the atmosphere station
CPUs are burned out.
JIM
We can replace them.
GUS
We will. But they'll just burn out
again if we don't figure out why it's
happening.
JIM
Where do we start?
GUS
We wait for the diagnostic report.
You've been knocking around this ship
for two years. A few days more won't
kill you.
Gus hacks and coughs. For a moment his weakness is plain to
see...but robots sweep in and lay dishes on the table. Gus
sets his slate aside.
100.
GUS (CONT'D)
Here you go. This is the best food on
the ship.
GRAND CONCOURSE - CONCOURSE BAR
Jim, Aurora, and Gus sit at the bar. Arthur stands by.
AURORA
So how did you end up in space?
GUS
Only place I ever wanted to be. When
I was sixteen I lied about my age and
got onto a lunar shuttle crew. A few
years later I moved on to planetary
ships. Made the Venus run a hundred
times, then Jupiter and Saturn. Then
the gravity drive came along. Real
spaceflight. I did everything I could
to get onto an interstellar ship. I
was thirty-six years old the first
time I saw an alien sun. No going
back after that. I've walked on
seventeen planets in five solar
systems.
JIM
That's incredible.
AURORA
Don't you feel homeless?
GUS
I'm a spacer. My home is where I am.
You can't take much with you, so you
don't get hung up on things. You have
yourself. The things you do. The
company you keep.
Gus pushes himself off his stool. Momentarily shaky, he pulls
himself together.
He takes a seat at the grand piano and plays - a fine
beerhall pianist. Gus touches a switch and lifts his hands:
the piano keeps playing.
Gus stands and extends a hand to Aurora. She takes it, and
Gus sweeps her across the floor.
Jim watches from the bar.
ARTHUR
(aside, to Jim)
Gus always dances with the ladies.
101.
Aurora follows Gus's lead - but steals looks at Jim. Her eyes
unreadable. They watch each other as the dance goes on.
GRAND CONCOURSE - THE GARDEN - MORNING
Jim and Aurora wait beside the garden. They've been waiting
for a while. Both look around for Gus.
JIM
You haven't seen him at all?
GUS'S CABIN DOOR
A doorbell chimes. Jim and Aurora wait in the hall,
listening. Jim rings again.
AURORA
I don't think he's up.
GUS'S CABIN
Gus lies feverish and semi-conscious in his bed.
A THUNK! The door slides open. Jim and Aurora rush in.
JIM
Gus! Are you all right?
GUS
No. No, I'm not.
INFIRMARY
Gus lies in a medical scanner. Jim and Aurora watch as the
machine bathes Gus in light, sensors floating over his body.
GUS
Couldn't get up. Weak as a baby. What
does it say is wrong with me?
The scanner's display screen lists not one diagnosis, but
hundreds: disorders, diseases, dysfunctions.
JIM
(hiding his horror)
It's a few things.
MEDICAL SCANNER
Diagnosis complete.
Gus hauls himself out of the scanner. Pulls a bathrobe on and
comes around to look at the screen. He sees it and blanches.
102.
MEDICAL SCANNER (CONT'D)
Six hundred twelve disorders found.
GUS
What's the summary?
MEDICAL SCANNER
Pan-systemic necrosis. Progressive
organ failure. Cause unknown.
GUS
(losing his temper)
I'll tell you the cause. My goofy
hibernation pod is the cause.
AURORA
What's the treatment?
MEDICAL SCANNER
No treatment known.
Gus pivots the monitor so that only he can see it.
GUS
Prognosis.
A series of images flickers over the screen, casting shadows
on his face. Gus swallows hard and looks away.
GUS (CONT'D)
How long have I got?
MEDICAL SCANNER
Between two and three days.
A long moment of silence. Gus turns and exits.
MEDICAL SCANNER (CONT'D)
These sedatives will alleviate
suffering in the final hours...
Pill bottles clatter into a metal bin. Aurora scoops them up.
Jim goes after Gus.
CORRIDOR
Gus settles himself behind the wheel of Jim's cart.
JIM
Gus!
GUS
Sorry, Jim.
Gus puts his foot down and the cart squeals away.
103.
Aurora stumbles into the hall, her hands full of pill
bottles. She and Jim watch the cart recede.
