"STARMAN"
Screenplay by
Bruce A. Evans and Raynold Gideon
with Dean Riesner (uncredited)
DRAFT SCRIPT
FADE IN:
EXT. HIGHWAY - NIGHT
The wail of a siren grows out of the distance and very faintly
through the fog we see the headlights and flashing blue rack
lights of a police car coming toward us. It drops into a
dip, reappears almost immediately, hurtling down the center
of the deserted highway. It gets closer and closer until the
lights and siren fill our senses then zooms past us.
INT. POLICE CAR - NIGHT
A frightened SECURITY GUARD is tensed forward off the back
seat, his hands clutched into the fabric between the two
regular POLICE OFFICERS in front.
GUARD
(an edge of fear in
his voice)
It's coming up... Slow down...
(he points out between
them)
There, right there...
Through the windshield we can see the headlights pick up a
billboard announcing a 'new' housing development.
EXT. HIGHWAY - NIGHT
The squad car skids off the asphalt in front of the sign and
starts up a rutted dirt road. The sign tells us we are headed
for 'Pinewood Estates,' a housing development financed by
the Farmers Bank of Wisconsin.
INT. POLICE CAR - NIGHT
The Security Guard is becoming more agitated. He wipes a
cold sweat off his brow. The blue flashers reflect off the
fog onto the faces of the men. Suddenly the Security Guard
lunges forward and slaps off the rack lights and siren.
OFFICER
(startled)
Benny, God, take it easy...
BENNY (GUARD)
I don't want to scare them away.
The two Police Officers exchange an indulgent look.
EXT. HOUSING TRACT - NIGHT
Using only its parking lights, the police car creeps up the
dirt road between skeletons of unfinished houses.
INT. POLICE CAR - NIGHT
The windows are rolled down. Periodically one of the men
leans out for a better look at the terrain around them.
SECOND OFFICER
Smells smoke...
BENNY
I told you.
EXT. HOUSING TRACT - NIGHT
The police car comes around a curve on the hillside and stops.
Above them on the next hill, a necklace of embers from a
grass fire and a burning tree flicker through the fog. The
men get out of the car.
BENNY
(loud whisper)
There!! Up on the hill!!
The officer steps forward for a better look. Benny hangs on
his shoulder.
BENNY
Right in line with that burning tree.
OFFICER
I don't see anything.
BENNY
It's there. The fog's thicker now,
but it's there. What do you think
started those fires?
The officer strains to see through the fog.
OFFICER
Benny, there's nothing there.
BENNY
There is. They came out of the belly
of the ship and then went to the
first terrace and flew down into the
houses.
OFFICER
Flew?! Oh, come on Benny...
The second officer is peering intently at something down
among the houses.
OFFICER
You hear that, Mike? Now he's telling
us...
MIKE (SECOND OFFICER)
What's that?
Benny and the officer look to where Mike is pointing. What
appears to be the beam of a powerful headlight bobs among
the houses below them. Further into the track another beam
of light moves slightly from right to left but seems otherwise
stationary.
BENNY
What did I tell you?
OFFICER
Probably kids.
One of the lights rises over a house and settles on the other
side.
MIKE
(not convinced)
Probably...
EXT. HOUSING TRACT - NIGHT
A light shines directly into our eyes. As it swings away
from us we realize that it was the searchlight on the police
car which is idling along the dirt road with its running
lights off. The fire on the hill gives the fog down here a
red tint.
INT. POLICE CAR - NIGHT
The police officers are beginning to feel anxious. Benny's
nervous fidgeting in the back seat doesn't help them any.
BENNY
Don't you think you should call a
backup?
OFFICER
No, we can handle this.
EXT. HOUSING TRACT - NIGHT
The police car passes a road perpendicular to the one it is
on. A couple of houses down that road a faint glow spills
over the sides of an industrial dumpster. As we watch we
hear an eerie high pitched whistle, a shaft of light slowly
rises out of the metal box and seems to fly off between the
houses.
INT. FINISHED HOUSE - NIGHT
As a humanoid silhouette passes in front of the picture
window, a shaft of light floats by in the fog outside. The
silhouette continues around to look at the kitchen. It raises
a hand to eye level. There is a sharp "SNAP" and a hard-edged
cone of light shoots out of the darkness to capture the inside
of the kitchen and pulls back a three-dimensional image of
stove, sink, cupboards, electrical fixtures and walls to the
silhouette.
EXT. HOUSING TRACT - NIGHT
The police car is parked in the middle of the dirt road.
Benny and the officers are intent on a light that reaches
them only in strobes as it moves through the houses in the
direction of the fire on the hill. The police searchlight
swings onto the house.
OFFICER
(over outside speakers)
This is the police. Identify
yourselves.
It is deathly silent.
Carrying a shotgun the officer motions Benny and Mike to fan
out on either side of him and, guns drawn, they cut across
the tract to where they last saw the bobbing light.
The fog quickly isolates them, heightening their fear. Each
man becomes acutely aware of the loudness of his breathing
and the crunch of his footsteps on the ground. They drift in
and out of visual contact with each other.
Benny freezes as he hears a burst of the high pitched whistle
sweep by on his left. He turns slowly to see, through the
ribs of an unfinished house, a shaft of the white light
pointing at a cement mixer.
BENNY
(to the officers, his
voice cracking)
There's one over here...
The brilliant light swings toward him. Benny, his hands
trembling, raises the gun.
BENNY
Stop!! Police!!
The light fixes on Benny and terrified he shakes off a couple
shots. The light goes out immediately.
MIKE
(in Benny's direction)
What happened?
BENNY
I think I shot one.
MIKE
Jesus, Benny. What are you doing?
INT. FINISHED HOUSE (BEDROOM) - NIGHT
We are looking at the back of the humanoid figure. It crosses
to a high window and looks out. The reddish tinge of the fog
outlines him.
EXT. HOUSING TRACT - NIGHT
The men strain to see something through the silent fog.
OFFICER
You see anything, Mike?
Before Mike can answer, a strange percussive clicking sound
is heard. He pumps a shell in the chamber of his shotgun and
swallowing his fear moves toward the voices. They stop.
OFFICER
This is the police. Identify
yourselves.
Benny, his flashlight throwing a feeble beam in front of
him, inches around the house looking for what he shot at. He
gets to where it should be but it's not there. His light
searches the area. There is nothing but a stack of lumber.
Shaking visibly he shuffles to it and peers around its corner.
Nothing. Benny relaxes and allows himself to breathe again.
BENNY
(shouts to the officers)
You wanna give me some help over
here.
MIKE
Okay...
Benny continues around the house. He flashes his light into
a doorway. There is nothing but framing. When he moves on, a
figure steps out of the darkness to fill the space, then
raises its arms. With a sharp snap cylindrical devices swing
off its wrist into its hands.
At the corner of the house Benny hears the snap and stops.
The high pitched whistle starts behind him. He stumbles around
to face a brilliant white light flying directly at him. Benny
screams in terror and fires at it. The light swerves and a
laser streak from one of the hand rockets sears Benny's chest
and knocks him to the ground in pain. Holding his shoulder
he watches the light rise and fall erratically between the
houses.
The officers watch in awe as the beam wobbles through the
air, then crashes to the earth.
OFFICER
Mike, call for back-up.
(shouting)
Benny, you all right?
BENNY
I don't think so...
(clutching his shoulder)
OFFICER
(waving the beam of
his flashlight, shouts)
Benny, this is me. I'm going to take
a look.
Benny's beam flashes back.
BENNY
Don't leave me. I'm coming.
The two men begin to trot toward the light. It swings wildly
around and, accompanied by the high-pitched whistle, starts
to stagger back up the hill. Benny and the officer break
into a run. They are on their way up the hill when the light
in front of them crashes to the earth. It rolls over and
lays still, the beam shooting straight up into the air. Benny
and the officer slow their pursuit, terrified of what they
might find. Suddenly a high-pitched whistle is bearing down
on them from behind. Before they can turn a light rockets
over their heads. With a rumble the hill begins to vibrate.
As they follow its flight, they see lights beginning to ripple
to life across the skin of a saucer-shaped spacecraft resting
at the edge of the forest on top of the hill. With a rumble
the hill begins to vibrate. Frightened, the officers stop.
INT. FINISHED HOUSE - NIGHT
The humanoid figure walks rapidly down the hall into the
kitchen. An indistinct image plays on the inside of its
faceplate and we hear the faint sounds of a percussive
language. Through the window over the sink we can see the
lights of the spaceship.
The rockets flip into the humanoid's gloved hands and it is
airborne out the open back door.
EXT. HOUSING TRACT - NIGHT
From the road Benny and the officer watch as the humanoid
figure that just blasted over them flies between the trees
and into the white light emitting from the underbelly of the
spacecraft. The noise from the ship's power plant is deafening
as it begins to rise above the trees.
With Mike at the wheel the police car, its rack lights
flashing, fishtails up the dirt road and slides sideways to
a bone-jarring stop next to Benny and the officer. As they
jump out of the way they find themselves facing into the
super white beam of the figure that was in the house. They
are between it and the ship. At the angle that it is coming
up the hill, the light looks like it is heading directly for
them. This is too much for the officer and in terror he raises
his shotgun and fires wildly at it. The figure veers off and
disappears into the fog.
With an awesome roar the spacecraft reaches escape velocity
and hurtles into the night sky. The concussion waves knock
Benny and the officers off their feet.
EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - NIGHT
The escaped figure's light comes out of the fog at tree
height. We hear the high-pitched whistle of its rockets. A
burst of percussive language comes from behind the faceplate.
SUBTITLE
Lander four to Mapmaker Wind. Fix
position for rescue. Repeat. Fix
position for rescue.
EXT. HOUSING TRACT - NIGHT
The fires on the hillside have been renewed. Shaking, Benny
and the officer rise to their feet and start toward the light
shafting straight up from the figure lying on the hillside.
The only sound is police chatter coming out of the radio in
the open squad car.
EXT. LOGGING ROAD - NIGHT
An 18-wheeler with a load of logs lumbers past us.
INT. TRUCK - NIGHT
It feels cozy with the wipers slapping the rain off the
windshield. The DRIVER is trying to steal a cigarette out of
his snoring PARTNER'S pocket without waking him up. He gets
one and reaches for the lighter.
EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - NIGHT
The escaped figure banks around a blind corner.
INT. TRUCK - NIGHT
The driver gets a glimpse of something in his headlights and
slams on the brakes, but it is too late. The figure hits the
spoiler above the cab. We hear the smack of impact. One of
its boots scars the windshield.
EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - NIGHT
The figure bounces off the jack-knifing truck and like a
wounded bird tumbles through the air into the trees. With
the light spinning crazily, it plunges through the boughs
and smashes face first into the mud at the bottom of an
embankment. The strip lights on the sides of its helmet go
out.
EXT. TRUCK - NIGHT
The driver and his partner, standing in the shafts of the
high beams, are peering into the woods.
PARTNER
What the hell was it anyway?
DRIVER
Damned if I know.
EXT. WOODS - NIGHT
The figure thrashes over on its back and tries to close a
shoulder-to-hip tear in its life-support suit. By the faint
identification light that flickers on and off inside its
helmet, we see a MAN FROM THE STARS. His skin is translucent
coral. He is gasping as our atmosphere mixes with his and
threatens to suffocate him.
Under his translucent skin a maze of veins and arteries extend
from a white mass that sits in the upper half of his head.
He is hairless. Underneath a graceful fore-head, transparent
eyelids droop over black pupilless eyes. The thin lips that
delineate his mouth are chalk-white.
He tries to clutch the edges of the tear together but is too
weak. His hands drop limply from the suit, allowing the rent
to gape open and reveal the translucent body underneath.
PARTNER (V.O.)
Come on. I'm getting wet.
DRIVER (V.O.)
It musta been a bird.
PARTNER (V.O.)
How about if I drive now?
Behind the faceplate a piece of white light breaks off from
the shining mass in the STAR MAN'S head and moves down his
neck. Through the hole in the suit we see it arrive at the
top of his single lung. The white light spreads throughout
the organ like a phosphorescent tide. The STAR MAN lapses
into unconsciousness as we hear the truck pull away.
INT. HELICOPTER (COCKPIT) - DAWNBREAK
A light rain is falling.
We are looking through the windscreen at the gray landscape
passing under the helicopter. MARC SHERMIN, a grizzled man
in his mid-fifties with an honest stubborn face, shifts his
attention from the right side to the left side of the craft.
Below him he can see the road leading into the housing tract
is blocked by police cars. The helicopter leans into a banking
turn and the spacecraft's blackened landing site comes into
view. Below it an orange nylon tent has been erected over
the dead extraterrestrial. It glows from the inside. An Air
Force helicopter is parked on the other side of the burn.
EXT. HOUSING TRACT - DAWNBREAK
A man in a white contamination suit is helping Benny and the
two officers into the Air Force helicopter. The three men
are glassy-eyed and wrapped in blankets. Benny has a bandage
across his chest. They look up at Shermin's descending
helicopter. They are still looking at it when they disappear
inside.
Shermin's unmarked S65 settles on the clearing. The nose
door is open and Shermin, carrying the hood of his
contamination suit, comes down the ladder. A tall homespun
man, also in a hoodless contamination suit, steps forward to
greet him.
MAN
(around a cigarette)
Major Aaron Bell...
SHERMIN
Marc Shermin, National Security
Agency.
Shermin takes a moment to look over at the tent, the green
hillside and the forest beyond. It is pastoral in the soft
light of dawn.
SHERMIN
This has always been my favorite
time of day.
MAJOR BELL (MAN)
Very beautiful country up here...
SHERMIN
Any signs of biological contamination,
excessive radiation, anything like
that?
MAJOR BELL
Not on the landscape. We're trying
to get a tube under the faceplate
for a reading on possible deadly
lifeforms but it's hard going.
SHERMIN
Can you see under the faceplate?
MAJOR BELL
No.
Bell's hands shake as he lights a new cigarette off the one
in his mouth.
SHERMIN
There's a good chance you could be
wrong about this thing then...
MAJOR BELL
Wait'll you see it.
He throws away the cigarette and begins to put on his
contamination hood. Shermin follows as they start for the
tent.
MAJOR BELL
We had a flight of F16's play tag
with the spaceship over Michigan for
an hour. Then it shot straight up
and disappeared.
SHERMIN
Was there visual contact?
MAJOR BELL
No, sir. Radar.
SHERMIN
It could have been anything.
EXT. BLACKENED LANDING SITE - DAWNBREAK
Hooded, Bell and Shermin make their way past three suited
scientists examining the landscape with geiger counters and
other sensing instruments. With the coming of dawn and Bell's
handlight we can clearly see the pod indentations and the
huge black glass cup of earth that was fused by the energy
blasting out of the spaceship's power plant.
MAJOR BELL
After I called in, I had a chance to
sit down with the three locals. They
swear there's another one that didn't
make the ship... It might be alive.
SHERMIN
People have made mistakes in these
situations before.
MAJOR BELL
I've been investigating sightings
for seventeen years, Mr. Shermin.
This one's real. We have a dead extra-
terrestrial in that tent and another
one in the area that might be alive.
We've been visited. It's finally
happened and the sooner Washington
accepts that and starts figuring out
how we're going to deal with these
beings, the better off we're going
to be.
EXT. FOOT OF EMBANKMENT - DAWNBREAK
It is still raining.
The STAR MAN stirs and awakens with a start. He parts the
tear in his suit and looks at his lung through his translucent
body. It has changed in color from brown to a rich yellow
ocher. He takes several deep breaths of our atmosphere and
his lung expands and contracts easily. He conducts a quick
inventory of his damaged spacesuit, then struggles to his
knees and stands up.
INT. BIOQUARANTINE TENT (HOUSING TRACT) - DAWNBREAK
The sound of a powerful slow-speed drill greets Bell and
Shermin as they enter. The extraterrestrial is still on its
back with its helmet lights shining straight up. A hose that
extends from a portable gas chromatograph has been suction-
sealed to a corner of the faceplate. A SCIENTIST is making
adjustments at the chromatograph while his COMPANION is
monitoring the progress of the drill into the faceplate.
Both are wearing contamination suits.
A foam-lined coffin-shaped metal box is on the ground next
to one of the walls. Bell and Shermin approach the body.
Shermin's first look is at the faceplate, but all he can see
is his own reflection. His eyes travel down the body.
MAJOR BELL
Look at the hands.
The gloved hands of the figure have only three fingers and a
thumb.
Shermin takes Bell's flashlight. He angles it at the
faceplate. As he leans in to follow the beam, the pitch of
the drill rises. He shifts the light. The drill breaks through
and the faceplate explodes out of the helmet. The men throw
themselves back in panic. When they turn back to look,
distorted impressions of the face inside the helmet reflect
on the glass of their contamination hoods. (Pause)
SHERMIN
Oh, Jesus.
MAJOR BELL
(moving toward the
body)
We better get it into the box. Come
on...
The other men approach the body but before they can bend to
it a burst of percussive language, followed by a low buzz,
comes from inside the extraterrestrial's helmet. The men
freeze. There is another burst of percussive language and a
projection beam shoots out of the helmet throwing the image
of the escaped STAR MAN onto one of the scientists. He jumps
aside and the beam falls out of focus and indistinct on the
tent wall behind him.
SUBTITLE
Mapmaker Wind. Do you hear me?
SHERMIN
(incredulous)
The other one is alive!
EXT. FOOT OF EMBANKMENT - DAWNBREAK
The STAR MAN is standing. We hear the sounds of his percussive
language coming from behind his mirrored faceplate.
STAR MAN
(subtitle)
Mapmaker Wind. Do you hear me?
His answer is nothing but the low buzz. He taps a series of
buttons on his chest panel and speaks again.
STAR MAN
Mapmaker Wind. Do you hear me?
Again the buzz.
STAR MAN
Mapmaker Wind. Do you hear me?
The buzz continues. He is very still for a moment. Then he
presses the palms of his hands together, prayer fashion, and
concentrates. When he pulls them apart, a blue force field
pulses between them. He stops at shoulder width. A solarized
aerial view of the United States forms on the force field. A
green dot appears in the area of western Wisconsin, a red
dot in the area of Death Valley, California. He drops his
hands to his lap and sits very still. The solarized compass
remains floating in the air in front of him. After a long
moment he reaches up and squeezes it into a ball that
disappears when his palms come together.
INT. HELICOPTER - DAWNBREAK
Shermin steps through the open bay door into a communications
room. The radar and radio consoles each have a TECHNICIAN. A
third technician, LYMAN, sits in front of a square of six
medium-sized television screens.
LYMAN
Is it for real?
SHERMIN
Get Fox.
Lyman taps a code into the computer keyboard. There's a shower
of static on one of the TV screens. When it clears up GEORGE
FOX, mid-forties, hair slicked straight back, round wire-
rimmed glasses, is peering intently into the camera.
SHERMIN
(before Fox can speak)
It's real, George.
FOX
There's no mistake? You're absolutely
sure?
SHERMIN
I saw it with my own eyes. We've
killed an extraterrestrial and...
FOX
Is there any possibility that it's a
hoax? Could you be mistaken?
SHERMIN
None. And there's another one in the
area that's alive. I don't know if
it's the only one. I don't know if
it was left here by accident or it's
part of an inva...
FOX
Get the body out of there. Load it
on the Air Force chopper and get it
to Wright Patterson. They'll take it
from there... We didn't expect this,
Shermin.
SHERMIN
(answering the
accusation)
Neither did I.
Major Bell enters the helicopter.
FOX
We're going... Damn!
(he shakes his head
in disbelief)
We'll tell the press that there was
an accident. Chemical warfare spill.
That cover cannot be violated in any
way. Understand me, Shermin?
MAJOR BELL
Major Bell here, sir. We have to
tell these people that we're friendly.
That this whole thing was a mistake.
Is anyone trying to contact the ship?
FOX
(ignores this)
Shermin, I want you and Bell to start
looking for the one on the ground.
SHERMIN
We'll need a lot of help, George.
You could hide an army up here.
FOX
I'm going to the White House right
now. I'll try and get you everything
you need.
SHERMIN
Wait, wait... What are my orders if
we find this thing?
Fox sits silently for a second.
FOX
Contain it and get back to me.
SHERMIN
What do you mean by 'contain?'
Fox knows Shermin is looking for a definite order.
FOX
Just what I said.
The television screen is reduced to static. Shermin stares
at it blankly then Lyman turns it off.
EXT. HOUSING TRACT - MORNING
The lift off of Shermin's helicopter reveals contamination --
suited scientists slipping the dead extraterrestrial's coffin
into the Air Force helicopter.
EXT. WOODS - DAY
The STAR MAN, still in his life-support suit, looks surreal
in the twilight world under the canopy of firs. The morning
rain has gone. A hum of traffic pulls him across the hill to
a stand of alders that border the forest. Through the leaves
he can see a highway entering the sprawl of Eau Claire,
Wisconsin. The cars and trucks zipping along the asphalt are
of particular interest to him.
When he has absorbed them he walks through the trees to get
a better look at the town. On the wind he can hear shouts
from students boarding a line of yellow buses in front of a
grade school off to his right. Suburban houses have begun to
snuggle up to the base of the hill he is on.
Keeping to the tree line well above them he continues his
search for an avenue of escape. His head swivels to watch a
Volvo station wagon come down the street. It swings into the
driveway of the house directly below him and stops next to a
Mustang Hatchback. The back door opens and JENNY HAYDN, a
pretty girl in her mid-twenties, gets out carrying a crudely
lettered be-ribboned sign 'Welcome Back, Mrs. Haydn.' Female
voices drift up to the STAR MAN from inside the car.
VOICES
It was great to have you back... The
kids loved it. We loved it. You're
doing the right thing...
EXT. HOUSE - DAY
JENNY
I hope so... We'll see... See you
tomorrow... Bye. Bye.
VOICE
(as the Volvo backs
out of the driveway)
Remember you're required to have a
lesson planned tomorrow.
Jenny laughs and waves. With the Volvo moving away up the
street Jenny picks her newspaper off her walk and goes into
the house.
EXT. HILLSIDE - DAY
The STAR MAN presses on through the trees. He hears a light
plane overhead. He stops and watches until the branches cut
off his view. A path between two logs leads him to the tip
of a promontory. From behind the cedars growing there, he
sits and looks down on the center of Eau Claire.
Arm in arm, a YOUNG COUPLE meander through the trees. The
boy has a blanket over his shoulder and the girl's hair is
disheveled. Without seeing him, they walk past the STAR MAN
crouched in a thicket of small pines. After they've gone by,
he straightens up and watches them walk down toward the
highway.
EXT. HILLSIDE - LATE AFTERNOON
The sun is setting over suburban Eau Claire. The colors are
reflected in the STAR MAN's faceplate as he watches Jenny
push a hand mower over her back yard.
He takes a dusty gray marble out of a leg pocket and while
Jenny finishes the lawn he rolls it between his gloves. It
turns a glowing gold as it grows in size. When it reaches
the dimensions of a baseball, he brings it close to his
faceplate and speaks into it.
STAR MAN
(subtitles)
Iron channel message. Suit and rockets
destroyed. Radical mixture of this
atmosphere and ours in helmet allowed
chemo-ion response time to adapt my
body to this air. Am going to attempt
extreme transformation in order to
cross land mass to site of our
practice landings. If transformation
is not fatal, second message ball by
next darkness.
He opens his hands and the ball rises quickly into the sky.
Jenny is dumping the grass clippings into a garbage can at
the side of the house when the sudden motion of the message
ball catches her eye and she watches it quizzically until it
disappears.
EXT. WISCONSIN SKIES - LATE AFTERNOON
We are on the belly of Shermin's helicopter looking at the
tree tops rushing underneath.
INT. HELICOPTER - LATE AFTERNOON
Shermin is standing back of Lyman and Bell who are seated in
front of the square of television screens watching various
shots of the wooded landscape flowing by under them. Shermin
scrubs his hands over his face then bends over to stretch
his back.
SHERMIN
Aghh... I'm supposed to umpire a
little league game tomorrow.
LYMAN
I wouldn't worry about it... There
might not be any little league
tomorrow.
Pause.
MAJOR BELL
I'm telling you they're probably
friendly.
LYMAN
Then why did they try and sneak in
the back door? Tell me that. Why
didn't they contact us first and
say...
RADAR TECHNICIAN
(loud)
UFO coming out of the grass.
SHERMIN
Lock in.
RADAR TECHNICIAN
Got it.
Lyman and the technicians tap out orders to their tracking
units and the views of the forest on three of the television
screens change to images from their microwave scanners,
neutron back scatters and doppler radar. On a fourth screen
the forward-looking infrared module begins creating a picture
of the UFO. The men relax as they recognize the configurations
of a light sea plane.
LYMAN
This is crazy. What were we going to
do if that had been the ship? We
have two thirty calibre machine guns,
three M16's and some handguns.
SHERMIN
Give it a rest, Lyman.
MAJOR BELL
(after a pause)
I've never once heard of anybody
being hurt by an extraterrestrial...
Shermin goes hand over hand along the overhead straps to the
radio operator. He begins to flip through a stack of telex
messages.
LYMAN
That's because the ones that were
hurt, died. They couldn't talk to
you.
SHERMIN
(to technician, after
a look at Lyman)
Any reports about monsters, people
in Halloween masks, anything like
that?
TECHNICIAN
No, but there sure were a lot of
people who saw lights in the sky
last night. Reports are still coming
in.
MAJOR BELL
(under above)
I've heard of blood being drawn,
sometimes they were taken for a ride
in the ship, a lot of times they
said they had sex... But nobody was
ever hurt...
LYMAN
But you decided those weren't real.
This one is.
There is a buzz and a red dot appears in the center of one
of the screens.
LYMAN
(over his shoulder to
Shermin)
Fox.
He taps a three digit code and Fox comes into view.
FOX
I've got something for you.
A photograph of a very thin slab of yellow plastic pops up
on a second screen next to Fox. Above lines of glowing colored
dots are symbols of a hydrogen atom, pulsars, a nude man and
a woman and Earth's position in our solar system.
FOX
Recognize this?
MAJOR BELL
It's a copy of the plaque NASA sent
into space on the Pioneer probes.
FOX
Houston found it in the
extraterrestrial's suit.
MAJOR BELL
They must have picked it up in space.
SHERMIN
Then it's not an accident that they
found us.
FOX
We don't think that's necessarily
bad. At least it's a point of contact.
SHERMIN
Not necessarily bad! If they knew we
were here why didn't they let us
know they were coming?
FOX
We'll get those answers when you
find the one you're looking for.
SHERMIN
That's not going to happen, George,
unless you get us the help you
promised us.
FOX
We've been back and forth on this
all day and keeping in mind the panic
that would occur if this got to the
general public, it's been decided
not to expand the search at this
time.
SHERMIN
Don't let them do it this way, George.
It's too important. We can't find
this thing alone.
FOX
You have to. We're trying to contact
the ship. If we do, I'll let you
know immediately. Good luck.
The television screen is reduced to static. Lyman shuts it
off.
RADAR TECHNICIAN
You get the feeling we're expendable?
SHERMIN
We always were.
EXT. HOUSE - NIGHT
We are looking through the living room window at Jenny
watching television while she irons the clothes she plans to
wear to work tomorrow. The STAR MAN stands just outside the
light-fall in the back yard watching her.
A commercial interrupts the old movie with a jolly fat MAN
in a jumpsuit touting his used cars. The two words 'We
have...' are repeated constantly during the pitch. 'We have
automatics... We have sticks... We have colors... We have
financing...' ...
We move in close on the STAR MAN'S faceplate.
STAR MAN
(practicing the human
sound)
Wehave...
(more precise)
Wehave...
(well-formed)
Wehave...
Jenny finishes the skirt, unplugs the iron, picks up the
clothes, shuts off the television, the light and heads
upstairs. Half way up she stops.
JENNY
(faint through the
glass)
Damn!
She turns around and looks down indecisively, then hurries
upstairs. A light goes on in the bedroom. The STAR MAN backs
away to look up at it. He can't see anything. He is on his
way to try and get in the side door when Jenny comes clumping
down the stairs in an old sweatshirt and pulling on a pair
of jeans. She disappears into the kitchen. Without warning
the door ahead of him is swung open and Jenny rushes out.
The STAR MAN barely has time to step into the shadows. Jenny
grabs the handle of one of the garbage cans lined against
the house and drags it down to the street. When she comes
back for the second one we see that the STAR MAN is no longer
in the shadows.
INT. HOUSE - NIGHT
Jenny comes in and locks the door. She passes through the
kitchen and is on her way to the stairs when the STAR MAN
steps out of the darkness in the living room. A scream catches
in Jenny's throat.
STAR MAN
(precise)
Wehave...
Jenny bolts for the front door. At the end of the hallway
her foot catches in a phone cord pulling the phone off an
end table. The receiver is jarred out of its cradle. Jenny
regains her balance and gets to the door ahead of the STAR
MAN. She jerks it open, but the guard chain stops it three
inches from the jamb. Frantically, she tries again but the
chain holds.
The STAR MAN slams the door shut and reaches out to grab
her. She flails back at him. One of her hands strikes the
panel on his chest and the identification light comes on
inside his helmet. At the sight of the STAR MAN, Jenny begins
to scream. He presses her back against the wall and puts a
mittened hand over her mouth.
STAR MAN
Wehave...
Jenny ceases her struggle and begins to cry. The STAR MAN
takes his hand away from her mouth.
JENNY
Please don't hurt me... please...
please.
Holding her with his eyes he grasps one of Jenny's hands and
lifts it up to look at it.
He raises a piece of skin off her wrist, rolls it between
his thumb and forefinger.
Jenny lets out a blood-curdling scream and strikes out at
him. Flashes of light erupt off his exposed chest where she
hits. The ferocity of her attack knocks him aside and she
sprints up the stairs.
The STAR MAN recovers and starts after her.
INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT
Jenny gets there two steps ahead of the STAR MAN. She slams
the door in his face and locks it. With him POUNDING ON THE
OUTSIDE, Jenny throws open the closet and begins rummaging
madly through the side pockets of her jackets and coats.
The POUNDING STOPS. It takes her a moment to hear the silence.
When she does, she whirls toward the door expecting the worst,
but it remains closed. She waits. All she can hear is the
sound of the rain. She intensifies her search.
JENNY
(hysteria creeping
into her voice)
It's got to be here... it's got to
be here...
She finds it in the pocket of a down jacket. The Army issue
.45 looks big in her hand. She releases the safety and, with
a wary eye on the door, reaches for the phone on the night
table next to the bed.
Long before the receiver gets to her ear, she can hear the
"BLEET" caused by the PHONE BEING OFF THE HOOK for so long
in the living room. She hangs up and walks around the bed to
sit on the corner facing the door. In the distance, we can
HEAR the THUMP OF AN APPROACHING HELICOPTER. After a moment's
indecision, Jenny gets up and releases the lock. Again she
waits.
Nothing happens. With the gun ready, she turns the knob and
opens the door a crack. The hallway is empty. She kicks off
her shoes and lets herself out of the bedroom.
INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT
Jenny creeps toward the stairs in her stockinged feet. She
looks in the bathroom. The STAR MAN isn't there. She decides
to go downstairs.
INT. HOUSE - NIGHT
The STAR MAN isn't in the living room. Jenny sidles along
the wall for the front door. At the archway to the den a
hissing sound stops her. She peers around the molding. The
spill from the stairwell light provides the only illumination.
The STAR MAN is sitting on the edge of a chair with his back
to her. He is naked. A dot of light is HISSING around his
head. The shadows in the room make it difficult for Jenny to
tell exactly what is going on.
Pointing the .45 at the STAR MAN, she steps into the room
for a better look. The floor creaks and the STAR MAN turns
to her. Jenny shudders at what she sees. The STAR MAN is
holding an 8x10 color photograph of Jenny and a man in his
mid-twenties standing on a beach in their bathing suits.
The dot of light is copying the man's features onto the STAR
MAN'S translucent head. The top two-thirds of the face is
already done. Everything is perfect, even the eyes. Jenny
begins to tremble and lowers the gun.
JENNY
(in a small voice)
No... please don't...
She sags against the armchair, racked by sobs that are drowned
out by the FLAP OF THE APPROACHING HELICOPTER. The STAR MAN,
with the dot of light stopped on his left cheek, gets up and
takes the gun from her.
He drops it on the couch and raises his eyes to the sound of
the helicopter NOW DIRECTLY OVER THE HOUSE. THROUGH THE
WINDOWS, we can SEE the searchlight scouring the hillside
next to the back yard.
The STAR MAN returns to the picture and resumes his
transformation. He completes the chin, then continues downward
weaving skin and filling in the human characteristics over
the entire body.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. CLEAN ROOM (HOUSTON) - NIGHT
We come down an electrical cord that ends in a micro-phone,
then down further to DR. BERGEN, a tall thin balding man in
his late fifties dressed in the medical equivalent of a
contamination suit.
DR. BERGEN
The creature was hit three times...
Using a laser light indicator Dr. Bergen shows us where.
DR. BERGEN
...the arm, the abdomen and the upper
chest, the one in the chest being
the cause of death. It shattered,
for want of a better term, the
creature's backbone. It's not really,
because it's not jointed. It's simply
a hollow shaft of very pliable
silicate material, as is its entire
endoskeleton. The creature seems to
have tremendous regenerative powers.
Although it must have died within
minutes of receiving the fatal wound,
the arm and abdomen wounds are almost
totally healed and the bullet here...
(indicates with the
light)
has begun to dissolve...
INT. SMALL RECTANGULAR ROOM - NIGHT
Fox, another CIVILIAN and two MEN in uniform are watching
the autopsy on a bank of screens which show Dr. Bergen, the
room and various close-ups of the dead extraterrestrial lying
on a white glass table lit from underneath.
DR. BERGEN
It has veins but no blood. We think,
and this is just speculation, that
some form of energy flows from the
brain, which is much more
sophisticated than ours, throughout
the rest of the body... We don't
think there is any danger of bacterial
contamination. Our biochemistries
are too different...
INT. HELICOPTER - NIGHT
Shermin and his crew are glued to the monitors, watching the
autopsy from Houston.
DR. BERGEN (V.O.)
The flesh is gelatinous, the skin is
very porous and very moist. This is
another guess, but it probably comes
from a planet that receives only
reflected light, perhaps from a ring
of moons. Its atmospheric pressure
is slightly less than ours and it
contains a great deal more water...
FOX (V.O.)
Dr. Bergen, George Fox here in
Washington. Can you give us an idea
of why they're here?
DR. BERGEN (V.O.)
They're so advanced... I... eh...
can't imagine what they would want
from us. I know they could be
dangerous. But they could also be
the greatest thing that ever happened
to mankind...
Shermin and his crew share mixed reactions.
INT. JENNY'S HOUSE - BEDROOM - DAWNBREAK
Jenny, sitting on the floor with her arms wrapped around her
knees, is reflected in a mirror fastened to the back of the
closet door. The STAR MAN edges around the door to look at
himself in the glass. In baggy tan cords, a windbreaker and
a plaid shirt, buttoned all the way to the neck and a button
in the wrong hole halfway down the front, he looks like an
innocent abroad. He notices the shirt is askew across his
chest and, with his new hands, awkwardly resets the buttons.
He looks himself over. His movements resemble a human's but
are noticeably more precise.
The clothes seem right so he leans into the mirror to inspect
his face. He squeezes the skin on his cheeks, examines his
eyes, turns his head as far as he can to inspect the sides
of his face, folds his ears forward to check the skin behind
them and he even gives a good two-fisted tug to his hair to
see if it is on securely.
He turns from the mirror and goes over to where the .45 and
a leg pouch from his life-support suit are lying on the bed
next to a snapshot of the man whose identity he has taken.
In the picture the man is dressed exactly as the STAR MAN is
now. The STAR MAN picks up the gun and the pouch and, speaking
to Jenny in his own language, steps to the door and motions
for her to follow. Jenny consciously ignores him. The STAR
MAN comes over, reaches down and grabs her arm to pull her
to her feet. Jenny squirms back, but he holds her tight. She
looks at the hand, almost touches it, then up at the familiar
yet disturbingly unfamiliar face above her.
STAR MAN
Please...
JENNY
Don't... don't do this... please...
The STAR MAN gets her to her feet and hustles her out of the
room. On the dresser is Jenny's wedding picture. The man the
STAR MAN has become is her husband.
INT. HOUSE - DAWNBREAK
The STAR MAN pulls Jenny down the stairs.
JENNY
(struggles to free
herself)
You're hurting me. Stop.
The STAR MAN guides her into the entryway and reaches for
the front door. Realizing his intentions, Jenny increases
her struggle and manages to pull away.
JENNY
Oh, God, no! I'm not leaving this
house with you. You're going to hurt
me, I know...