COMMAND DECK - COMMUNICATIONS CENTER
Aurora sits at the security console, watching the monitors.
Jim enters.
JIM
He's not in his room.
Aurora flips on the intercom, speaks into the mic. Her voice
resonates through the ship.
AURORA
Where are you? Gus, please answer.
We'll be at the Concourse Bar every
hour. I'm really worried.
JIM
Where is he? What's he doing?
GUS (O.S.)
What are you doing?
They spin. Gus stands in the doorway behind them.
GUS (CONT'D)
Guy's got a couple of days to live
and he can't get any peace.
AURORA
Where have you been?
GUS
Making arrangements. You kids have
dinner plans?
JIM
No.
GUS
Xanadu at eight.
(EXITING)
Now stop shouting at me.
GUS'S CABIN - EVENING
Gus makes a tour of the room, touching his photographs and
mementos in farewell.
He puts on his dress uniform: chest crowded with medals and
decorations for the planets he's seen, the voyages he's made.
104.
He takes a photograph from a dresser: a handsome woman in her
forties. Kisses the snapshot. Tucks it in his breast pocket.
In the mirror he studies his haggard face.
Suddenly he SHOUTS, a wordless cry of anger. Pounds on the
dresser with his fists. Teeth clenched in pain and fury.
Then he straightens. Stands at attention. Takes a deep
breath. Pivots on his heel and leaves the room.
STARDOME - XANADU - NIGHT
Jim and Aurora enter the Stardome to find Gus sitting shaky
but proud at the head of a table.
They sit. Gus pours wine with a trembling hand.
AURORA
You look magnificent.
GUS
(TO JIM)
Ladies love the dress blues.
(to both of them)
Thanks for coming. Sorry to run out
today, but I didn't have a lot of
time, and there was a lot to do.
He sips his wine. Jim and Aurora watch with concern.
JIM
How you feeling?
GUS
Fine, fine.
AURORA
Gus, just because some stupid machine
says there's no cure...
GUS
State-of-the-art machine, Aurora.
Anyway, I can feel it happening.
AURORA
But you just got here. It's barely
been a week.
He takes her hand.
GUS
No point counting the days.
105.
XANADU - LATER
Their dinners are nearly done. Gus pours more wine. He's in
the middle of a tale of adventure.
GUS
A pure oxygen environment is about as
dangerous a place as you can be. A
steel pipe will burn in pure O2. And
there I am with a hammer, trying to
close this valve and stop the oxygen
flow, when one spark will kill us
all. But the thing is, O2 makes you
punchy. So I can't stop laughing. And
then the guys behind me start in, and
soon everybody's going. Captain's
giggling like a girl. The Navigator
pissed his pants laughing.
Jim and Aurora laugh. But pain contorts Gus's face. He grips
the table with white knuckles. And nobody's laughing anymore.
GUS (CONT'D)
This is happening fast. I got some
things for you. Come with me.
DECK FOUR - STARBOARD E.V.A. ROOM
On a table at the edge of the plaza, a small pile of objects
waits. Gus stops beside them. Turns to Jim and Aurora.
GUS
I went through the ship's manuals and
made notes wherever there was
something special you should know.
These should keep you straight. In a
few days the Diagnostic Computer will
show you what needs fixing.
He takes his shipcard from around his neck. Hands it to Jim.
GUS (CONT'D)
This'll get you anywhere you need to
go. Questions?
JIM
Why are we standing by the airlock?
AURORA
Oh, God! Gus, no!
106.
GUS
Got no choice about going. But I can
decide how to go, and I'm going out
on my own two feet.
JIM
(SHOCKED)
Are you sure about this?
GUS
If you knew how this feels, Jimbo,
you wouldn't ask me to stay.
Gus extends a hand to Aurora. She throws her arms around him.
AURORA
Gus. I can't stand it. There's got to
be some other way. Don't do this.
Gus gently frees himself from her arms.
GUS
(TENDERLY)
It's all right, Aurora. It's all
right.
Gus turns to Jim. They clasp hands. Slap each other's
shoulders in a rough embrace.
GUS (CONT'D)
Jim. Fix the ship.
JIM
Yes, sir.
GUS
And take care of each other.
Gus turns and opens the airlock. He straightens, squares his
shoulders, and steps inside. Turns to face them.