The STAR MAN looks intently at her, then opens the front
door. He taps his chest, points to Jenny and motions to the
dawn outside.
JENNY
(through tears)
I can't. I'd like to help. You look
like Scott, but I know you're not. I
don't know what you are. You gotta
understand, I'm afraid of you...
As Jenny backs into the living room, the STAR MAN closes the
door. He raises the gun, examines it quickly, then with his
finger around the trigger, points it at Jenny.
STAR MAN
Please.
JENNY
Why are you doing this to me? I'll
give you whatever...
The STAR MAN swings the muzzle sights across Jenny's body
and FIRES. A FLOOR VASE EXPLODES. Jenny turns to look at the
remains, then back to the STAR MAN.
EXT. JENNY'S HOUSE - DAWNBREAK
The Mustang is backing out of the driveway with Jenny behind
the wheel and the STAR MAN perched nervously on the passenger
seat.
INT. MUSTANG - DAWNBREAK
Wary of what will happen next, the STAR MAN watches Jenny
move the gear selector to the drive position.
The car jerks forward and he grabs the dashboard to keep
from toppling back in the seat.
During the ride up the block, his head swivels from side to
side trying to take in as much of the darkened urban landscape
as he can. When the car stops at a 'stop' sign, he looks at
Jenny questioningly.
STAR MAN
Please...
JENNY
Which way do you want to go?
She motions ahead and he turns to look at an inter-section
with streets running in three directions off of it. His eyes
question Jenny again.
JENNY
You can go that way...
(points left)
That way...
(straight ahead)
That way...
She points right. After another look at Jenny, the STAR MAN
presses the palms of his hands together, concentrates briefly,
then slowly draws them apart. The force field appears between
them. On it the solarized view of the United States rotates
until the red destination dot is on his right. He drops his
hands and points to the right.
STAR MAN
(measured)
That way.
The satel compass continues to hover over the dashboard.
JENNY
(staring incredulously
at the compass)
God, what are you?
She starts her right turn without looking left and fails to
see a little MG approaching from that direction. The WAIL OF
THE AIR HORN startles Jenny and reflexively she slams on the
brakes.
The Mustang stalls and the MG squeals around them. Jenny
checks the STAR MAN. He has pressed himself against the
passenger door. The gun lies on the seat next to him. They
both look at it. The STAR MAN recovers and picks it up.
JENNY
(starting the engine)
I'm sorry...
This time when Jenny puts the car into drive, the STAR MAN
is ready for the acceleration. The car completes the turn
and the compass rotates to its new heading. Looking at it
from this angle, Jenny suddenly recognizes it for what it
is: an aerial view of the United States.
JENNY
That green dot, that's us, isn't
it... and the red's where you want
to go?... You don't understand me,
do you?
The STAR MAN looks at her uncomprehendingly.
JENNY
(to herself)
I gotta get out of here.
EXT. STREET - DAWNBREAK
The Mustang cruises through the industrial section of Eau
Claire.
INT. MUSTANG - DAWNBREAK
The STAR MAN is watching Jenny drive. A set of headlights
rushes TOWARD US in the other lane. Jenny twists around to
follow the car as it goes by and we SEE the desperation on
her face.
When she returns her attention to the road, she sneaks a
glance at the STAR MAN to see if her action has given away
her state of mind. His expression hasn't changed. Jenny takes
a deep breath and lets it out slowly. Uttering a phrase in
his own language, the STAR MAN touches the steering wheel.
JENNY
(startled)
What?
STAR MAN
(thinking the steering
wheel is called
'what," he repeats)
What.
With the same phrase in his language, he points to the 'gear
shift.'
JENNY
(realizing her mistake)
Ah... no...
STAR MAN
(repeats)
Ah no.
He points to the dashboard. Jenny senses there is going to
be a great deal of misunderstanding if she uses more words.
She shakes her head 'no' and touches the steering wheel.
JENNY
(enunciates)
Steering wheel...
STAR MAN
(correcting her)
What.
Jenny shakes her head 'no.'
JENNY
Steering wheel.
STAR MAN
(repeats)
Steering wheel.
JENNY
(points to the gear
shift)
Gear shift.
STAR MAN
Gear shift.
JENNY
(slaps the dashboard)
Dashboard.
STAR MAN
Dashboard.
Jenny sees a police car creeping across the intersection
ahead of her and interrupts the lesson to stare at it. The
STAR MAN looks to where she is looking.
STAR MAN
(alarmed)
What?!
JENNY
Eh... police.
STAR MAN
(remembering)
Police...
He raises the gun off his lap. Jenny tries to distract him.
JENNY
(raps on the steering
wheel)
What?...
With his eyes on the police car the STAR MAN ignores her.
JENNY
Steering wheel...
(she points to the
gear shift)
What?
The STAR MAN is intent on the police car. Jenny gives up
trying to distract him. The patrol car passes out of their
view. The STAR MAN lowers the gun and looks at Jenny.
STAR MAN
(unprompted, points
correctly at each
item)
Steering wheel... gear shift...
dashboard...
JENNY
(this frightens Jenny
even more)
Good.
STAR MAN
Good.
EXT. INTERSECTION - DAWN
We COME DOWN FROM a red light TO FIND the Mustang stopped
behind the limit line.
JENNY (V.O.)
Which way?
STAR MAN (V.O.)
That way.
The light changes and the car proceeds straight across the
intersection.
STAR MAN (V.O.)
Good.
INT. MUSTANG - DAWN
While the STAR MAN picks through the contents of the glove
compartment, Jenny looks for a way to escape. An all-night
laundromat is a possibility, but it's deserted. The STAR MAN
finds the switch on a flash-light and flicks it on and off.
STAR MAN
What?
JENNY
(distant)
Flashlight.
He puts the flashlight in his lap along with the owner's
manual and gas slips and takes a stack of Discount Coupons
out of the glove compartment.
STAR MAN
What?
JENNY
Coupons.
Jenny sees a set of headlights turn into the oncoming lane.
She slides her eyes toward the STAR MAN. He is busy looking
through the Coupons. Jenny measures the distance between the
Mustang and the oncoming lights. The STAR MAN holds up one
of the Coupons and points to a picture of the product.
STAR MAN
What?
JENNY
(curt)
Pancakes.
STAR MAN
Pancakes.
He points to the cluster of letters that spells SAVE 35¢.
STAR MAN
What?
Jenny doesn't answer. The distance between the two vehicles
is narrowing rapidly.
STAR MAN
What?
Jenny sets her jaw and wrenches the steering wheel violently
to the left.
EXT. STREET - DAWN
The Mustang skids sideways across the center line. The
oncoming van jams on its brakes and swerves to its left.
Locked in a skid, it drifts toward the Mustang.
INT. MUSTANG - DAWN
The STAR MAN sucks himself back in terror as the van descends
on him. It swings past his window and clips the rear fender
of the Mustang. Both vehicles shudder to a stop. Jenny claws
at her door. It swings open. She is halfway out before the
STAR MAN manages to grab the tail of her sweatshirt. Jenny
begins to scream at the top of her lungs and keeps it up
while he tries to wrestle her down on the seat.
EXT. STREET - DAWN
A tall, raw-boned MAN in his late twenties storms around the
front of his van.
MAN
You stupid son of a bitch!!
He kicks the Mustang.
JENNY
(screaming)
Help me!!
MAN
You could have killed us both!!
JENNY
(battling to maintain
her grip on the door
frame)
He's kidnapping me!!!
The Man bends down to look at the struggle.
MAN
Jesus Christ!! You crazy people...
JENNY
Call the police!!
MAN
(not sure he wants to
get involved)
Hey buddy... let her go...
The STAR MAN increases his efforts and Jenny loses her grip
on one of the door frames.
JENNY
Help me!!!
MAN
(grabbing her other
arm)
Hey, she doesn't want to go with
you. Come on.
The STAR MAN frees his right hand and blindly searches the
floor for the gun. He comes up with it and, shoving the barrel
in the Man's face, barks a harsh command in his language.
The Man freezes and Jenny stops struggling. It's suddenly
very quiet on the street.
MAN
Oh God, man... don't shoot me... My
mistake... I'm sorry...
JENNY
He doesn't understand... just walk
away...
The STAR MAN claps a hand over her mouth.
MAN
I promise I'm not going to tell
anybody about this... None of my
business... I'm going to move now,
okay...
(takes a step to one
side)
You guys want to fight, that's up to
you...
(takes another step)
I'm leaving now... I won't say a
word...
He keeps his eyes on the STAR MAN until he reaches the back
of the Mustang, steals a quick look at the license plate,
then blots for his van. The STAR MAN takes his hand off
Jenny's mouth and slams her back into her seat. Uttering an
expletive in his language he points the gun in her face and
keeping it there indicates the red dot on the satel compass
floating undisturbed above the dashboard.
STAR MAN
Go.
EXT. STREET - DAWN
The Mustang moves back into the correct lane and continues
on.
INT. MUSTANG - DAWN
JENNY
Could you put the gun down?
The STAR MAN just stares at her. She points to the gun.
JENNY
Gun... Down... Down.
Slowly, he lowers it to his lap.
JENNY
Thank you.
EXT. ABANDONED LOGGING CAMP - EARLY MORNING
Shermin's helicopter is taking on fuel from an Army tanker
truck. The pilot and co-pilot are catching forty winks on
the grass next to the old bunkhouse.
INT. HELICOPTER - EARLY MORNING
Major Bell, bleary-eyed and unshaven, is huddled in front of
the television screens eating a breakfast off a styrofoam
plate. On the top left screen is a satellite picture of
Northern Michigan and half of Wisconsin taken with a Doppler
radar.
On the lower left screen is an infrared view of the same
area. Over both these views is a schematic of the state
boundaries and major cities. On the screens to the right of
these views are blow-ups of smaller sections of the overview.
Lyman and the radar technician are asleep on the floor. Seated
in front of the radio console Shermin is going through the
telex messages. Next to him the radio technician is bent
over the desk with his head in his forearms.
SHERMIN
There's nothing... No reports of
sightings or landings or anything...
in the other parts of the country or
overseas... Seems like a totally
isolated incident.
MAJOR BELL
It was only an accident that we
discovered them.
SHERMIN
I know, but...
Shermin continues on through the messages. Bell asks the
computer to change the pictures on the screens. Rhythmically,
a sequence of images appears and disappears.
SHERMIN
You married, Major?
MAJOR BELL
Twenty-eight years.
SHERMIN
To the same woman?
MAJOR BELL
(smiling)
Yes.
SHERMIN
I tried it once... Fourteen years
ago... 'I was a lousy husband and a
worse father. The only thing I'm
good at is this... At least until
yesterday.
Bell stuffs his breakfast plate into a garbage bag and goes
to get a breath of fresh air in the open doorway. Shermin
stops at a point on the telex sheet. He reads the message to
himself again.
SHERMIN
How would you describe the sounds we
heard coming out of that thing's
helmet?
MAJOR BELL
(after trying to
imitate them)
It was kind of like clicking, maybe
a language wasn't it?
SHERMIN
Listen to this.
(paraphrasing the
telex)
A woman was kidnapped in Eau Claire
this morning. When a citizen went to
her rescue the kidnapper threatened
him with a gun and shouted at him in
a strange 'clicking gibberish'...
MAJOR BELL
It was a man though... right?
SHERMIN
The police think he was high on
drugs...
Bell shrugs.
SHERMIN
What do you think?
EXT. WISCONSIN FOREST - EARLY MORNING
With a rush the helicopter rises out of the trees and thunders
away.
EXT. JENNY'S HOUSE - MORNING
There are Eau Claire police cars on the street. Shermin is
out back watching Bell pick his way down the hill. Through
the windows we see uniformed policemen in the living room.
MAJOR BELL
(slides the last few
feet down the hill)
Nothing up there... The grass is
matted down in a few places, but
that could have been anything.
SHERMIN
It was the husband. The police finally
got a hold of the witness at work
and showed him a picture of the woman.
The man standing next to her in the picture was her husband
and the witness said that was the guy who kidnapped her.
MAJOR BELL
It's the right area, that's for sure.
Throughout the above, Shermin has noticed a WOMAN in the
house next door peeping through her blinds at the activity
around Jenny's. She closes the drapes suddenly when she
realizes Shermin has spotted her.
SHERMIN
Why the clicking language though?
EXT. NEXT-DOOR HOUSE - EARLY MORNING
Shermin knocks and waits on the steps with Bell for someone
to answer. We hear a chain being pulled off and the door is
opened by a freckled-face MAN in his late thirties, dressed
in a business suit and wiping the traces of a breakfast from
around his mouth.
SHERMIN
Sorry to disturb you, sir, but there's
been some trouble next door. I'd
like to ask you a few questions.
MAN
What happened?
SHERMIN
There's a possibility that Mrs.
Haydn's been kidnapped. We're hoping
you might have seen something.
A WOMAN in a robe opens the door a little wider to include
herself in the conversation. She is as freckled as the man
and about the same age.
WOMAN
(to the Man)
I told you...
MAN
Judy, that's stupid.
WOMAN
Well, maybe these men won't think
so. We were asleep when a helicopter
woke me up. It made me so nervous I
went into the kitchen for something
to eat. I happened to look out the
window and there was Scott Haydn
with this green thing draped over
his arm pulling Jenny down the walk
to the car.
MAN
You know that's impossible!
WOMAN
I know what I saw. I've seen him
enough times.
MAN
(giving up on his
wife and addressing
Shermin and Lyman)
Scott Haydn is dead. He died about
three months ago. We went to the
funeral.
Shermin and Bell exchange a glance.
EXT. INTERSTATE - DAY
Jenny's Mustang is sailing through the beautiful Wisconsin
farmland.
STAR MAN (V.O.)
R-r-S-s...
INT. MUSTANG - DAY
The STAR MAN is copying the letters, upper and lower case,
from the Owner's Manual he found in the glove compartment,
onto the back of an envelope.
STAR MAN
T-t-U...
He draws the upper case but has to check the manual for the
lower case.
STAR MAN
u-V-v...
The STAR MAN looks up as they go by a farm.
STAR MAN
(pointing correctly
to the various animals)
Cow... Dog... Pig...
He looks to Jenny for confirmation. She nods absently. He
returns to the alphabet.
STAR MAN
W-w...
He forms both the upper and lower case 'X-x' and shows them
to Jenny.
STAR MAN
What?
JENNY
(knows what's coming)
X...
Without smiling the STAR MAN opens his mouth and emits a
short chirping laugh.
JENNY
What's so funny about X?
The STAR MAN laughs harder. Jenny watches him warily. He
starts to hiccup. He is unable to control it through the
laughter.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. SMALL RECTANGULAR ROOM - DAY
Shermin's image waits on the television screen. He is gaunt,
tired and visibly shaken. The picture sizzles and breaks up
intermittently. Fox and the three men who watched the autopsy
stride quickly into the room.
SHERMIN (V.O.)
(his voice quavering)
George, we've just confirmed the
existence of the live
extraterrestrial.
FOX
(after a beat)
When can we expect containment?
SHERMIN (V.O.)
Well, we're in pursuit of a green
Mustang...
FOX
(very controlled)
It's in a green Mustang?
SHERMIN (V.O.)
Yes. It's kidnapped a woman at
gunpoint and from what we can make
out is forcing her to drive it
somewhere.
MILITARY MAN
(to the room)
This one has a weapon.
SHERMIN (V.O.)
No, no... A .45, it probably got it
in the woman's house. They were last
seen in downtown Eau Claire...
FOX
Why did you let it get into a
populated area?
SHERMIN (V.O.)
It's taken on a disguise.
FOX
Clarify that.
SHERMIN (V.O.)
It's made itself look like the woman's
dead husband.
Static breaks up the t.v. picture. When it returns, Fox leans
toward the screen.
FOX
Repeat the last item.
Almost reluctantly Shermin holds up Scott Haydn's picture.
SHERMIN (V.O.)
The extraterrestrial now looks like
this.
FOX
(softly)
Oh shit!!!
EXT. INTERSTATE - AFTERNOON
Jenny's Mustang moves along through the traffic.
INT. MUSTANG - AFTERNOON
We are CLOSE ON the back of a ten-dollar bill.
STAR MAN (O.S.)
(reading slowly)
The United States of America. In God
We Trust. Ten dollars.
We pull back as he holds the ten up to Jenny.
JENNY
Money.
STAR MAN
Money.
He holds up a quarter.
JENNY
Money.
Confused, the STAR MAN puts the money back into Jenny's wallet
and reads the first card through its plastic window.
STAR MAN
Mi-chi-gan driver li-see-ens...
Jennyhaydn... Money?
JENNY
(shaking her head
'no,' exhausted)
We're going to have to stop for gas
soon.
Under the license is a picture of Jenny smiling broadly. The
STAR MAN looks at Jenny, back at the picture, then imitates
the smile for Jenny.
STAR MAN
What?
JENNY
Smile.
STAR MAN
Smile... good?
JENNY
Yes.
He practices curling the corners of his mouth up into a smile.
One of them freezes as the Interstate curves and a glistening
skyline backlit by the afternoon sun comes into view across
a river.
STAR MAN
(impressed)
What?!
JENNY
Minneapolis.
STAR MAN
(reaching into the
leg pouch he took
from his life-support
suit)
Minneapolis... Minneapolis...
JENNY
What are you doing?
He takes out his camera.
JENNY
...What's that?
He points the white disc at Minneapolis. With a 'POP,' a
cone of light flashes out. It sucks back, almost instantly,
bringing with it a three-dimensional image of the skyline.
STAR MAN
Minneapolis... good.
JENNY
You're full of tricks, aren't you?
The car starts across the twin cities' bridge.
JENNY
(taps the fuel gauge)
We need gas.
The STAR MAN looks at the gauge. Jenny scrunches against the
door to avoid contact with him.
JENNY
No gas.
STAR MAN
No gas.
JENNY
This car runs on gas.
She presses the accelerator to the floor. The car jumps
forward.
JENNY
Gas...
She takes her foot off the accelerator and the car quickly
slows down.
JENNY
No gas.
EXT. BRIDGE - AFTERNOON
JENNY
(V.O.)
Gas.
The Mustang spurts forward a few yards.
JENNY
(V.O.)
No gas.
It staggers down to a crawl.
JENNY
(V.O.)
Gas.
The car leaps forward again.
JENNY
(V.O.)
No gas.
It drops back to a crawl.
INT. MUSTANG - AFTERNOON
JENNY
No gas... car dead.
(her head lolls forward
on her chest)
We need gas. I don't want to get
shot for running out of gas.
STAR MAN
Gas good?