GUS (CONT'D)
All right.
Aurora covers her mouth. Jim raises a hand in stunned
farewell. The airlock door closes. Red lights flash.
Through the porthole they see Gus look out into space.
Then the outer door slams open and a blast of air shoots Gus
out among the stars. His body lost in the infinite night.
Aurora steps into Jim's arms. Lays her head on his chest. For
a moment he holds her. Then she pushes him gently back. Meets
his eyes sadly.
107.
Jim watches her walk away.
INT. GRAND CONCOURSE - DAY
Arthur polishes glasses, chipper as ever. A SWEEPER ROBOT
passes on its daily errands.
FORWARD OBSERVATION DECK
Aurora slouches in her writing chair, staring into space - a
picture of sorrow.
SUBDECK C - MACHINE SHOP
Jim sits motionless at his workbench, brooding.
A CLATTER rouses him.
Jim's little pet robot is banging its head against the wall,
emitting beeps of distress. Jim frowns.
ROBOTICS CENTER
Jim walks in. Everywhere robots bunch and stumble.
A pair of sweeper robots fight to enter the same recharging
niche. They trip up a procession of gangly window washers -
who stumble into a parade of robot waiters.
Chaos spreads. The robots' clockwork perfection upset.
CAFETERIA
Aurora draws a glass of orange juice and gets green sludge.
Dials for toast and gets two slices of charcoal.
COMMAND DECK - DIAGNOSTIC CENTER
Aurora enters. The Diagnostic Computer's console is no longer
dark: it's a sea of green and red lights. A lot of red.
The computer's screen reads "Diagnostic Complete." It
displays a long list of error messages.
271 Aurora stares in horror at the red lights. 271
Jim enters behind her. Takes in the bad news.
108.
AURORA
There's trouble everywhere.
Atmosphere systems, water systems,
waste systems, robot control.
JIM
(under his breath)
What's happening?
Aurora goes to the worktable: its surface displays the
diagnostic report. Thousands of faults and failures.
AURORA
It started two years ago. Thirty
years with no trouble, then forty-
seven failures in a single day.
(reading the list)
Structural concussion.
System overvoltage.
Transient pressure anomaly.
Circuit reset, conduit 12.
Sync failure, hibernation pod 1498.
JIM
Pod 1498? That's me!
AURORA
Whatever happened that day woke you
up.
She pulls up a graph of failures over time: A trickle of
breakdowns that swells into a torrent.
JIM
Ever since then, more and more
failures. Faster and faster.
AURORA
How do we find out what's going on?
JIM
We start at the beginning. The
breakdowns from the day I woke up.
Aurora brings up a map of the ship on the display. Red
markers blink on the map.
AURORA
They're all on Deck One.
DECK FOUR - AFT FIREWALL
An armored hatch leads to the Engine Room.
109.
Jim wears his tool belt. Aurora carries a flashlight. Each of
them carries one of Gus's manuals.
Jim swipes Gus's crew card and the hatch opens. They go in.
ENGINE COMPARTMENT - UPPER LEVEL
A huge space spanning multiple decks at the rear of the ship.
Here the real heart of the Excelsior throbs in the dark.
Jim and Aurora emerge into a humming electrical station. Jim
peers at gauges.
JIM
Power Converter seems okay.
AURORA
The failures are all below us.
ENGINE COMPARTMENT - MIDDLE LEVEL
A huge sphere 120 feet across dominates the compartment.
Signs read: CAUTION - FUSION REACTOR. A deep RUMBLE.
Jim and Aurora descend beside the reactor on a spiral stair.
They emerge onto a catwalk at the reactor's equator and walk
around the sphere.
REACTOR CONTROL ROOM
Jim cards open a door labeled "REACTOR CONTROL ROOM." Red
light pours out. They enter.
JIM & AURORA
(TOGETHER)
Don't touch anything.
Banks of control panels - but Jim and Aurora have eyes only
for the windows into the reactor's heart.
Inside the reactor is a caged sun: an orb of fire hanging in
space. Loops and tongues of flame leap from its surface.
It roars like a forest fire.
AURORA
It's beautiful.
JIM
Scares the hell out of me.
AURORA
What keeps it in?
110.
JIM
Gravity. The gravity plant gives us
weight. Propels the ship. And it
contains the fusion reaction. All one
system.
Aurora watches Jim as he walks among the consoles, studying
the instruments.
JIM (CONT'D)
Not much trouble here. A couple of
computers running hot.
AURORA
The cluster of failures is still one
level down.
ENGINE COMPARTMENT - LOWER LEVEL
Jim and Aurora emerge from an elevator. They come to a door
marked CENTRAL COMPUTING.
AURORA
This should be it.
Jim cards the door with Gus's shipcard. The lock flashes a
red light and stays closed.
JIM
Gus's card should open any door.
AURORA
(flipping through her manual)
Let me try an override code.
She squeezes past Jim. Taps at the door's keypad. Jim peers
through the narrow window in the door.
JIM
Wait a sec, maybe there's a reason
the door...
The light flashes green.
The door begins to slide open.
A HOWLING WIND sucks Aurora against the crack in the door.
She screams. Jim grabs at her. A hurricane drags her inside.
CENTRAL COMPUTER FACILITY
Aurora tumbles into the room and smashes into a column. She
clings in the gale-force wind, grimacing in pain.
111.
There's a RAGGED HOLE punched in the hull. Outside, stars
burn in the vacuum of space. A tornado of escaping air
screams out through the hole.
Red lights flash. Claxons sound. The door begins to close.
Jim pulls a HAMMER from his belt and jams it crossways in the
doorway, propping open the door. The door's motors whine.
Jim dives inside. Skids to a stop beside Aurora. Pulls her
loose from the column and shoves her toward the door,
fighting the wind.
Aurora scrambles through the doorway. Jim tries to follow -
but the hammer suddenly bends and springs out of the doorway.
The door slams: Aurora outside, Jim in the airless room.
The last of the atmosphere flashes away into space.
Aurora screams and pounds on the other side of the door. But
Jim hears only his own thudding heartbeat.
The last air leaves Jim's lungs in a silent shout, vapor
whipping away between his teeth.
He spins. Scans the room desperately.
OUTSIDE THE DOOR
Aurora re-enters the override code. But the code is denied.
She drops to her knees. Scans frantically through her manual.
IN THE AIRLESS ROOM
Jim rips open a wide metal drawer built into the wall. It's
full of computer components: Jim sweeps them onto the floor.
OUTSIDE THE DOOR
Aurora tears open an instrument panel beside the door,
revealing a yellow emergency button marked "PURGE." She flips
back the safety catch and slams the button.
IN THE AIRLESS ROOM
White jets of compressed air blast from the ceiling, turning
the room into a whirling tornado of debris.
Jim clings for his life, gulping air as flying fragments
batter him.
112.
The wind tears him from his handholds and hurls him toward
the jagged hole in the hull.
He falls ACROSS THE HOLE. Metal fangs inches from his body.
He strains to avoid being speared or sucked out into space.
The air jets stop. The wind dies as the air escapes.
Jim lunges back to the open drawer. Pulls the LASER CUTTER
from his tool belt and cuts the entire drawer free.
He turns back, holding the metal DRAWER like a shield - and
staggers, half fainting.
OUTSIDE THE DOOR
Aurora sees Jim falter. Slams the PURGE button again.
IN THE AIRLESS ROOM
Compressed air blasts into the room, renewing the windstorm.
Jim rides the wind, sliding across the steel deck and
SLAMMING the steel drawer across the hole in the hull.
Air screams away through the gaps.
Jim lunges to an emergency locker and pulls out an epoxy
foamer - a steel canister like a fire extinguisher. He aims
it at the hole in the hull and pulls the trigger.
ORANGE FOAM blasts out, stiffening into a hard plastic. Jim
buries the steel drawer and the hull breach in foam.
His eyes flutter closed. Starved of oxygen, he falls limp.
OUTSIDE THE DOOR
Aurora hits the PURGE button. White jets of air blast into
the sealed room. The pressure comes up. The door slides open.
CENTRAL COMPUTER FACILITY
Aurora dashes in. Falls to her knees beside Jim. Takes his
pulse. Listens for breath: he's not breathing. She presses
her mouth over his and blows air into his lungs.
After a moment Jim coughs. He opens bloodshot eyes. She props
his head on her knee.