JENNY
Yes. Very good.
INT. MUSTANG - AFTERNOON
We are LOOKING DOWN Jenny's arm AT a gas station just off
Interstate 169 in the Minneapolis suburbs.
JENNY
Gas...
The STAR MAN contemplates the station as they pass it, then
turns to Jenny, puzzled:
STAR MAN
Go.
JENNY
It's closed... closed. We need one
that's open.
STAR MAN
Closed?
JENNY
You'll see.
There are no more gas stations in sight. The STAR MAN becomes
bored with the silence. He picks up Jenny's wallet. The
driver's license is familiar so he flips to the next window.
In it is a picture of an older man and woman standing in
front of a church.
STAR MAN
What?
JENNY
(snaps)
Not what. Who. What is for things.
(touching the steering
wheel, dashboard,
seat, gear shift)
What? What? What? What? For people
you use who. Who is he?
(points to the man in
the picture)
Who is she?
(points to the woman)
Who are you?
(points to the STAR
MAN)
Who am I?
She touches her chest.
STAR MAN
(mirrors her gestures)
Who is he? Who is she? Who are you?
Who am I?
(pause; it clicks for
him and he points at
Jenny)
Who are you?
JENNY
I am Jenny Haydn.
STAR MAN
(flips back to her
license and reads)
Jennyhaydn.
Jenny nods.
JENNY
Who are you?
STAR MAN
I am...
We HEAR MODULATED CLICKS of his percussive LANGUAGE.
JENNY
That's a big help. Where are you
from?
STAR MAN
From?
JENNY
(leans forward and
points through the
windshield at the
sky)
Are you from up there? Space?
STAR MAN
(leans forward to
look with her)
Space?
JENNY
Up there... I... eh... can't
explain...
(leans back)
But that's the only place you could
be from.
The STAR MAN spots a station on the other side of the
Interstate.
STAR MAN
Gas.
JENNY
(shakes her head 'no')
Closed.
He taps the fuel gauge which has dipped below empty.
STAR MAN
No gas.
JENNY
I know.
They both scan the horizon for a gas station. When one doesn't
come up immediately, the STAR MAN flips to the next picture
in the wallet. It is of the man he has become. He is leaning
against a fire truck, in uniform.
STAR MAN
Who?
JENNY
My... husband.
STAR MAN
I am husband?
JENNY
No. I don't know what you are, but
you're not Scott.
Silence. The STAR MAN catches her mood. A tear rolls down
Jenny's cheek.
JENNY
(brushes it away
angrily)
Shit.
STAR MAN
Shit?
JENNY
No, no... don't say that. Bad word.
STAR MAN
(likes the sound of
it)
Shit... shit... what shit?
JENNY
(screams)
Stop!! Enough!! Jesus! You're worse
than a parrot!!
Like closing a zipper, she slides her fingers across her
mouth.
JENNY
Mouth closed... closed.
The STAR MAN does as he is told. He doesn't like it, but he
does it. With his lips puckered, he looks straight down the
road. The car rises out of a gulley. Topping a knoll straight
ahead is a gas station with an enormous Exxon sign revolving
above it. With his lips firmly pressed together, he tugs
Jenny's sleeve and points.
JENNY
I see it.
The STAR MAN reaches forward and squeezes the satel compass
back into his palms.
EXT. GAS STATION - AFTERNOON
The Mustang comes up the off-ramp toward the pumps.
INT. MUSTANG - AFTERNOON
The STAR MAN'S hand closes around the butt of the .45 when
he sees the ATTENDANT step out of the office.
STAR MAN
Who?
JENNY
Attendant. He'll give us gas. Put
the gun down. Under the seat. Under
the seat...
STAR MAN
No.
JENNY
Oh God! You're going to get us both
killed. Okay... in your pocket...
She shoves her hand into the pocket of her slacks showing
him what to do.
JENNY
In your pocket... pocket...
Jenny eases in next to the pumps and stops. The Attendant is
already coming around the front of the car.
JENNY
In your pocket, please...
STAR MAN
(draws his fingers
over his lips)
You. Mouth closed.
JENNY
Okay.
The STAR MAN stuffs the gun into the left pocket of his baggy
cords just as the Attendant arrives at the driver's door.
ATTENDANT
Morning, folks. Fill her up?
The STAR MAN looks at Jenny for help. She sweeps her fingers
across her mouth to indicate her lips are sealed. The STAR
MAN peeks around her at the Attendant.
STAR MAN
(overly loud)
...Gas...
ATTENDANT
You got it.
He leaves the window. The STAR MAN watches him until the
nozzle is in the Mustang, then pleased with himself, turns
to Jenny and lifts his face into a 'smile.'
JENNY
I'm going to the ladies' room. You
stay here.
EXT. GAS STATION - AFTERNOON
Jenny gets out of the car. When she straightens up, she finds
the STAR MAN staring at her over the roof. She slams the
door and strides rapidly in the direction of the ladies'
room. Stuffing the green pouch in his pocket, the STAR MAN
trots after her.
JENNY
(wheels on him as he
catches up)
Go back to the car.
The STAR MAN looks at her but doesn't move. Jenny snarls in
frustration, then with the STAR MAN on her heels, stalks to
the ladies' room and throws open the door.
INT. LADIES' ROOM - AFTERNOON
The STAR MAN follows Jenny inside.
JENNY
See. It's a bathroom. I'm not trying
to escape. I just have to go to the
bathroom.
He checks out the stall.
JENNY
Satisfied? Now get out. Out.
STAR MAN
No.
Furious, Jenny steps around him and opens the door. She points
to the sign on it.
JENNY
Women... me.
She continues out. The STAR MAN goes after her.
EXT. RESTROOMS - AFTERNOON
Jenny points to the sign on the next door.
JENNY
Men. You go in here.
She cracks the door for him.
JENNY
Come on.
He takes the door from her and pushes it open for a look
inside. Jenny ducks into the ladies' room. He is confused
for a moment then takes a long look at the men's room. It
means nothing to him. He backs out and tries the ladies'
room. It is locked. Not knowing what to do, the STAR MAN
stands uncomfortably in front of the door, then like a child
waiting for his mother, he sits on the curb. He watches the
Attendant lift the Mustang's hood and reach in for the
dipstick. The numbers on the pumps turn over, adding up the
gallons and the cost of the gas.
Everything is peaceful and quiet within the circle of light
cast by the gas station. The STAR MAN pulls the camera disc
out of his pocket and points it at the pumps. The cone of
light flashes out and pulls back its three-dimensional image.
The Attendant turns around and waves genially at the STAR
MAN, who waves back a perfect imitation of the gesture.
The SHARP RUMBLE of a SOUPED-UP HONDA MOTORCYCLE coming up
the off-ramp shatters the mood and the STAR MAN gets to his
feet.
He is startled by the image of the RIDER. In a one piece
driving skin and helmet he looks amazingly like a space
traveller. The STAR MAN steps cautiously forward for a better
look and mutters something to himself in his language. The
rider stops his bike at the second row of pumps and swings
himself stiffly out of the seat.
RIDER
Do I need a key for the head?
ATTENDANT
It's open.
Without taking off his helmet, the Rider sets out for the
men's room.
RIDER
(over his shoulder)
Fill it up.
ATTENDANT
You got it.
The rider's approach frightens the STAR MAN. He backs up to
the ladies' room door and knocks. There is no answer. He
tries the knob. With the other hand he inches the gun slightly
out of his pocket.
INT. LADIES' ROOM - AFTERNOON
Jenny is bent over the sink dabbing nail polish around the
corners of a paper towel. Her head snaps around to look at
the doorknob. It holds.
JENNY
Just a minute.
EXT. RESTROOMS - AFTERNOON
The STAR MAN tenses and forces a smile as the Rider passes
in front of him. A VOICE comes from behind the faceplate.
RIDER
Howdy... can't get her out.
STAR MAN
(thru the smile)
Gas.
RIDER
I know how she feels.
The rider enters the men's room. As the door closes behind
him, the STAR MAN's face falls and he knocks frantically on
the ladies' room door. Jenny opens it under his knuckles. He
blocks the doorway and she backs up as he steps inside.
INT. LADIES' ROOM - AFTERNOON
The STAR MAN looks around. Jenny's eyes widen at what is
happening behind him. The pneumatic arm above the door is
pulling it shut to reveal her paper towel pasted to the back.
The message on it, written in red lipstick, reads: KIDNAPPED
GOING W ON 169 JADE MUS. LIC#PXV237.
JENNY
(stepping around him)
It's still a toilet. Hasn't become a
ballroom.
She tries to swing the door open and hide her message against
the wall, but she is too slow. The STAR MAN sees it and steps
forward to read.
STAR MAN
Kid-nap-ped... go-ing W o-n...
Jenny realizes he doesn't know what it means.
JENNY
(on her way out)
That's very good.
Other graffiti on the door helps convince the STAR MAN Jenny's
message has nothing to do with him and after a last look at
it, he follows her.
EXT. GAS STATION - AFTERNOON
A CAN of Coke CLATTERS DOWN the chute of a drink dispenser.
Jenny picks it up and, with the STAR MAN hovering at her
shoulder, moves on to the candy machine. He watches a quarter
disappear into the slot and when Jenny picks another one out
of her purse, he points to it.
STAR MAN
Money.
JENNY
Yes.
She inserts the quarter and makes her selection. A Reese's
Peanut Butter Cup drops from its position into the pickup
bin.
STAR MAN
What?
JENNY
Candy.
Using the change from this and another quarter, she selects
an Almond Joy.
STAR MAN
(as it tumbles into
the bin)
Money... candy.
ATTENDANT
(to the STAR MAN)
That'll be fifteen fifty, sir.
JENNY
Here.
She hands him a twenty.
ATTENDANT
Thank you.
He goes to make change.
STAR MAN
(to himself)
Thank you.
Jenny pops the top on the Coke can and on the way to the car
takes a sip.
STAR MAN
What is...
(reads off the can)
...Coke?
JENNY
A drink.
STAR MAN
(holds his hand out
for it)
I...
JENNY
You want to try it?
STAR MAN
I want to try it.
JENNY
This stuff could kill...
(changes her mind and
smiles)
Be my guest.
The STAR MAN fills his mouth, swirls it around and swallows.
STAR MAN
(after a loud burp)
Good.
He hands the can back to Jenny. She looks at it and knows
there are alien bacteria there her body would not like to
meet.
JENNY
Eh... you keep it. I've had enough.
The STAR MAN takes another drink. He stops dead when he lowers
the can. Jenny continues for a few steps before she realizes
he isn't with her. She looks back over her shoulder. Her
eyes go immediately to where he is looking. The license plate
PXV 237 hangs like an accusation on the front bumper of the
Mustang. Jenny decides to brazen it out.
JENNY
What's the matter?
STAR MAN
(throws the can to
the ground)
Shit!
INT. MUSTANG - AFTERNOON
Jenny and the STAR MAN ride along in tight-lipped silence.
STAR MAN
What is kidnapped?
Jenny ignores him.
STAR MAN
(yells)
Kidnapped!!!
She flinches but remains silent. The STAR MAN snatches the
paper towel off his lap and flaps it in her face, jabbing at
the word violently with a forefinger.
STAR MAN
Kidnapped!!! What is kidnapped?!!
Jenny can't take it anymore and screams back at him through
tears.
JENNY
Kidnapped is what you're doing to me
now!!! Kidnapped is pointing a gun
at me and taking me from my house!
Kidnapped is changing yourself into
my husband. I don't know what you
are and I don't care. I just want to
get away from you!
Jenny's outburst rocks the STAR MAN back into silence. He
waits for her to calm down, then slowly takes the gun out of
his pocket.
STAR MAN
Jennyhaydn.
She doesn't dare look at him.
STAR MAN
I am good.
(and he slides the
.45 under his seat)
EXT. INTERSTATE - NIGHT
Jenny speeds up to pass a truckload of horses.
STAR MAN
What is that?
She doesn't answer. The car passes the truck. The highway
before them is empty.
JENNY
(finally)
Horses.
STAR MAN
(without looking at
her)
Horses.
Jenny TURNS ON the RADIO and finds a COUNTRY AND WESTERN
STATION.
STAR MAN
What?
JENNY
Music.
It is pleasing to him and he listens for a while, then reaches
in his pouch and takes out one of the dusty gray marbles. He
rolls it between his palms. It changes to a glowing gold as
it grows to the size of a baseball.
JENNY
(alarmed)
What are you doing?!
The STAR MAN brings the globe close to his mouth and speaks
into it.
STAR MAN
(subtitles)
Iron channel message. Transmute was
successful. Have captured one of
them. It is taking me to the pick-up
point in a land vehicle.
(eyeing Jenny)
I think I can control it by mastering
its language, which is primitive and
easy to learn. Will arrive on time.
Wait for me.
The STAR MAN opens his hands and, to Jenny's astonishment,
the ball rises quickly and seeps through her roof without
leaving a trace.
EXT. INTERSTATE - NIGHT
The Mustang swerves violently, then straightens itself as
the ball comes through the roof and surges into the sky.
EXT. SKY - NIGHT
Unexpectedly, Shermin's helicopter storms into view. It is
so close we can count the rivets. As it clears, we go to:
INT. HELICOPTER - NIGHT
The flow of traffic on the Interstate below is being fed
into the six television screens from infrared cameras on the
belly of the craft. The image on the screen under the master
begins to move and ends in a close-up of a green Mustang.
It's not Jenny's. With a buzz the red dot appears and Fox's
face interrupts the view of the Mustang.
FOX (V.O.)
I just came from a meeting with the
Security Council and
(the picture breaks
up, but the voice
continues)
in view of the extraterrestrial's
radical change and the fact that all
our efforts
(the picture re-
assembles)
to contact its ship remain unanswered,
it was decided to issue a ten state
'all points bulletin' for Scott Haydn,
Jenny Haydn and the green Mustang.
The officers have been instructed
not to approach the people or the
vehicle but to contact you. You will
then move in and contain the subjects.
Shermin rubs his hands over his face while he digests this.
SHERMIN
(sorting it out)
You sure you want this, because...
that's putting an awful lot of faith
in people we have no control over...
FOX (V.O.)
I'm afraid the situation demands
that kind of risk.
SHERMIN
I don't like it, George...
FOX (V.O.)
Dammit Shermin. Earlier you were
asking for help. What's changed?
SHERMIN
It's messy... the thing's got a gun...
We're just asking for somebody to
get killed...
FOX (V.O.)
We don't know what else to do. We
need results.
SHERMIN
(accepting)
You'll get results one way or the
other, that's for sure... Okay.
FOX (V.O.)
I'm gonna be here if you need
anything.
His image is replaced by one of the highway.
MAJOR BELL
They're gonna let some local cop
blow him away.
LYMAN
Save us all a lot of trouble.
MAJOR BELL
Jesus Lyman, you're an ignorant fool.
LYMAN
Bullshit!
MAJOR BELL
You have no conception of this, do
you?
LYMAN
You jerk! You look at all the
sweetness and light and goodness you
think'll come out of this. You know
what's gonna come out of this... The
end of religion, the end of
civilization, the end of the earth.
We could become slaves, we could
become a colony of these things.
Don't you see that? Are you too stupid
to see that?
SHERMIN
Are you ladies through?...
Bell and Lyman look at their feet.
SHERMIN
Good... It looks like we might be
the welcoming committee, so I think
we should try and figure out what
we're gonna do if we have to come
face to face with this creature.
LYMAN
Bell wants us to get down on our
knees and bow.
SHERMIN
(to Bell)
Did your people have any contingencies
rehearsed?
MAJOR BELL
No... I guess we never thought it
would happen.
It's Shermin's turn to look at his feet.
SHERMIN
Terrific.
On one of the screens behind him the camera has picked up a
lighted billboard advertising 'Kellogg's Corn Flakes' with
its slogan 'HAVE A GREAT DAY.'
EXT. HIGHWAY - EARLY MORNING
Jenny's Mustang is barreling along well over the speed limit.
As it PASSES US, we PAN WITH it TO a sign: SLOW FOR
INTERSECTION.
EXT. INTERSECTION - EARLY MORNING
A truckload of corn is hurtling down ON US from the north.
An empty semi is rumbling up from the south. The light is in
their favor.
INT. MUSTANG - EARLY MORNING
The STAR MAN is driving. It is obvious that he doesn't see
the red light facing him. But Jenny does. And she also sees
the trucks closing in from either side.
JENNY
(loud)
Red light!
The STAR MAN doesn't see it, doesn't believe her, doesn't
slow down.
JENNY
(screams)
Stop!!!
EXT. INTERSECTION - EARLY MORNING
It is as if all three vehicles have heard Jenny. They slam
on their brakes at the same time and begin to skid toward
each other. It's going to be close.
INT. MUSTANG - EARLY MORNING
The prows of the trucks loom over Jenny and the STAR MAN
and, for a fleeting instant, it looks like they will join
the bugs imbedded in the radiators.
EXT. INTERSECTION - EARLY MORNING
The Mustang barely squeaks through and the trucks slam into
each other behind it, spilling corn all over the highway.
INT. MUSTANG - EARLY MORNING
It finally comes to a stop on the center line.
JENNY
That was a red light!! I told you
you have to stop at a red light!!
STAR MAN
(sheepish)
It was yellow.
JENNY
You didn't even see it.
The STAR MAN looks back for the traffic light. It is hanging
from a pole in the middle of the road. Under it the truck
DRIVERS are climbing out of the cabs.
STAR MAN
I will see it next time.
JENNY
You better.
The STAR MAN angles back into his lane and begins to pick up
speed.
EXT. SIOUX FALLS - SOUTH DAKOTA - DAY
Deftly, the STAR MAN moves in and out of the afternoon
traffic. A bus coming in the other direction hits a pothole
filled with water and the SPLASH covers the Mustang.
INT. MUSTANG - DAY
Jenny watches the STAR MAN calmly turn on the wipers and the
washer and clean the windshield. The light above the
intersection ahead turns red and, even though he is still
fiddling with the wipers, the STAR MAN manages a smooth stop
back of the crosswalk.
JENNY
(indicating the red
dot on the satel
compass)
Why are you going here? What is here?
STAR MAN
My...
(searches for word)
...car will take me...
(pokes finger toward
sky)
...up there... home.
The light changes and the STAR MAN continues down the street.
JENNY
(at the red dot again)
When do you have to be here?
STAR MAN
I do not understand.
JENNY
(rubs her temples and
laments to herself)
How will I do this one?...
The answer is hovering above the city in front of them.
JENNY
(pointing to the sun)
Sun...
STAR MAN
Yes.
JENNY
Sun... day. No sun... night. You
understand?
STAR MAN
Yes. Day... night.
JENNY
How many days and nights do you have
to go...
(prods the red dot)
...here?
STAR MAN
Three nights... two days.
JENNY
That's not much time. I'll just slow
you down. I have to sleep. I'm very
tired. And I have to wash and eat.
You don't...
STAR MAN
I need you.
JENNY
I won't tell anybody if that's what
you're worried about. I promise.
You'll keep...
STAR MAN
No.
JENNY
You'll keep the car. I'll take a
bus...
(an awful possibility
occurs to her)
Am I going up there with you... in
your ship... up there?
STAR MAN
No.
JENNY
Then let me go. You don't need me.
STAR MAN
No.
JENNY
I feel like I'm going crazy here.
You're Scott. But he's dead. I don't
know what's real anymore. I can't be
here with you.
The STAR MAN is unyielding.
JENNY
Do you understand what I'm saying to
you? You can keep the car.
(she hands him some
money)
That should be enough for gas from
here to there. Please let me go.
STAR MAN
(taps the red dot on
the satel compass)
When we get here.
Jenny slams herself angrily back in the seat.
JENNY
You bastard.
Her upper lip trembles and, in spite of herself, she might
cry. The STAR MAN sees the center lane is open. He checks
his side mirror and drifts over, only to be caught by a light.
The car is still rolling when Jenny makes her move. She throws
open the door and, by the time the STAR MAN turns around,
she is out and running.
STAR MAN
Jennyhaydn!
He takes his foot off the brake to go after her and the car
lurches into the cross traffic. He clambers back behind the
wheel, regains control and cuts a hard right in front of the
other car waiting at the light.
EXT. STREET - SIOUX FALLS - DAY
Over her shoulder, Jenny can see the Mustang coming. She
dodges up a brick walkway toward a J.C. Penney shopping mall.
The Mustang skids to a stop at the curb. The STAR MAN jumps
out in time to see Jenny push her way past a stream of
pedestrian traffic and enter the mall. He leaves the car and
zigzags through the people in that direction.
INT. SHOPPING MALL - DAY
As he barges in, the STAR MAN accidentally knocks a cup of
Coke out of a YOUNG MAN's hand.
YOUNG MAN
Hey!!
In a panic to find Jenny, he continues jostling past people
to look in the shops that border the atrium.
MEZZANINE
Jenny warily approaches the railing and peers over. Below
her the STAR MAN comes out of a record store. She turns away
and gets on the escalator to the second floor.
ON THE GROUND FLOOR
The STAR MAN thinks he sees Jenny in an electronics store,
but when the girl turns around, it is obviously not her.
Backing out of there, he knocks over a sandwich board
advertising a restaurant. The LOUD THWACK it makes when it
hits the cement turns faces in his direction.
Jenny's is not among them. His eyes raise to the mezzanine.
Maybe she's there. He looks wildly around for a way up. He
spots the escalator and, trying to keep the upper floor in
view while he runs for it, he slams into an unattended pram.
It begins to tip over. The BABY INSIDE SCREAMS. The STAR MAN
manages to snatch it out of the carriage before it hits the
floor. He is looking for a place to put it when the MOTHER
comes charging out of a plant store.
MOTHER
My baby!!! He's stealing my baby!
Burt!!
The STAR MAN holds the baby out to her.
She grabs it out of his hands and he turns to leave.
MOTHER
Burt!! Somebody stop him!! He was
stealing my baby!!
Two tough-looking MEN in T-shirts step in to block the STAR
MAN's way to the escalator.
MAN
Where you think you're going?
Not understanding, the STAR MAN tries to get by them. They
push him back.
STAR MAN
Please.
A tall, skinny blond man with spectacles elbows his way to
the Mother.
MOTHER
He was trying to steal Gloria.
Two steps and Burt is on the STAR MAN. He spins him around.
BURT
Is that right? Huh?
He throws him back against the crowd that has gathered.
STAR MAN
(stutters)
Please.
Burt pulls the STAR MAN up by his shirt front and shakes
him.
BURT
Is that right? Come on. Answer me.
Fear erases the STAR MAN's tenuous grasp of English and he
begins to jabber in his own language. This makes Burt even
madder.
BURT
Were you trying to steal my baby?
Huh? Answer me!
STAR MAN
Jennyhaydn!
SECOND FLOOR
Jenny has just gotten on the escalator to the third floor
when she hears her name. She knows she shouldn't but she
gets off and joins the crowd at the railing. From there, she
can see the STAR MAN trapped in a circle of people. He clubs
Burt away from him and tries to thrash his way out of the
mob.
STAR MAN
Jennyhaydn!
One of the T-shirts throws him back and Burt begins to punch
him. We MOVE IN UNTIL we are CLOSE ON Jenny's face.
GROUND FLOOR
Some of the onlookers have joined Burt in his attempt to
bring the STAR MAN down. Growling in his own language, the
STAR MAN fights back as best he can. The sleeve of his
windbreaker is torn. One of the T-shirts lands a blow on his
right shoulder that turns the STAR MAN around. He takes a
blow on the chest. Another in the kidneys. Burt gets a grip
on the STAR MAN's left wrist and holds on. The attackers
close in. Jenny's voice cuts through the din.
JENNY (O.S.)
Stop it!!! Stop it!!!
She barges into the fray and starts peeling the men away
from the STAR MAN.
JENNY
Get away from him!! Leave him alone!!
You stupid jerks!! He's retarded!!
Can't you see that?!! Get away from
him!!
The men do. Jenny pushes the sleeve of the torn wind-breaker
back up on the STAR MAN's shoulder.
MOTHER
He was stealing my baby...
JENNY
You're wrong!! He would never do
anything like that!!
(takes STAR MAN's
hand)
Let's go...
MOTHER
He had Gloria in his hands!
JENNY
He's retarded! I shouldn't have left
him alone!
She starts to push out of the circle. Burt steps in to block
her.
JENNY
(hisses)
Get out of my way.
She stares at him until he does, then leads the STAR MAN
down the path that opens for them in the crowd. They pass a
MALL GUARD who has just arrived.
EXT. STREET - SIOUX FALLS - DAY
JENNY
Are you okay?
Still shaken, the STAR MAN nods. Jenny realizes that it is
comforting to him to have his hand in hers and she leads him
like a child down the sidewalk to the Mustang.
STAR MAN
(as Jenny puts him in
the passenger seat)
Thank you.
The Mall Guard follows them down the walk-way and watches
them drive off. He scribbles the license number in his
notebook.
INT. GREYHOUND BUS STATION - SIOUX FALLS - DAY
At the counter Jenny puts her Visa card back into her wallet
while the CLERK staples the pages of a ticket into a travel
folder.
CLERK
(handing it to her)
Gate three. It's boarding now.
JENNY
Thank you.
CLERK
Have a nice trip.
We FOLLOW Jenny THROUGH the people milling around the benches
in the waiting area TO the STAR MAN seated in an open-faced
coffee shop. He is watching a MOTHER feed her baby in the
booth across from him. A map of the United States is spread
out on the formica. Jenny plunks herself down catty-cornered
from him. The tear in his sleeve has been closed with safety
pins.
JENNY
The closest I was able to get you
was Lathrop Wells...
STAR MAN
(pointing to baby)
Is that a baby?
JENNY
Yes.
STAR MAN
A baby is a new person?
JENNY
Eh... yes...
STAR MAN
Do you have a baby?
JENNY
No... The closest...
STAR MAN
Why?
JENNY
I'd love to have a baby. But I
can't...
STAR MAN
Why?
JENNY
I can't... Forget the baby. Okay?
The closest I was able to get you
was Lathrop Wells. You'll have to
hitchhike the rest of the way.
The STAR MAN looks at the map. Lathrop Wells is a small town
north of Las Vegas on Highway 95. From there he runs his
finger to a spot in the Funeral Range of Death Valley.
STAR MAN
But I must go here.
JENNY
I know that. But the buses don't go
there.
STAR MAN
(suspicious)
What is hitchhike?
JENNY
That's easy. I'll explain that in a
minute. This is your ticket. When
you get on the bus here, the driver
will take this part. You will ride
to Omaha. When you get to Omaha, ask
the driver. 'Salt Lake City, please.
I do not speak English.'
The STAR MAN nods that he understands.
JENNY
Say it.
STAR MAN
'Salt Lake City, please. I do not
speak English.'
JENNY
The driver will...
STAR MAN
But I speak English.
JENNY
Will you please do it my way? You'll
get into trouble if you don't. If
anybody talks to you, tell them... I
do not speak English.
STAR MAN
(indignant)
I do not speak English.
JENNY
Right. In Omaha the driver will put
you on the bus for Salt Lake City
and the new driver will take...
(bends back second
portion of ticket)
...this part. When you get to Salt
Lake City, ask the driver, 'Las Vegas,
please'...
STAR MAN
(impatient)
'Las Vegas, please. I do not speak
English.' What is hitchhike?
JENNY
You want this ticket?
STAR MAN
Yes.
JENNY
Then don't be smart.
P.A. SYSTEM (V.O.)
Last call for bus 33 to Vermillion,
Sioux City and Omaha... loading at
Gate 3.
JENNY
That's your bus.
(picks up the map and
folds it)
When you get to Las Vegas, ask the
driver. 'Lathrop Wells, please. I do
not speak English.'
STAR MAN
(falling into step
next to her)
'Lathrop Wells, please. I do not
speak English.'
JENNY
(hands him the map)
You keep this. Now this is hitch-
hike...
(stops in the middle
of the waiting area
to illustrate)
You stand on the side of the road,
the highway... you understand? And
you face the cars going in the
direction you want to go. When you
see a car or a truck coming, you
stick out your thumb like this...
Jenny takes a few sweeps at an imaginary highway with her
thumb. The stares this pantomime draws make the STAR MAN
more nervous about the bus trip than he already is.
JENNY
Your thumb tells the driver that you
want a ride.
STAR MAN
The car will stop?
JENNY
(continuing toward
the loading platform)
Not every car, but... a car will
stop... Maybe not the first car...
maybe number eight, number fifteen...
The STAR MAN stops.
STAR MAN
When do I get to Lathrop Wells?
JENNY
Tomorrow morning. Start hitch-hiking
right away and...
Jenny pushes open a glass door to:
EXT. LOADING PLATFORM - DAY
JENNY
...you'll have plenty of time to get
to where you want to go.
The STAR MAN hangs back when he sees the security guards.
JENNY
Don't worry. They're not going to
hurt you. Come on.
(gives him ticket)
Only show this to the driver. Nobody
else. And don't lose it.
STAR MAN
Can I have the gun?
JENNY
No.
She maneuvers him into the end of the line.
JENNY
You might need this.
She takes some of the paper money out of her wallet and stuffs
it in his pocket.
JENNY
Don't be afraid. Do what I told you
and you'll be okay.
STAR MAN
(nervous)
Yes.
The line moves forward a step.
JENNY
Well... I'm going to go now.
STAR MAN
Go?
JENNY
Yes. I have a long ride ahead of
me...
(takes his hand)
Goodbye.
STAR MAN
Goodbye.
He watches her walk away.
STAR MAN
Jennyhaydn.
JENNY
Yes?
STAR MAN
Please stay.
Jenny comes back and takes his hand.
JENNY
I'll stay till you get on the bus.
A family of four climbs aboard and the line moves up. The
STAR MAN is alert to everything happening on the platform.
Jenny sneaks him an affectionate look. No one in front of
him has baggage to check and they move quickly past the DRIVER
until the STAR MAN is next in line.
DRIVER
Ticket?
The STAR MAN hands the Driver his ticket. The Driver rips
out the first coupon and hands it back.
JENNY
See? You're going to be okay.
When they stop at the door, she impulsively kisses him on
the cheek.
JENNY
Goodbye.
STAR MAN
(touches his cheek)
What?
JENNY
It's a kiss...
(she motions for him
to get on the bus)
Goodbye...
DRIVER
Let's go.
The STAR MAN climbs the steps just ahead of him. The door
closes. Its ENGINE REVVING, the bus backs out of its stall.
Jenny catches a glimpse of the STAR MAN bent over in the
aisle looking out at her. She waves until the bus rounds the
building.
EXT. GREYHOUND PARKING LOT - DAY
Jenny's green Mustang loops around the end of a row of cars
and heads for the street.
INT. MUSTANG - DAY
LOOKING OVER Jenny's SHOULDER, we SEE the Star Man waiting
for her at the curb.
JENNY
(softly)
Oh no...
She stops next to him and rolls down her window.
JENNY
What happened?
STAR MAN
I was afraid.
Jenny moans and lays her head on the vinyl of the window
sill. When she raises up, he smiles at her.
JENNY
Okay, you win. Get in.
INT. SHOPPING MALL - DAY
Shermin is standing next to the security guard in the middle
of a knot of shouting people.
SHOPKEEPER
This kind of thing's real bad for
business...
TOUGH
He couldn't even speak English.
MOTHER
Those kind of people should be shot.
ONLOOKER
What happened?
WAITRESS
I think he was just lost...
BURT
Who's side are you on?
TOUGH
No way he was going to get away from
me.
We move in on a lapel mike pinned to the front of Shermin's
shirt.
INT. HELICOPTER - DAY
The hubbub in the shopping center is being recorded on a
tape deck. Lyman, a phone to his ear, is seated in front of
the television screens.
LYMAN
Where's that?... And it was one
person, one way...
He hangs up and heads for the rear door. Jenny Haydn's current
Visa statement occupies the upper left screen. The last two
items are circled: The charge for the Greyhound ticket and
the credit for the return of that ticket.
EXT. SHOPPING MALL - DAY
The security guard tags Shermin into the parking lot.
SECURITY GUARD
Eyewitnesses are the worst. You get
two of them together. You got three
stories. You know what I mean?
Shermin sees Lyman come out of the crowd surrounding the
police cars in front of the helicopter.
SECURITY GUARD
Is there a reward in this?
SHERMIN
Huh?... Eh... no, there isn't
SECURITY GUARD
Because I'm the one who called the
police, you know.
SHERMIN
Yeah, thanks. We appreciate that.
SECURITY GUARD
Hey, it's none of my business why
you're chasing a retard... You want
my opinion, it's the girl. She had
to hold the guy's hand all the way
to the car like he was a kid.
SHERMIN
You saw that?
SECURITY GUARD
Hey... he didn't look like no big
time criminal to me.
Lyman meets them. It is obvious he has something to tell
Shermin.
SECURITY GUARD
Eh... the store tells you to call
when there's trouble, so they won't
get sued... But that shouldn't matter
if there's a reward, right?
SHERMIN
I wouldn't think so.
SECURITY GUARD
(peeling off)
That's what I thought. So remember
it was me because sometimes rewards
come late, you know.
SHERMIN
We will.
(he turns to Lyman)
Something's wrong here. She's helping
him now.
LYMAN
(alarmed)
I know. She bought him a ticket for
Lathrop Wells and put him on the
bus. He didn't stay on though and
they drove off together.
SHERMIN
(shaking his head)
Doesn't make sense.
LYMAN
Maybe he's turned her into one of
them. They enter the crowd around
the helicopter.
EXT. INTERSTATE 29 - DAY
The Mustang cruises along between fields of corn.
JENNY (V.O.)
Why did your ship land on this
planet... on Earth?
STAR MAN (V.O.)
It was a mistake.
INT./EXT. MUSTANG - DAY
The following conversation will be played over various views
of Americana: a station wagon load of kids, waving and
laughing, lovers kissing at a bus stop, billboards, car lots,
a dog taking a leak against a tree, cheerleaders practicing
on a football field, a funeral cortege, a telephone repairman
up on a pole.
JENNY
You thought we were a different
planet?!
STAR MAN
No. My ship was doing a map of all
the suns and...
JENNY
Stars... When a sun is far away, we
call it a 'star.'
STAR MAN
We were doing a map of the stars and
all the other things up there when
we saw a small ship. My... eh... we
kidnapped it. On it there was a map
that said how to come to Earth. This
was very important. Before then, we
thought we were the only people in
all the stars.
JENNY
You did? That's funny. So did we.
STAR MAN
Yes?
JENNY
Yes.
STAR MAN
We told our home, and the people who
tell us what to do on my planet said
to come and look but not to talk,
not to land, not to shoot. Just to
look from up there. We came and...
the driver of my ship...
JENNY
The captain...
STAR MAN
The captain wanted to land to see
close and to get some things from
Earth to take home. The police came
and shot at us. One of the people
from my ship was killed.
JENNY
Oh, that's terrible. I'm sorry. Was
he a good friend?
STAR MAN
I don't understand 'friend.'
JENNY
A friend is a person that is good to
you... someone you like to be with...
someone you like to laugh with...
STAR MAN
He was a good friend... The captain
took the ship away fast and I was
not in the ship.
JENNY
The police shouldn't have started
shooting. But you can hardly blame
them. You surprised them. They didn't
know you were up there. When they
saw you, they thought you were here
to hurt us.
STAR MAN
I understand.
JENNY
Sounds like your captain's going to
get hell when he gets back home.
STAR MAN
What is hell?
JENNY
It's bad.
STAR MAN
He will.
Pause. Jenny feels the STAR MAN staring at her. She turns to
look at him. His gaze doesn't waver. She looks back at the
road, then back at the STAR MAN.
JENNY
What are you doing?
STAR MAN
Are you my friend?
JENNY
Yes.
STAR MAN
(smiles)
I am your friend.
EXT. INTERSTATE 80 - NIGHT
Jenny's Mustang is whipping west out of Lincoln, Nebraska.
We HEAR A JUMBLE OF RADIO STATIONS as the SELECTOR is RUN
THROUGH THE FREQUENCIES.
INT. MUSTANG - NIGHT
Jenny is driving. The STAR MAN finds a RELIGIOUS STATION ON
the RADIO.
PREACHER (V.O.)
(on radio)
God is your creator. God is your
master. God is you savior. God is
the only reason that you exist. If
God...
STAR MAN
(during the above)
Who is God?
Jenny is tired. She doesn't want to get into that.
JENNY
Nobody knows.
STAR MAN
Why?
JENNY
I don't know.
The STAR MAN lets it drop and finds a COUNTRY AND WESTERN
STATION.
STAR MAN
I like this music.
JENNY
I've noticed... Do you understand
what they're saying?
STAR MAN
Not all... but it feels like a kiss.
Jenny smiles at him, then:
JENNY
Do you have music up there?