AURORA
Jim. Are you okay?
113.
Jim breathes deeply. Blinks his eyes.
JIM
I think I'm all right.
(his eyes go wide)
Look.
In the center of the room a round column houses the CORE
COMPUTER. There's a CRATER blasted in the machine.
JIM (CONT'D)
That's the core computer.
Jim hauls himself to his feet, leaning on Aurora. He
approaches the blasted computer. Reaches into the hole.
Strains. A CREAK...and Jim pulls a melon-sized METEOR from
the crater. An orb of pitted metal.
COMMAND DECK - DIAGNOSTIC CENTER
Jim and Aurora sit at the worktable. The meteor sits between
them on the table.
JIM
A meteor.
AURORA
A rock.
They stare at the meteor: the cause of it all.
A BEEP: on the Diagnostic Computer's console, more green
lights turn red. New errors pop up on the diagnostic report.
AURORA (CONT'D)
I don't get it. This thing hit down
on Deck One. But there are failures
everywhere.
JIM
(A BRAINSTORM)
The computers are networked. Ever
since the core computer got blown
away, all the other computers must
have been carrying the load. Running
at full capacity around the clock for
two years. They're burning out.
AURORA
And every computer that burns out
increases the load on the others.
114.
JIM
Yeah. The breakdown accelerates. If
we don't stop it, the whole ship will
go down.
AURORA
I'm trapped on a sinking ship?
JIM
Gus said there's spares for
everything. If we replace the core
computer, it'll pick up the load. The
burnouts will stop.
Another BEEP. Another green light turns red.
AURORA
Let's go.
SUBDECK A - SHIP'S STORES
Jim pilots his golf cart at breakneck speed through the cargo
racks. Aurora rides shotgun, reading an electronic map.
AURORA
Two more rows, then left!
The cart squeals around a corner.
CENTRAL COMPUTER FACILITY
Aurora buries the hull breach in another layer of epoxy foam.
Jim wrestles a massive crate off the golf cart's cargo deck.
Wearily uncrates the replacement computer.
CENTRAL COMPUTER FACILITY - LATER
Aurora inspects the replacement core computer, a manual in
her hands. The pages she's consulting are covered with Gus's
handwritten notes.
Jim sits on the floor with another manual. Cables and
connectors lie around him on the floor.
AURORA
First you connect the data bus, then
the sync cable, then bridge the power
and backup power...you're supposed to
run a startup checklist, but Gus made
a note. He says you can skip straight
to power-up as long as you...
(MORE)
115.
AURORA (CONT'D)
(FROWNING)
Jim!
Jim is nodding off over his manual. He looks up, blinking.
AURORA (CONT'D)
You need to sleep. We can't make
mistakes here.
JIM
(GROGGY)
I'm fine.
AURORA
You just got sucked into outer space.
Take a break.
ELITE DECK - BERLIN SUITE - NIGHT
Jim lies asleep in trousers and T-shirt, dead to the world.
DECK NINE - AURORA'S CABIN - DAWN
Aurora wakes. Rolls out of bed.
COMMAND DECK - DIAGNOSTIC CENTER - DAY
Aurora sips coffee. Surveys the Diagnostic Computer's warning
lights. Turns to stare thoughtfully at the meteor itself.
She exits.
The console flickers. A green light turns red. And another.
The pattern of red lights spreads like a bloodstain.
ELITE DECK - BERLIN SUITE
Jim still lies sleeping. He hasn't moved a muscle. Aurora
looks in on him, and slips quietly away.
DECK TWO - SWIMMING POOL
In a bathing suit, Aurora dives into the pool, cleaving the
water cleanly and striking out in a crawl stroke.
She reaches the end of the lane. Kick-turns and swims back...
...and the gravity cuts out.
The water heaves itself into weird humps and tentacles.
Aurora flounders in the weightless water.
116.
BERLIN SUITE (ZERO GRAVITY)
Sound asleep, Jim floats weightless from his bed, his blanket
billowing. He touches the ceiling.
His eyes open. He shouts in astonishment.
Gus' crew card floats in front of him. He grabs it. His
blanket snarls around him: he struggles to free himself.
SWIMMING POOL (ZERO GRAVITY)
Rippling masses of water float everywhere, dividing and
merging. There is no surface. There is no up.