STAR MAN
Yes.
JENNY
I'd like to hear it. Can you sing
something?
STAR MAN
I do not want to.
JENNY
Don't be afraid... I'd really like
to hear it.
She TURNS OFF the RADIO.
JENNY
Please.
He turns away from her, clears his throat and begins. His
singing is like nothing we have ever heard. Vibrations of
tones and glottal stops blend into a haunting, seductive
fugue. The STAR MAN stops.
STAR MAN
I am not a good singer.
JENNY
That was beautiful.
STAR MAN
(incredulous)
You liked my singing?
JENNY
Yes. Sing some more.
EXT. INTERSTATE 80 - NIGHT
With the STAR MAN's SERENADE WAFTING over the Nebraska plains,
we FALL BACK TO FIND a Highway Patrol car tagging along at a
safe distance behind the Mustang.
EXT. BEST WESTERN MOTEL - NIGHT
The STAR MAN stops the Mustang in front of the office. He
and Jenny get out and go inside. As the door closes on them,
three Nebraska Highway Patrol cars speed up the off-ramp.
The lead car turns right on a surface street and enters the
motel parking lot at the far end.
The middle car goes straight across the intersection and
positions itself at the curb next to the driveway, giving
access to a frontage road which leads to an on-ramp. The
last car also turns right on the surface street, but parks
in a restaurant parking lot directly across from the office.
INT. OFFICE - BEST WESTERN MOTEL - NIGHT
In answer to Jenny's bell, the night CLERK comes out of the
living quarters in the back, finger combing his sleep-rumpled
hair.
CLERK
What can I do for you folks?
JENNY
How much are your rooms?
CLERK
Thirty-seven fifty for one person,
forty-nine fifty for two.
Drawn by the bright colors on their covers, the STAR MAN
wanders over to the magazine rack. By chance, he selects a
copy of 'Playgirl' and begins to look through it.
JENNY
You have one with two beds?
CLERK
Sure.
JENNY
I'll take that.
CLERK
(slides her a
registration card)
Fill this out.
(as Jenny writes)
Will this be cash or credit card?
JENNY
Credit card.
CLERK
I'll have to run your card off now.
JENNY
(digging through her
purse)
We're only going to be here a few
hours...
CLERK
It's still the full price.
STAR MAN
Jenny, look...
From behind the STAR MAN, we WATCH Jenny react to the open
Playgirl centerfold that he is holding up.
JENNY
Put that back.
STAR MAN
But I have never seen this before. I
am not complete.
Although we cannot see it, we know what he is pointing at.
JENNY
Put it back.
The STAR MAN swivels the picture around so that he can see
it. Jenny hands the smirking Clerk her credit card. He steps
to the side and inserts it into the imprinter. Out of the
corner of his eye, he sees a dot of light leave the STAR
MAN's forehead to drop behind the magazine and into his
trousers.
The Clerk glances over at Jenny to see if she hears the
HISSING that is going on behind the STAR MAN's fly. She does
and she hopes it'll stop soon. His eyes on the STAR MAN, the
Clerk fumbles the key to 117 off the rack.
CLERK
You can park your car in front of
the room.
He drops the key on the counter.
INT. MIDDLE PATROL CAR - NIGHT
Through his side window, the DRIVER can see the motel office.
DRIVER
(into microphone of
his radio)
What did these two do?
INT. LAST PATROL CAR - NIGHT
SECOND DRIVER
All anybody knows is that they're
armed and dangerous.
In the office, he can see Jenny and the STAR MAN leave the
counter and head for the door. He raises a pair of binoculars
to his eyes for a good head-on look at them.
THROUGH THE BINOCULARS
We SEE Jenny and the STAR MAN come out of the motel office.
BACK TO SCENE
The Second Officer lowers the glasses and looks down at the
telex pictures of Jenny and the STAR MAN taped to the
dashboard.
SECOND OFFICER
Be a piece of cake for us to take
'em.
INT. LEAD PATROL CAR - NIGHT
THROUGH the WINDSHIELD, we can SEE Jenny and the STAR MAN
approaching the Mustang.
THIRD DRIVER
National Security folks should be
here any minute. Let them take care
of it. That's what they get the big
bucks for.
EXT. BEST WESTERN MOTEL - NIGHT
STAR MAN
I want a drink. May I have two
quarters?
At the passenger door, Jenny sets her purse on the car roof
to take out her wallet.
JENNY
(handing it to him)
You shouldn't drink so much of that
stuff. It's bad for you.
STAR MAN
On the radio they say it's good.
JENNY
Hurry up.
Over her purse she notices the patrol car facing her from
the restaurant parking lot. There is certainly nothing unusual
about a patrol car in a restaurant parking lot. She shrugs
it off and gets in the Mustang.
INT. MUSTANG - NIGHT
Jenny's behind hasn't even hit the seat before she sees the
patrol car parked on the frontage road off to her left. She
looks at the STAR MAN. He's busy pounding on the drink
machine. She turns around to check the lot behind her and
spots the patrol car there.
STAR MAN
(coming to the car
with a drink can in
each hand)
The machine gave me two. Should I
put one back?
JENNY
No. Get in.
STAR MAN
(rounding the hood)
You can have one.
JENNY
(as he gets in)
I'm not sleepy anymore. Let's drive
for a little while longer.
The STAR MAN stiffens when he sees the patrol car on the
frontage road.
STAR MAN
Are you angry at me?
JENNY
No. I'm just not tired. Let's go.
EXT. BEST WESTERN MOTEL - NIGHT
The Mustang moves toward the frontage road.
INT. LAST PATROL CAR - NIGHT
SECOND DRIVER
(as the Mustang rolls
onto the frontage
road)
They made us. Let's get 'em.
EXT. BEST WESTERN MOTEL - NIGHT
All three patrol cars jam on their rack lights and, with
their SIRENS HOWLING, peel out after Jenny and the STAR MAN.
INT. MUSTANG - NIGHT
At the SOUND, the STAR MAN snaps his attention to the rear
view mirror. It's ablaze with police lights. He tromps on
the gas.
JENNY
No.
INT. HELICOPTER - NIGHT
Shermin is patched into the Nebraska Highway Patrol and is
listening to the pursuit.
EXT. INTERSTATE 80 - NIGHT
The Mustang careens down the on-ramp and squeezes into the
traffic a hair's breath ahead of an 18-wheeler. This cuts
off the patrol cars momentarily, but the Mustang doesn't
have the speed to stay ahead of them. Using the other cars
on the road as shields, the STAR MAN dodges from lane to
lane trying to keep the police from coming alongside.
INT. MUSTANG - NIGHT
The lead patrol car feints forward on the STAR MAN's side.
The STAR MAN sways over to cut it off and the middle patrol
car slips in next to Jenny. The STAR MAN grabs the gun from
under the seat.
JENNY
No!!! No!!!
INT. MIDDLE PATROL CAR - NIGHT
DRIVER
He's got a gun!!
INT. MUSTANG - NIGHT
Jenny screams.
A shotgun blast from the middle patrol car rips through the
door and into Jenny. Part of the FRONT WINDOW is BLOWN OUT.
Bleeding badly, she slumps against the STAR MAN.
STAR MAN
Jennyhaydn! Jennyhaydn!!
Her eyelids flutter open and she tries to speak, but can't.
The middle patrol car is lining up for another shot. The
STAR MAN slams the Mustang into it, sending it spinning onto
the shoulder and into a ditch.
The last patrol car speeds up to replace it. The lead patrol
car slips in next to the STAR MAN. They've got him in a
sandwich. The STAR MAN stands on his brakes.
EXT. INTERSTATE 80 - NIGHT
Caught by surprise, the patrol cars rocket ahead of him. The
Mustang cuts across the swatch of land that acts as a center
divider in the highway and races west in the eastbound lanes.
INT. MUSTANG - NIGHT
The STAR MAN squints against the headlights of the on-coming
traffic as he calmly wedges his way straight through it.
EXT. INTERSTATE 80 - NIGHT
The lead patrol car tries to follow him but is clipped by a
Cadillac swerving to avoid the STAR MAN and bounced back
into the center divider. The last patrol car parallels the
Mustang in the westbound lanes.
INT. MUSTANG - NIGHT
The STAR MAN realizes he's still boxed in. A car carrier
swerves by on his left. The lane behind is open. The STAR
MAN takes advantage of the opportunity.
EXT. INTERSTATE 80 - NIGHT
The Mustang vaults off the shoulder of the highway into an
open field and bullets away through the weeds.
The rush of oncoming traffic traps the three patrol cars in
the center divider.
INT. MUSTANG - NIGHT
Jenny moans as the car jostles over the rough ground. The
STAR MAN puts out a hand to cushion her ride. His headlights
pick up a gravel road splitting the field and he turns onto
it. In a quick look back, he sees the patrol car shooting
across the highway after him.
EXT. GRAVEL ROAD - NIGHT
We FOLLOW the Mustang as it winds upward through the grazing
lands sparsely dotted with clumps of trees. The plume of
dust kicked up by the fleeing car is turned silver by a full
moon. The WAIL OF the PATROL CARS is DISTANT BUT CLOSING.
EXT. PASTURE - NIGHT
The Mustang barrels around a curve and slides to a surprise
stop before a gate in a barbed wire fence that ends the road.
With the .45 in his hand, the STAR MAN jumps out of the car
and tries the gate. It is locked.
When he turns back to the car, he sees something that
frightens him more than the approaching patrol cars. A
helicopter has joined the chase. He looks for a place to
hide. A stand of cottonwood and elm fifty yards on the other
side of the gate offers the only protection.
The STAR MAN opens the passenger door. Jenny is soaked in
her own blood. He hooks the strap of her purse over his
shoulder, lifts her tenderly and, cradling her in his arms,
wiggles between a fence post and the gate and jogs into the
trees.
EXT. PASTURE - NIGHT
The helicopter sets down behind the Mustang. Shermin leads
Bell, Lyman and the technicians to the car.
LYMAN
(seeing the blood on
the passenger seat)
One of them must be pretty badly
hurt.
Shermin pushes the seat forward. The STAR MAN's life-support
suit is stuffed in the space behind it. The patrol cars skid
around the curve.
SHERMIN
(to Bell, indicating
the suit)
Get this back to the copter.
Shermin takes a bullhorn from Lyman and goes around to the
front of the Mustang. The highway patrolmen get out of their
cars behind him.
SHERMIN
(bullhorn to woods)
Mrs. Haydn, please come out. We don't
want to hurt you or your friend.
Please put down your weapon and come
out.
EXT. TREES - NIGHT
Jenny's limp weight is beginning to slow the STAR MAN. He
hears the bullhorn but doesn't stop.
EXT. PASTURE - NIGHT
Shermin lowers the bullhorn and speaks to the patrolmen.
SHERMIN
Okay, fan out. These people have a
gun but we want them alive.
Understand?
EXT. TREES - NIGHT
A deep shadow on the other side of an elm offers a likely
hiding place. He moves through the underbrush toward it.
Without warning, his feet begin to slip out from under him.
He struggles to regain his balance.
When he does he looks down to find himself staring at a RAGING
RIVER 150 feet below. The bank on the other side is just a
few feet above the water and in the moonlight he can see a
flat plain cut by a highway that stretches into the distance.
Slowly, he backs away from the edge of the cliff.
From under the elm he watches the helicopter sweep out over
the ravine. Its searchlight darts toward him bleaching the
treeline. The overhanging branches cloak him and Jenny and
the light passes without picking them up. The STAR MAN adjusts
his grip on Jenny and starts off in the opposite direction
from the helicopter to look for a way down the cliff.
EXT. TREES - NIGHT
Shermin, his people and the patrolmen are combing the woods
with flashlights in a picketline search. The Third Driver
stops at the mouth of a clearing that runs between the
cottonwood and elm to the cliff. He takes a bite off a block
of chewing tobacco.
As he replaces it in his pocket, he sees a shadow flit across
the far end of the clearing. He swings his flashlight in
that direction. The beam catches a piece of Jenny and the
STAR MAN.
THIRD DRIVER
Over here! They're over here!
EXT. TREES - NIGHT
Standing on the rim of the gorge, the STAR MAN sees the rays
of his pursuers' flashlights choking off any possible escape.
He eases Jenny to the ground behind a boulder. She whimpers
with the pain.
STAR MAN
(strokes her cheek)
You will be all right.
He stretches over the top of the boulder and scatters FOUR
SHOTS at the lights.
EXT. TREES - NIGHT
The patrolmen, the technicians and Shermin all hit the ground
and kill their lights.
SHERMIN
Mrs. Haydn, we don't want to hurt
you. Put down your gun and come out.
We just want to talk to your friend.
THE STAR MAN AND JENNY
The STAR MAN peers around the boulder. At that instant the
searchlight from the helicopter happens to splash across the
men in the field. He sees that their guns are drawn and
pointed in his direction. The STAR MAN pulls back and takes
a marble from his pouch. It grows and glows gold as the STAR
MAN rolls it between his palms. When it reaches the size of
a baseball, he clutches it firmly in his right hand and
EMPTIES the .45 toward Shermin and the police. This time,
there is a BARRAGE OF ANSWERING FIRE.
With the BULLETS RICOCHETING around him, the STAR MAN lifts
Jenny to his shoulder. He massages the golden orb until it
becomes the size of a soccer ball, then takes two quick steps
to the edge of the cliff and leaps into the abyss.
EXT. ABYSS - NIGHT
The upward thrust of the ball supports their fall and under
its glow they begin a slow descent to the other side of the
river. Above them, the helicopter dips back and locks its
searchlight on the shelf of boulders they just left.
EXT. PLAIN - NIGHT
The STAR MAN sets down with the smoothness of a man stepping
off an escalator. He looks over his shoulder. The helicopter
is still concentrating its spotlight on the ridge. He speaks
to the ball in his language.
STAR MAN
(subtitles)
Iron channel message. Almost caught
by pursuers. This may hinder escape.
Wait for me.
He lets the ball go and, with even more velocity than the
others, it zips into the sky.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. TRUCK STOP - NIGHT
A WOMAN in a Frederick's of Hollywood negligee lets a TRUCK
DRIVER out of one of the Winnebagos parked to the side of
the main building.
WOMAN
Don't forget to tell the boys where
you had a good time.
DRIVER
(calling back to her)
You weren't that good.
Her rusty laugh follows him into the parking lot. He walks
between the trucks to a semi which has half of a pre-fab
mobile home tied onto its flat-bed. The polyethylene that
covers the open side of the house flaps in the WIND at the
lower corner next to the cab. The Driver opens his door. He
takes out a staple gun and refastens the dark green plastic
to the house frame.
INT. HALF HOUSE - NIGHT
In the middle of the empty bedroom, the STAR MAN tries to
cushion Jenny against the sudden JOLTS made by the semi as
it lumbers out of the parking lot.
EXT. HIGHWAY 76 - NIGHT
With the Driver taking it smoothly through the gears, the
semi picks up speed.
INT. HALF HOUSE - NIGHT
The STAR MAN moves Jenny into a rectangle of moonlight shaped
on the floor by a high, wide window and strips off her blouse.
The cold light marbles Jenny's skin and makes the blood from
her wounds appear black. With her blouse, the STAR MAN wipes
away the blood on the right side of her head and neck. He
finds a deep glass cut on her cheek and two entry points in
her neck. He concentrates on her cheek and we can SEE the
glow of his brain through his human skin.
A bit of the white light comes out of his forehead. It tumbles
across to Jenny's cheek and settles into the wound. The STAR
MAN watches intently as one end of the wound flares brightly
for an instant, then dies. The flesh left behind has been
closed without a scar.
A larger piece of light drops out of his forehead into what's
left of the gash. With that area suffused in a healing glow,
he shifts his focus to the pellet holes on her neck. He sends
two pieces of light plunging into the wounds. Immediately,
they spread into halos which we can SEE radiating from under
the skin.
Out of the night comes a LONG BLAST ON the AIR HORN and the
STAR MAN has to steady Jenny as the truck swerves around
something in the highway.
When it settles back into its ride, the STAR MAN wipes the
blood off Jenny's shoulder. The beams of the passing cars
through the plastic catch the fatigue on the STAR MAN's face
as he works over Jenny.
EXT. HIGHWAY 76 - NIGHT
With its pre-fab house, the semi rumbles through Julesburg,
Sterling and Ft. Morgan. By the time it gets to Denver, dawn
is beginning to color the tips of the Rocky Mountains.
INT. HALF HOUSE - DAWNBREAK
It's still dark in here. With a chunk of light in his left
hand, the STAR MAN dabs at the last of Jenny's wounds, leaving
behind a phosphorescent bandage. More of these patches glimmer
up and down her right side. He checks her over to see if
he's missed a wound. He hasn't.
He covers her with his windbreaker and, exhausted by his
efforts, sits back against the wall. He waits to see that
Jenny is sleeping comfortably, then presses the palms of his
hands together. The satel compass appears between them. The
green dot tells him he is still on course.
EXT. INTERSTATE - SUNRISE
Colorado Highway PATROLMEN are dropping orange fluorescent
cones across two of the three westbound lanes to form a
roadblock. The sound of a harmonica draws us to Shermin's
helicopter parked in a meadow beside the road.
EXT. HELICOPTER - SUNRISE
As the radio technician plays the harmonica, Lyman clangs
down the steps and bends to wake Shermin who is sacked out
under the fuselage.
SHERMIN
Tell him I'm not here.
LYMAN
I did.
Shermin sighs and rolls over on his back. He looks terrible.
SHERMIN
Get me a radio. At least I won't
have to look at his face.
EXT. MEADOW - SUNRISE
Shermin is holding a field radio to his ear.
FOX (V.O.)
We're growing very concerned back
here. There's no use pretending
otherwise. We're rapidly approaching
a 'condition red.' People are
beginning to ask difficult questions.
SHERMIN
I'll make this as simple as I can,
George. They disappeared.
FOX (V.O.)
I don't care where you're from you
just can't disappear into thin air.
SHERMIN
(through a punchy
hysterical laugh)
George, listen to what you're saying.
This thing's changed itself into a
man. Disappearing may not be that
big a deal.
FOX (V.O.)
So far you've let it cross the heart
of America. For two days it has been
absorbing information that is
detrimental to our security. I don't
see the humor in that.
Stung, Shermin takes a deep breath, controls himself and
returns the radio to his ear.
SHERMIN
Maybe... look, this is just something
to think about... from what I got at
the shopping center, it was more
scared than anything else... I don't
feel it's as big a threat as you
think it is...
FOX (V.O.)