In the middle of this chaos, Aurora is trying not to drown.
A truck-sized blob of water swallows her up.
Inside the jiggling mass she struggles, running out of air.
She gathers herself. Lunges through the water. Shoots out of
the blob, gasping for breath.
She drifts within reach of a railing and grabs hold.
BERLIN SUITE (ZERO GRAVITY)
Jim braces himself in a corner of the ceiling. Spots his tool
belt floating in mid-air.
He dives through the air, snags his tool belt on the way, and
opens the door.
JIM
Aurora!
ELITE DECK - ELITE PROMENADE (ZERO GRAVITY)
Jim emerges from a corridor onto the promenade: airborne,
propelling himself from one handhold to the next.
He's barefoot in trousers and undershirt, his toolbelt around
his waist. Gus's shipcard around his neck.
AURORA (O.S.)
Jim!
In the middle of the atrium, Aurora drifts mid-air, far from
any handhold. She wears a damp shirt over her bathing suit.
JIM
What are you doing?
117.
AURORA
(EXASPERATED)
I'm drifting helplessly.
JIM
We've got to get you down. The
gravity might come back on.
Aurora hadn't thought of that. She looks down fearfully.
Jim swings over the railing. Braces his feet. Takes aim.
AURORA
Whoa. Hey. Let's talk about this.
JIM
Hang on.
AURORA
To what?!
Jim dives at her like Superman. Wraps his arms around her.
They tumble through space until Jim grabs a railing.
JIM
You okay?
AURORA
There's no gravity.
JIM
Yeah. That's bad.
AURORA
Why is there no gravity?
JIM
The gravity plant's failing. Internal
field goes first. After that the
engines die...then the fusion reactor
goes nova.
AURORA
That is bad.
JIM
We've got to get the core computer
online. Now.
ENGINE COMPARTMENT - FUSION REACTOR (ZERO GRAVITY)
A roar of THUNDER. The caged sun shudders. Tongues of fire
lick from its surface.
118.
DECK FIVE - CORRIDOR (ZERO GRAVITY)
Jim and Aurora, getting the hang of it, shoot down a hallway -
dodging a robot that spins its wheels in the air.
ENGINE COMPARTMENT - CORE COMPUTER ROOM (ZERO GRAVITY)
Jim and Aurora float into the room and stare: Jim's golf cart
and the replacement Core Computer hang tumbling in the air.
Aurora extends her hand to Jim. He takes her hand, and with
his other hand grabs a handhold. Aurora floats up and grabs
the replacement core computer by a cable. A human chain, they
haul it down to the deck.
Aurora holds the new computer down. Jim floats up to the
ruined old computer. Opens latches. Disconnects cables. Eases
the machine out of the column into the air.
The room shakes. A deep note in the background falls silent.
JIM
The engines just shut down.
FUSION REACTOR CONTROL ROOM (ZERO GRAVITY)
Consoles alive with warning lights. The room is bathed with a
hellish glow: the orb of fire swells and roars.
A computer burns out with a sputter of flame. The air fills
with a haze of smoke.
FUSION REACTOR
The caged sun boils and swells. Tentacles of flame graze the
reactor walls, leaving charred trails.
CORE COMPUTER ROOM (ZERO GRAVITY)
Jim and Aurora strain at the replacement computer: it's
nearly in place. Each shoves with one hand, gripping a
handhold with the other. Their feet kick in the empty air.
Red lights flash. A warning klaxon sounds.
ANNOUNCER
Reactor failure. Reactor failure.
Passengers please remain calm.
Aurora holds the computer in place, gripping two handholds,
her shoulder planted against the machine.
119.
Jim floats up, reaches around the computer to connect cables.
JIM
Does the data cable go in the "bus"
port or the "through" port?
AURORA
Bus port! The blue one!
The ship shudders violently, throwing them from side to side.
Jim forces one cable after another into their sockets.
Aurora tires: the computer slides out of place.
JIM
Hold it! Hold it!
AURORA
Trying!
She strains. The computer slides back into place.
Jim closes the last connection. Slips out of the niche and
lowers the clamps that hold the computer in place.
He throws the heavy power lever. The lights go out.