Is that what's affecting your
performance?
SHERMIN
I'm not being unpatriotic, and I'm
doing my damndest to catch them.
Bell's up on 80 and I'm down here on
70 past Grand Junction. They're
heading west. If they're not flying
we have a damn good chance of getting
them. All I'm asking is that you
people think about it.
FOX (V.O.)
You just do your job, Shermin. We'll
make the policy.
EXT. HIGHWAY 70 - DAY
The semi is in the slow lane. Its right rear turn signal
blinks steadily telling US that it is leaving the highway
and going north at the intersection ahead.
INT. HALF HOUSE - DAY
Jenny stirs awake under the windbreaker in the bedroom as a
sloppy DOWNSHIFT JOLTS the house. Her eyes flutter open and
she looks around the room trying to figure out where she is.
The truck leans into the turn. Jenny braces herself on one
arm and sits up.
Catching the windbreaker as it slips off her front, she
remembers that she was shot and examines her right side. She
runs her fingers over her cheek and neck, across her shoulder
and down her side, feeling for traces of the wounds she knows
she sustained. She has been completely healed and there are
no scars. She leans forward and looks down the hallway.
JENNY
Hello... hello.
The WIND snapping the polyethylene is the only answer she
gets. She picks her blouse off the floor next to her purse,
but throws it aside and shrugs into the windbreaker when she
sees the blood and bullet holes.
Her sudden rise to a standing position makes her light-headed
and she has to lean against the doorway until the spinning
stops. With her hands outstretched, as guards against the
sway of the truck, Jenny shuffles down the hallway.
JENNY
Hello. Where are you?
There is no one in the kitchen and she continues into the
living room. It is empty. Jenny opens the door to an enclosed
back porch. It is also empty. The STAR MAN is gone. She
returns to the living room and stands there not really knowing
what to do next. The countryside rushes by outside a floor-
to-ceiling picture window.
A WAIL FROM the semi's AIR HORN jars Jenny out of her reverie
and she goes to press her cheek against the window. She is
looking past her left hand at the road when she notices a
wide green ring on her finger above her wedding band. She
steps back from the window to examine it, then with some
trepidation, twists it off. As it clears the end of her
finger, the STAR MAN's VOICE SPEAKS OUT OF IT.
STAR MAN (V.O.)
Jennyhay...
Jenny drops the ring as if she'd been stung. The STAR MAN's
voice stops as soon as she does and the ring bounces across
the floor until it hits the baseboard. It looks innocent
enough lying there, but Jenny has a great deal of trouble
making herself approach it.
When she finally picks it up, it does nothing. She turns it
in her hand and when the side of the ring hole that was facing
her when she took the ring off faces her again, the STAR
MAN's VOICE CONTINUES.
STAR MAN (V.O.)
...nd. You are all fixed. I'm sorry
you were shot. I was a big problem
for you. Thank you for your help. I
can go to my ship alone now.
EXT. HIGHWAY - DAY
The semi is picking up speed as it heads north.
EXT. SEMI'S CAB - DAY
The Driver checks his side view mirror to see if the lane
next to him is clear and is astonished to see a woman's arm
sticking out of the polyethylene waving a blouse at him.
EXT. HIGHWAY - DAY
Smoke billows from under the tires as the semi skids to a
stop.
EXT. SEMI - DAY
Jenny, her purse over her shoulder, is running toward the
cab as the Driver steps out with a wrench in his hand.
JENNY
Where did you stop last?
DRIVER
What the hell do you think you're
doing?
JENNY
Where did you stop last?
DRIVER
Stay right there...
JENNY
What was your last stop?
DRIVER
Elmo's...
JENNY
Where's that?
DRIVER
About five miles back.
Jenny's thumb is already out for a ride as she sprints across
the highway.
DRIVER
(shouting after her)
Are there any more in there?
EXT. HIGHWAY 70 - DAY
A passing car TAKES US TO the STAR MAN as he runs along the
shoulder to a maroon and white '57 Chevy that has pulled off
to pick him up.
EXT. '57 CHEVY - DAY
A swarthy, bald MAN with hairy arms leans across the seat.
MAN
Where are you going?
STAR MAN
Las Vegas, please. I do not speak
English.
MAN
Hop in.
INT. '57 CHEVY - DAY
MAN
(re-entering the flow
of traffic)
I can only take you to Grand Junction,
but you'll have a better chance to
get a ride from there.
The STAR MAN smiles.
MAN
Where you from?
The STAR MAN starts to point to the sky, then catches himself.
STAR MAN
I don't understand.
MAN
Parlez vous Francais?... Habla
Ingles?... Sprechen zie deutsch?
These are foreign words to the STAR MAN and he pastes on his
smile.
MAN
Good job, neither do I. What do you
do for a living?
STAR MAN
(pretending)
I don't understand.
MAN
I'm a cook. Do you understand 'cook?'
STAR MAN
No.
COOK (MAN)
Food. Eat. I prepare food. I work as
a cook. That's how I make money.
STAR MAN
I understand.
COOK
What do you do?
STAR MAN
(searches for an
answer, then)
I make maps.
COOK
Hey, that sounds interesting. You
like it?
STAR MAN
Eh... yes.
COOK
Make any money?
STAR MAN
No.
COOK
(takes a pack of Camels
out of his pocket)
You don't get rich as a cook, either,
believe me. I got a girl going to
college this fall. The wife had to
go back to nursing to help pay for
it.
He sticks a cigarette in his mouth and flips one up for the
STAR MAN.
COOK
Smoke?
The STAR MAN takes it, quickly examines it, then positions
it in his mouth at the exact angle the Cook did. His eyebrows
raise when the Cook flicks his Bic and puffs an ash on the
end of his cigarette.
The butane flame is swung in his direction and he flinches
back before allowing the Cook to singe his Camel. He copies
the Cook's puffing and the end of his cigarette begins to
glow.
COOK
She wants to become a doctor. She's
a bright kid. Hard worker. I think
she'll make it. But the damned
inflation's driven the tuition up so
high it makes it real tough on a
family like ours.
The Cook inhales deeply from his cigarette and blows smoke
at the windshield. The STAR MAN mimics the inhalation, then
chokes. His eyes bulge and his cheeks puff out as he tries
to be cool and not cough. The Cook takes no notice of his
struggles.
COOK
I got two other kids. I don't know
what we'll do when they get old enough
for college.
Smoke starts to dribble out of the Star Man's nose and mouth.
Puzzled, he re-examines his cigarette.
COOK
Everybody blames it on the oil crisis.
That might be where it starts. But I
think a lot of people are just using
that as an excuse to rip the rest of
us off. I see it every day in the
kitchen. Peaches. We use the gallon
cans. The price has gone up three
times in the last year. And now the
cans are only half full.
The Cook takes another drag. As if etiquette required it,
the STAR MAN hurries to copy him. This time there are no ill
effects.
COOK
Do you have children?
STAR MAN
No.
COOK
They're damned expensive and a pain
in the ass sometimes, but I wouldn't
trade having them for anything.
The Cook flicks his ash out of the window. A moment later,
the STAR MAN mirrors his action.
COOK
What do you think of America?
STAR MAN
It is beautiful.
EXT. ELMO'S - DAY
A truck stop set back as little as the law allows from the
BUZZ OF INTERSTATE 70.
JENNY (O.S.)
I'm looking for a guy about this
tall, with brown hair and really
gray eyes...
We FIND Jenny at the set of fuel pumps nearest the highway
dogging an ATTENDANT while he services an 18-wheeler
JENNY
He had on tan cords, a plaid shirt
and a baseball cap... probably
hitchhiking.
ATTENDANT
I don't pay much attention to those
guys.
JENNY
(taking out her wallet)
In the last hour or so...
ATTENDANT
Nope.
Jenny folds back the plastic windows to the picture of her
husband.
JENNY
This is him.
ATTENDANT
(shakes his head)
Sorry.
We FOLLOW Jenny as she wends her way through the trucks
questioning other attendants. The RUMBLE OF TRAFFIC DROWNS
OUT their CONVERSATION, but the answer is always the same.
Finally, we FOLLOW the picture as Jenny hands it up to an
ATTENDANT cleaning the windshield on a Peterbilt cab.
SECOND ATTENDANT
(looking at picture)
I don't know... I'm not sure. I might
have seen him up the road a piece on
my way in. He's long gone by now.
He hands the snapshot back to Jenny. She nods a 'thank you'
and looks wistfully around the yard. There is nothing she
can do. Fitting the picture back into her wallet, she walks
away. After a few steps she turns back.
JENNY
You know if anybody here's going to
Wisconsin?
SECOND ATTENDANT
Ask inside.
INT. ELMO'S DINER - DAY
It's bustling, loud and smoky. Jenny is standing just inside
the entrance. She licks her lips and tries to clear the frog
out of her throat.
JENNY
(small voice)
Anybody going to...
Nobody pays any attention to her. Her voice trails off. She
swallows hard and tries again, this time booming out.
JENNY
Anybody going to Wisconsin?
The activity in the diner comes to a screeching halt and in
the silence Jenny adds in a normal voice:
JENNY
I need a ride.
An OLDER MAN, with a face seamed by cigarettes and weather,
waves at her from the counter.
OLDER MAN
I'm going to Des Moines. If you can
wait till I finish here, you're
welcome to ride along.
This gets some good-humored cheers and catcalls.
JENNY
I can wait.
Smiling self-consciously, she takes a seat at the end of the
counter and orders coffee from the waitress. While she is
waiting for it to come, she happens to glance outside and
sees a Colorado Highway patrol car stopped in the yard.
The officer on the passenger side is talking to one of the
attendants. Jenny turns away from the window and finds that
she is able to watch the conversation in a strip of mirrors
that runs around the top of the pie case. The squad car leaves
and her coffee arrives.
JENNY
(to the waitress)
Where's the phone?
INT. SIT-DOWN PHONE BOOTH - DINER HALLWAY - DAY
Jenny drops a dime in the slot and dials 'O.'
OPERATOR (V.O.)
Operator... may I help you?
JENNY
Could you give me the highway patrol,
please?
After TWO RINGS, the phone is picked up on the other end of
the line.
MALE (V.O.)
Sergeant Packert, Highway Patrol.
JENNY
My name's Jenny Haydn. I think you're
looking for me. I was kidnapped in
Eau Claire, Wisconsin a couple of
days ago. But I'm free now.
SERGEANT (V.O.)
What was your name again?
JENNY
Jenny Haydn. I'm on my way home and
I don't want anybody I'm with shot
at when you...
SERGEANT (V.O.)
Hold on.
EXT. ROADBLOCK (INTERSTATE 70) - DAY
Standing back of the officers, Shermin watches them check to
cars passing through the squeeze point. Every car trunk is
opened. Vans and campers are looked into.
Lyman runs up and whispers in Shermin's ear. Shermin is
startled by what he hears. He leaves Lyman in charge and
hurries to the helicopter parked in the field beside the
roadblock.
INT. HELICOPTER - DAY
A TECHNICIAN gives Shermin a headset phone as he enters.
SHERMIN
(hand over the mouth-
piece)
You trace it yet?
TECHNICIAN
All we know right now is that it's
east of here.
Shermin puts on the headset and the technician starts a tape
recorder.
SHERMIN
This is Marc Shermin. Where are you,
Mrs. Haydn?
INT. SIT-DOWN PHONE BOOTH
JENNY
I don't know. Someplace called Elmo's.
Look, I just wanted to tell you that
I'm all right and I'm on my way home.
SHERMIN (V.O.)
You've been through quite an ordeal,
Mrs. Haydn. Why don't you stay where
you are and let us pick you up? We'll
fly you home.
JENNY
No. You'll want to ask a lot of
questions I don't want to answer
right now. I already have a ride.
INT. HELICOPTER - DAY
The Technician hands Shermin a note which reads: ELMO"S TRUCK
STOP/ABOUT 30 MILES EAST.
JENNY (V.O.)
I only called to tell you I was free
and not to shoot anybody I was with
if you see me.
Shermin jabs his thumb upward, indicating that the helicopter
should lift off.
SHERMIN
Is the man who kidnapped you there
now?
JENNY (V.O.)
I told you. He let me go. I'm on my
way home.
SHERMIN
(his hand over the
mouthpiece)
Get a highway patrol unit over there.
EXT. ROADBLOCK - DAY
Shermin's helicopter lifts off.
SHERMIN (V.O.)
Mrs. Haydn, I'm going to have to ask
you to stay where you are.
INT. SIT-DOWN PHONE BOOTH
A sharp rap on the glass startles Jenny and she turns around
to see her ride.
OLDER MAN
Ready?
Jenny holds up a finger that asks for a moment longer on the
phone.
JENNY
(into phone)
Mr... I'm sorry, what was your name
again?
SHERMIN (V.O.)
Marc Shermin.
JENNY
Mr. Shermin, I'm hanging up now. If
you want to ask me any questions,
call me at home in a couple of days.
I'm in the book.
SHERMIN (V.O.)
Do you know what you were kidnapped
by?
Pause.
SHERMIN (V.O.)
Mrs. Haydn...
JENNY
He doesn't want to hurt anybody.
Please leave him alone.
SHERMIN (V.O.)
Is he on his way to Lathrop Wells?
This hits Jenny like a kick in the stomach. She leans her
head back against the wall. Her ride is pacing outside the
booth.
SHERMIN (V.O.)
What's he planning to do in Lathrop
Wells? Is he meeting someone there?
Jenny smashes the receiver back in its cradle and throws
open the door.
JENNY
(on her way past the
weathered driver)
I changed my mind. Thanks.
She rushes down the hallway to the dining area where again
she stands just inside the entrance.
JENNY
(at the top of her
lungs)
It's me again...
The place goes quiet except for a smattering of laughter.
JENNY
I need a fast ride west.
INT. PORSCHE - DAY
The speedometer reads 90. The driver, a bespectacled, pimply-
faced SIXTEEN YEAR OLD, shifts into fifth gear. Jenny is
harnessed in the passenger seat. Chatter from a CB under the
dash COMPETES WITH ROCK N' ROLL ON THE TAPE DECK.
JENNY
You sure this is your car?
TEENAGER
(with a stutter)
My grandmother's rich.
JENNY
(as they come up on a
station wagon)
Slow down, slow down.
TEENAGER
Geez, Mrs. Haydn, we just got going.
But he downshifts. The Porsche is going a mere 80 when they
pass the station wagon.
JENNY
(peering at its
occupants)
I told you I'm looking for someone.
TEENAGER
In the cars, too?!
JENNY
I don't know where he is.
TEENAGER
This is going to be a real drag. I
thought you wanted to go fast.
Howling at full throttle, three highway patrol cars rush
past them in the opposite direction. Jenny swivels around to
follow their progress until they are out of sight.
TEENAGER
They after you?
JENNY
What? No, of course not.
TEENAGER
(his stutter thicker
than before)
Would be kinda neat if they were. I
think I could outrun them. Maybe get
my picture in the papers.
Jenny takes a second look at this guy. He flashes her a gap-
toothed grin.
EXT. OVERPASS - DAY
The Cook's '57 Chevy makes a left on the street intersecting
the off-ramp and stops at the curb. Behind it a large plastic
yellow chicken twirls on a pole above the restaurant it
advertises.
COOK
Well, here we are... You go down
that ramp there, you're sure to get
a ride.
STAR MAN
(getting out)
Thank you.
COOK
And don't be shy about your English.
You speak better than a lot of people
I know.
(leaving)
Take care of yourself.
As an afterthought, the STAR MAN duplicates the Cook's wave,
then heads down the ramp. As he clears the frame, our VIEW
ZOOMS AND ZOOMS AND ZOOMS UNTIL we can SEE a piece of the
roadblock in the valley below him. During the MOVE-IN, we
BEGIN TO PICK UP CB CHATTER.
VOICES (V.O.)
Flash for all you good buddies heading
west on 70. Smoky's got a roadblock
just beyond Grand Junction... Better
dump your dope, they're going through
everything... He's right. I was just
there and I'm still sore...
INT. PORSCHE - DAY
Jenny TURNS DOWN the ROCK 'N ROLL to listen to the CB.
VOICES (V.O.)
Ah loves to be frisked! What are
they looking for? I'm holding. Any
way around it? Where are you? Oh
no!! There it is!!
TEENAGER
I bet you we find your friend at the
roadblock.
Jenny doesn't answer immediately. She takes her time checking
out the people in a VW they are passing.
JENNY
(to the road ahead)
We better find him before that.
EXT. INTERSTATE 70 - DAY
In the style prescribed by Jenny, the STAR MAN raises his
thumb to a dilapidated Vega shimmying down the on-ramp. The
two blue-haired ladies inside are afraid to look at him as
they go by. He has the same luck with an attractive blonde
secretary that passes on the highway.
EXT. ELMO'S - DAY
A highway PATROLMAN is standing behind the open door of his
car speaking into the mike of his radio.
PATROLMAN
The girl's not here, Mr. Shermin.
Seems right after she talked to you,
she got a ride west with a kid.
INT. HELICOPTER - DAY
All six TV screens display the road rushing under it.
SHERMIN
(into mouthpiece of
his headset)
You get that, Lyman?
LYMAN (V.O.)
We're ready.
EXT. SKY ABOVE INTERSTATE 70 - DAY
Shermin's S65 banks through a U-turn and chases west.
EXT. INTERSTATE 70 - DAY
A dun-colored Roadrunner gurgles down the ramp and stops in
front of the STAR MAN. Two grubby LONG HAIRS in worn western
clothes are inside with boxes of house-hold utensils and
duffle bags.
LONG HAIR
Where you going?
STAR MAN
Las Vegas, please.
LONG HAIR
We're going to L.A.
He looks at his buddy stretched on the jumble in the back.
The buddy nods.
LONG HAIR
Sure. Get in. We can drop you in
Vegas or get you darn close.
The STAR MAN opens the door and gets in.
INT. PORSCHE - DAY
The CB CONTINUES TO CRACKLE with news of the roadblock.
Jenny's eyes restlessly search the overpass under the whirling
yellow chicken for any sign of the STAR MAN. She sees the
dun-colored Roadrunner waiting at the foot of the on-ramp
for a break in the traffic, but she is too far away to see
who's inside. As the Porsche gets closer, it overtakes an 18-
wheeler and Jenny's view of the Roadrunner is cut off
entirely. She passes without seeing the STAR MAN.
EXT. INTERSTATE 70 - DAY
The Porsche weaves through the traffic giving Jenny a chance
to look into the cars and trucks it shoots by.