EXT. STARSHIP EXCELSIOR
A wave of darkness engulfs the ship.
INT. SUBDECK A - CORE COMPUTER ROOM
Floating, Jim and Aurora stare at each other in the dark.
AURORA
What's happening?
JIM
Don't know.
The core computer flashes to life. The lights come back on.
So does the gravity. Jim and Aurora slam to the floor. Inches
away, the old computer plunges down and embeds itself in the
deck. Across the room the golf cart bounces on its tires.
INT. FUSION REACTOR
The orb of fire withdraws its blazing tentacles and dwindles
to its proper size.
120.
CORE COMPUTER ROOM
Jim and Aurora lie on the deck, breathing hard. Aurora starts
to laugh.
JIM
What's so funny?
AURORA
We're alive!
The engines rumble back to life.
A distant, rhythmic sound begins: BOOM-CHAK...BOOM-CHAK...
DECK TWO - PROMENADE
Jim and Aurora walk wearily.
JIM
We have to replace the other burned-
out computers. But we have time.
Aurora slides her arm around his waist.
BOOM-CHAK...BOOM-CHAK...
JIM (CONT'D)
What is that sound?
Aurora stiffens, looking over his shoulder. Outside the
window, a hibernation pod spins into view. A woman inside.
AURORA
(finding her voice)
Jim!
He turns. Stares in shock as more pods drift past the window.
HIBERNATION BAY
Jim and Aurora sprint into the facility. The sound is loud
here: BOOM-CHAK...BOOM-CHAK...
It's the sound of hibernation pods being ejected. The wave of
ejections marches down an aisle: one pod after another
disappearing into the ceiling.
Jim rushes to a CONSOLE. Scans the display.
JIM
The hibernation system rebooted. It
thinks the ship's in port. It's
ejecting the empty pods.
121.
AURORA
(HORRIFIED)
They're not empty.
EXT. STARSHIP EXCELSIOR
The ship leaves a trail of glowing hibernation pods.
INT. HIBERNATION BAY
Jim slides to a halt in front of a hibernation pod. Pulls a
power driver from his belt and removes the cover panel.
Aurora arrives on his heels. Watches as he works.
An ominous sound approaches. BOOM-CHAK...BOOM-CHAK... The
wave of ejections advances down their row.
AURORA
Hurry.
JIM
I see it.
He's not fast enough. The pod slides up and out of sight.
EXT. STARSHIP EXCELSIOR
The pods Jim was working on tumbles out into space.
INT. CREW HIBERNATION FACILITY
Jim slams into the facility at a dead run. Scans the crew
hibernation pods. Picks one and goes to work.
Aurora enters. Looks at the man inside the hibernation pod: a
stern fellow with a bristling gray beard.
AURORA
Who's that?
JIM
The Captain.
The sounds of the ejection wave come closer. Boom-chak.
AURORA
You don't have much time.
JIM
I know.
122.
BOOM-CHAK! A crewman's pod vanishes into the ceiling on the
opposite side. The ejections march down the row.
AURORA
Go go go!
The wave of ejections reaches the end of the facility and
marches back on Jim's side.
JIM
Got it!
The hibernation pod hums to life.
Inside, the Captain opens his eyes. He stares in astonishment
at the first thing he sees: Aurora, in her bathing suit and
shirt, a disheveled angel.
BOOM-CHAK!
The pod beside the Captain's shoots out of sight. He sees it.
Looks at Aurora in alarm. Reaches out, his hand spread flat
on the glass.
She reaches back, her hand matching his.
The Captain's pod rises through the ceiling and vanishes. Jim
roars in frustration. Aurora leaps back with a cry of horror.
DECK NINE - AFT OBSERVATION DECK
Jim and Aurora stare out the windows. In the ship's wake,
five thousand pods glitter like diamonds. The cloud of pods
dispersing as they watch.
Stricken, Aurora walks away.
Jim watches her go, then turns back to the window, looking
out at the tumbling sparks.
EXT. STARSHIP EXCELSIOR
The starship recedes, leaving five thousand pods in its wake.
FADE TO BLACK.
SUPER: TWO WEEKS LATER
INT. COMMAND DECK - DIAGNOSTIC CENTER - DAY
Jim stands at the Diagnostic Computer. The indicator light
panel is a sea of green. Only a few red lights remain.
Aurora enters.
123.
JIM
That's the last of the burned out
processors. When it reboots we should
be all green.
AURORA
Can we talk?
FORWARD OBSERVATION DECK
Aurora's writing couch. Jim and Aurora sit facing each other.
Aurora gathers her thoughts. Takes a deep breath.
AURORA
You know, if it wasn't for you waking
me up, I'd be drifting out in space
right now with the others. And if
you'd never awakened, the whole ship
would have been lost while we slept.
Jim shakes his head at the tangle of it.
AURORA (CONT'D)
But no matter how we got here, the
fact is that we're here. All I know
is, when I have a good idea, you're
the person I want to tell. When I
wake up in the morning, I wish you
were there. When I look at you, I
just see Jim. And I miss him.
Jim looks at her, moved and caught off-guard.
JIM
I've missed you too.
AURORA
I don't want to be angry anymore. I
can't be. We've come through too
much. No matter what you've done...
the fact is, I love you.
Jim reaches out and takes her hand. She watches him
intertwine his fingers with hers.
Aurora gazes out at the stars - the endless shining sky that
enfolds them. She looks at Jim and smiles.
AURORA (CONT'D)
Hell of a life.
Jim meets her eyes.
JIM
Hell of a life.
124.
She climbs into his lap, and they kiss. A kiss with a year's
frustration behind it. A kiss that matters.
EXT. STARSHIP EXCELSIOR - STARBOARD AIRLOCK - DAY
The airlock opens with a gust of air. Jim emerges in a space
suit - followed by Aurora.
ATOP THE SHIP
They walk toward the bow, stars reflected in their visors.
AT THE BOW
They sit side by side. Aurora takes Jim's hand.
They lean together, helmets touching, and look together into
the blue stars of their future.
FADE TO BLACK.
SUPER: EIGHTY-EIGHT YEARS LATER
EXT. HOMESTEAD II - CAPITAL LANDING FIELD - DAWN
An orange sun rises over green hills. In the foreground the
roofs of Homestead II's capital city glow in the dawn.
At the city's edge, timeworn spacecraft sit on their landing
gear around a grassy landing field.
Colonists gather. They watch the sky expectantly...
A new star shines on the horizon.
The star grows into a white starship gleaming in the sun. The
Excelsior sweeps over the field with a rumble of engines.
The ship's hull is scorched and abraded from its cosmic
crossing. But the lights shine, the engines throb, the
landing gear receive the weight of the ship.
The starship's gangway lowers. The doors open.
CHILDREN run down the gangway. Children of all ages, of all
races. Twenty of them, thirty. They point at the sun, at the
clouds, laughing, wide-eyed in wonder.
We move up the gangway, through the disembarking passengers.
Behind the children: Teenagers. Adults in smaller numbers as
they grow older. Finally a handful of gray-haired elders.
125.
INT. STARSHIP EXCELSIOR - GRAND CONCOURSE
Transformed by the wear and tear of a century's habitation.
Paths worn into floors, furniture repaired or re-purposed.
We move past vegetable gardens. Battered sweeper robots water
the plantings. Window-washers till the soil.
The OAK TREE towers a hundred feet tall over the Concourse.
Its branches brush the skylight far above.
We move past walls decorated with murals and carvings.
At the Concourse Bar, Arthur is slicing vegetables. His
timeworn uniform mended by hand.
At the aft end of the Concourse, a high wall. Here a long
list of dates is inscribed. The last date is the ship's
landfall on Homestead II; the first, Jim's awakening. In
between: an accelerating tally of births, deaths, marriages,
catastrophes and achievements...a century of shipboard life.
At the base of the wall we find a table like an altar, where
a collection of artifacts is displayed:
The meteor pried from the Excelsior's heart.
Gus's worn shipcard, his picture still visible.
A beautiful hand-bound book. In the Blink of an Eye: Our
Lives Between the Stars, by Aurora Dunn. Beneath these
printed words, a handwritten dedication: For Jim.
In the center of it all, in the place of honor: the photo
strip of Jim and Aurora from their first date.
They laugh. They clown. She kisses him.
Aurora looks into the camera's eye.
Jim looks at Aurora.
FADE OUT.
THE END.
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