INT. PORSCHE - DAY
Jenny is turned around looking back at a camper.
TEENAGER
I'm telling you, you're going to
find him at the roadblock, or right
after, or not at all.
JENNY
If he didn't want to go through the
roadblock, is there any other way to
get to Vegas?
TEENAGER
Fly.
Jenny gives him a withering look.
TEENAGER
The five-fifty. We already passed
it. But it'll take him way out of
his way.
JENNY
Pull over. I've got to get back there.
TEENAGER
Why wouldn't he want to go through
the roadblock?... What did you guys
do?... I won't tell anybody.
JENNY
It's easier not to tell if you don't
know.
EXT. INTERSTATE - DAY
The Porsche slows to a stop on the shoulder.
TEENAGER
(as Jenny opens the
door)
Wait. Could I have your autograph?
JENNY
Sure.
She leans back and gives the startled Teenager a kiss on the
mouth, then gets out.
TEENAGER
I have nothing to do. I'd like to
help you.
JENNY
Don't worry. I'll be all right.
She closes the door. The Teenager takes a last look at her
before pulling back on the highway. Jenny waits for a car in
the slow lane to go by, then runs across to the line and
waits for cars in the fast lane to go by.
INT. ROADRUNNER - DAY
The STAR MAN spots Jenny standing on the line peering into
the on-coming cars for signs of him. He becomes agitated and
his mouth begins to move soundlessly. There is a break in
the traffic and Jenny dashes to the center divider. The STAR
MAN leans across his driver and yells as the Roadrunner
plunges by her.
STAR MAN
JENNYHAYDN!!!
EXT. INTERSTATE - DAY
Jenny spins around to see the Roadrunner skid to a stop on
the shoulder and the STAR MAN get out. A motorcycle bombs
by. He starts across the lanes of traffic toward Jenny. A
truck blasts past him in the slow lane. He is buffeted into
the fast lane. Jenny runs down the center divider to meet
him. A VW honks, its tires squeal on the pavement as it
swerves around him. He reaches the safety of the center
divider. Jenny throws her arms around him and lays her head
against his chest. He stands there uncomfortably not knowing
how to respond to this human emotion.
STAR MAN
I told you goodbye. Why are you here?
JENNY
The police are waiting for you up
ahead. There's a roadblock. You have
to go back.
STAR MAN
This car will take me to Las Vegas.
I cannot go back.
JENNY
The police know about Lathrop Wells.
We have to go another way. Come on.
She grabs his wrist but he hangs back.
STAR MAN
If I don't meet the ship, my people
will go home without me.
JENNY
Please understand. If you go this
way, you'll never get to your ship.
The police know about Lathrop Wells.
We have to go another way. I'll get
you to your ship. I promise.
STAR MAN
I will go. But not you.
JENNY
You shit! I'll decide if I go or
not. Not you. I don't know what you
do on your planet, but I didn't think
that was very nice walking out on me
like you did.
STAR MAN
I don't want you to be hurt.
JENNY
Come on.
Holding the STAR MAN's hand, Jenny pulls him toward the road.
JENNY
I didn't ask to come along on this
trip, but I sure as hell am going to
be the one to say when I get off.
They bolt across the lanes of traffic to the other side of
the road where she flags down an old black pickup truck. She
says something to the driver and she and the STAR MAN climb
into the back. As the truck returns to the highway, the CLACK
OF AN APPROACHING HELICOPTER OVERPOWERS the TRAFFIC SOUNDS.
EXT. SKY - DAY
Shermin's helicopter slices around a pine-dotted peak
following the twists of Interstate 70 below. In the near
distance, we can SEE the roadblock.
INT. HELICOPTER - DAY
Unnoticed by Shermin or the Technicians, the black pickup
passes off the television screens carrying their quarry east.
SHERMIN
(into headset)
Any sign of either of them yet?
The roadblock appears on the television screens.
EXT. ROADBLOCK - DAY
Lyman, wearing a headset plugged into a belt pack, is walking
down the line of cars.
LYMAN
I don't think they're going to show.
INT. HELICOPTER - DAY
A swift kick from Shermin sends a stool clanging into a
bulkhead. The Technicians won't meet his eyes when he turns
back to them.
SHERMIN
Okay. Tell the highway patrol to
block all major arteries off 70 from
here to Elmo's.
EXT. INTERSTATE 70 - DAY
Two highway patrol cars scatter the traffic in front of them
with their rack lights and SIRENS.
EXT. PICKUP - DAY
Jenny and the STAR MAN are sitting against the cab, a horse
blanket drawn up around their shoulders. They can see the
flashing lights coming from way down the road and watch
helplessly as the patrol cars eat up the distance between
them.
EXT. INTERSTATE 70 - DAY
The pickup makes the turn onto Highway 550.
EXT. PICKUP - DAY
For a moment, Jenny and the STAR MAN think they're safe.
That hope turns to despair when the two patrol cars loop
after them. They keep getting closer. The STAR MAN inches
the blanket up over his nose. Unexpectedly, the patrol cars
are thrown into a skid. When they stop, they are facing each
other ready to inspect the traffic coming off 70. They lower
the blanket from their faces. Jenny lays her head back against
the cab, exhausted.
STAR MAN
The Cook said I speak good English.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. HIGHWAY 550 - LATE AFTERNOON
A RUMBLE OF DISTANT THUNDER follows the lightning that flashes
from the dark clouds hanging on the horizon. Looking
incomplete without its trailer, the tractor/cab of a Mack
truck makes a turn on a farm road, revealing Jenny and the
STAR MAN standing on the gravel. The STAR MAN looks back to
where they came from. There is nothing coming so he sets out
in the other direction.
JENNY
Where are you going?
STAR MAN
I must meet my ship.
JENNY
Why can't we wait here for a ride?
STAR MAN
I feel better if I move.
JENNY
We're hundreds of miles from where
you have to be.
The STAR MAN ignores her and continues to walk.
JENNY
(shouts at him)
Even if we walk five miles, it's not
going to make any difference.
Jenny turns toward an oncoming car and sticks out her thumb.
The STAR MAN falls into the same pose just back of her. The
car honks at them as it breezes by.
STAR MAN
(screams after it)
Asshole!!
JENNY
(shocked)
Where did you learn that?
STAR MAN
The cook.
EXT. ROADSIDE - LATE AFTERNOON
A torrential rainstorm lashes the countryside. The STAR MAN
and Jenny splash along the edge of the asphalt. Their heads
are lowered against the weather. They are both drenched to
the skin.
JENNY
(after a few steps)
We're not going to get a ride tonight.
STAR MAN
I can't stay on this planet.
JENNY
No one's traveling in this weather.
STAR MAN
You promised you would get me to my
ship.
JENNY
(shouts after him)
I will. I will. We still have another
day.
STAR MAN
You promised.
JENNY
What do you want from me? There are
no cars on this road. I didn't ask
for this stupid storm.
The STAR MAN mutters in his language.
JENNY
What are you saying?
STAR MAN
You can stop. I will go on alone.
JENNY
We're too far away to walk. Don't
you understand?
The STAR MAN looks at her. With the rain streaming off his
face, he looks at her. For the first time, the reality of
the situation hits him. He turns and, swearing in his own
language, flails at the rain. A distance from Jenny, he stops
and cries out in English.
STAR MAN
I can't stay here. I want to go home.
I don't want this skin. I don't want
to look like this.
Jenny can see him standing with his head bowed. She walks
over to him.
JENNY
(trying to ease his
pain)
Why don't you send one of your radio
balloons and tell your captain that
you might be late?
STAR MAN
I used the last one to jump off the
cliff...
JENNY
Let's find a place out of the rain.
I'm sure we'll get a ride in the
morning.
STAR MAN
I can't be late. I don't know if the
radio balloons work above your planet.
I don't know if my words went to the
ship. If I'm not there, the captain
will think I'm dead and go.
JENNY
We'll get a ride in the morning.
A flash of lightning shows us:
EXT. DESERTED RAILROAD SIDING - DUSK
Jenny and the STAR MAN are following the tracks to an
abandoned boxcar.
INT. BOXCAR - DUSK
The STAR MAN climbs in and pulls Jenny after him. Jenny is
shivering badly.
JENNY
Can you close the door?
The STAR MAN scrapes it forward. He activates the satel
compass which lights the interior of the boxcar. While he is
doing this Jenny turns her back to him and takes off her
jacket. Her teeth chattering, she tries to wring the water
out of it.
STAR MAN
You are cold.
JENNY
You're damn right I am.
STAR MAN
I do not get cold.
Clutching the windbreaker to her breasts, Jenny looks at the
STAR MAN over her shoulder. It doesn't take her long to make
up her mind.
JENNY
(crossing to him)
Open your shirt.
She waits while he struggles with the buttons. After two she
brushes away his hands and undoes the rest. She lets the
windbreaker drop and, slipping her arms around his waist,
presses her bare chest against his.
JENNY
(savoring it)
Oh, you're warm... put your arms
around me.
The STAR MAN does and Jenny jumps as the wet sleeves touch
her back.
JENNY
Take your shirt off.
It is difficult with Jenny around his waist, but he manages.
He drapes his arms over her. She snuggles into him. The RAIN
POUNDS ON THE ROOF. Gradually, Jenny responds to the STAR
MAN's warmth and relaxes. She lifts her head off his chest
and looks at him.
STAR MAN
What?
JENNY
Nothing.
She brushes her lips against his. The STAR MAN's not sure
what's happening. But he's not offended. Her next kiss is
full and long. He accepts it with his eyes open and when she
eases back he leans in for more. Jenny responds. As if on
command, the satel compass comes from around behind the STAR
MAN to hover in back of Jenny. He takes it between his palms
and extinguishes it.
INT. BOXCAR - MORNING
Jenny awakens and looks around. The STAR MAN is not with
her. As she stands up she hears his VOICE OUTSIDE. He is
speaking to something in his language.
She goes to the door to find out what and sees him standing
beside a fenced-in pasture talking to the horses inside.
EXT. PASTURE - MORNING
Jenny joins the STAR MAN at the fence.
JENNY
Good morning.
STAR MAN
Horses.
JENNY
You don't forget anything, do you?
STAR MAN
No.
Jenny pets one of the horses on the nose.
JENNY
(to the horse)
Hello... hello. How are you this
morning?
STAR MAN
Do they talk?!
JENNY
(laughs)
No, they don't talk... We talk to
them.
STAR MAN
I understand.
An appaloosa nudges her way through the others to the fence.
JENNY
Oh, you're pretty...
STAR MAN
I gave you a baby last night.
Shocked, Jenny looks at him from around the appaloosa's nose.
The STAR MAN is combing a horse's mane with his fingers and
he doesn't see her expression.
STAR MAN
(meaning the horses)
They are beautiful.
JENNY
Yes, they are.
STAR MAN
You have been very good to me,
Jennyhaydn.
(turns to face her)
You said you wanted a baby, so I
gave you one.
JENNY
(shakes her head 'no')
But...
STAR MAN
It will be human and it will look
like this.
(touches his face)
But when it comes it will know
everything I know and everything you
know. That is something from my planet
that I want your baby to have.
JENNY
I told you it's impossible for me to
have a baby.
STAR MAN
You will have this baby. If you want
it. If you don't, I can stop it now.
Jenny comes over and puts her arms around the STAR MAN.
JENNY
I want it.
EXT. SKY - DAY
A formation of six black Bell Cobra helicopters rush at us
out of the blue. From above them we can see that they are
heading for a small desert town. 'Welcome to Lathrop Wells'
is spelled out on a hillside in white-washed stones.
EXT. AIRSTRIP - DAY
Grubby, unshaven and unwashed, Shermin, Bell, Lyman and the
rest of the crew watch the seven Cobras land in sequence.
Fox, immaculate in a freshly pressed black flight suit, climbs
out of the first one down and he and Shermin meet in the
middle of the runway.
SHERMIN
Hello George.
FOX
Shermin...
SHERMIN
What's all this for?
FOX
We have a new directive. I'm taking
over.
SHERMIN
(scans the Cobras)
We don't have to do it that way. We
can catch him this time.
FOX
Washington thinks it's too late for
that.
SHERMIN
I've never been taken off an
assignment in my life. Give me twenty-
four hours and I'll have him for
you.
FOX
You're not hearing me.
SHERMIN
You can change a directive, George.
You've done it before. Listen to me.
He's going somewhere in Death Valley.
Lathrop Wells was never anything but
a bus stop. East is the nuclear site.
There are no roads in there. She was
teaching him to hitchhike. I'm telling
you. We block the four roads into
Death Valley and we got him.
FOX
We'll do that. But how are we going
to hold him? He can change himself
into a man. He can disappear.
SHERMIN
That's the chance we have to take.
FOX
No, we don't.
SHERMIN
Then you're going to have to do it
without me.
FOX
You're a career intelligence officer,
Shermin. You'll be in the air with
us.
SHERMIN
You're talking about taking a life.
The most unique life form on this
planet. I think we're better than
that.
EXT. LAS VEGAS - LATE AFTERNOON
A fire-engine-red Pontiac convertible with two COWBOYS (late
fifties) in the front and Jenny and the STAR MAN in the back
moves with the traffic along the main drag in the downtown
area. The STAR MAN's head swivels from side to side trying
to take in the neon that juts up around him. The convertible
stops at a light. The cowboy on the passenger side opens the
door and tips his hat to Jenny as she and the Star Man get
out of the back seat.
EXT. SIDEWALK (LAS VEGAS) - LATE AFTERNOON
The STAR MAN is afraid of the crush of people and wants to
stay close to Jenny, but is fascinated by the whir and click
and jingle of the one-armed bandits that seem to be
everywhere.
STAR MAN
Is this gambling?
Jenny nods. A LADY in curlers and pedal pushers hits a twenty
dollar jackpot. Hanging onto Jenny's hand the STAR MAN turns
around and walks sideways to watch the quarters tumble out
into the lady's shopping bag.
STAR MAN
The cowboys were right. You can make
money fast gambling.
JENNY
You don't make money gambling. You
lose it.
INT. DRUG STORE - LATE AFTERNOON
The STAR MAN hangs back to examine a one-armed bandit inside
the front door while Jenny goes to the counter. An almost
imperceptible blue haze seems to seep from under the STAR
MAN's palms as he runs his hands up and down the sides of
the machine.
JENNY (V.O.)
(to the clerk)
Do you have a good map of Death
Valley?
CLERK (V.O.)
We should have. Let me see.
While the clerk searches for the map the STAR MAN comes up
to Jenny.
STAR MAN
May I have twenty-five cents, please?
JENNY
What for?
STAR MAN
I want to gamble.
Jenny sighs and rolls her eyes and fishes two quarters out
of her purse and hands them to him.
JENNY
Here are two quarters. When you lose
these, you're not going to get
anymore.
STAR MAN
I understand.
(heading back to the
machine)
Thank you.
He drops a quarter into the slot and pulls the handle. While
the pictures of fruit spin behind the view window, his hands
stroke the sides of the machine. An orange, a pear and a
cherry stop in the view window. At the counter Jenny explains
to the clerk that she is hitchhiking and wants the busiest
route into Death Valley without going through Lathrop Wells.
The STAR MAN looks long and hard at the machine before putting
in his last quarter. He pulls the handle. The blue haze flows
from his palms, three cherries lock into a line and the one-
armed bandit begins to spit quarters.
INT. CASINO - LATE AFTERNOON
Jenny is nervous about being here. She feels every face that
looks at them could be a cop. The STAR MAN is pulling her
through a Maginot Line of slot machines toward a 'Super
Jackpot' machine that advertises a $275,000 payoff.
JENNY
This is crazy. We don't have time
for this.
STAR MAN
I know how to gamble now.
JENNY
You won ten dollars. Big deal. If we
don't get a good ride before dark we
could miss your ship.
STAR MAN
I want to get money for you and the
baby.
JENNY
I don't need any money for the baby.
I'll be fine.
STAR MAN
Inflation, tuition, college. Children
are damned expensive. I know.
JENNY
The cook again?
STAR MAN
(stepping up to the
'Super Jackpot')
Yes.
JENNY
If I ever run into that guy, I'm
going to kick his ass.
The STAR MAN pops a gleaming silver dollar into the machine,
pulls the handle and places his hands against the metal.
Jenny, knowing it can't work, but hoping that it will, stands
back and gnaws on her thumb. Then she sees the blue haze
vibrating out of the STAR MAN's palms. Jenny stifles a scream.
She looks around to see if anybody else has noticed. They
haven't. The STAR MAN smiles at her. The force field does
it's work. A picket line of 7's fills the view window. Amid
the jangle of bells and flashing lights that accompany a
winner Jenny doesn't know whether she should jump for joy or
hide her face.
EXT. DESERT HIGHWAY - DUSK
A dot in the distance becomes a brand new Camaro. As it blasts
away from under us we see a paper license in its back window.
The cabin light is on inside the car.
INT. CAMARO - DUSK
In the passenger seat the STAR MAN is riffling through a
Columbia "History of the World." A Webster's Dictionary is
on the dash in front of him. Wedged between his legs and the
transmission well is a shopping bag full of money.
JENNY
It'll tell you pretty much everything
about us...
STAR MAN
This is very interesting. We are
born knowing our history. We have
other books. But not a book like
this.
JENNY
Any words you don't know you can
find in the dictionary.
STAR MAN
I understand.
JENNY
It'll give you the different
countries, how they came to be, what
they are now, how America came to
be, the governments, the languages...
everything.
STAR MAN
(chuckles)
Many of my people will not believe
those things are possible. On my
planet there is only one government,
one people, one language. I will be
asked a lot of questions.
JENNY
What will you say about us?
STAR MAN
I will say that we can be friends.
JENNY
We can.
She notices the green ring on her left hand and takes it
off.
JENNY
This is yours...
STAR MAN
If you want to keep it, you can.
JENNY
I'd like to...
She slips it back on her finger above her wedding band. They
drive in silence. The STAR MAN sets the history book on the
dash.
JENNY
(takes the ring off
again)
Would you put some of your singing
in this for the baby?
STAR MAN
You want the baby to laugh at me.
JENNY
Yes.
EXT. DESERT HIGHWAY - DUSK
With the STAR MAN SINGING IN HIS LANGUAGE, the Camaro moves
further into Death Valley. The SONG FADES and we:
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. DESERT HIGHWAY - NIGHT
The Camaro blows by a gas station, closed for the night.
INT. CAMARO - NIGHT
The STAR MAN shifts restlessly in his seat as he searches
the ghostly landscape for something familiar. He activates
the satel compass. The red and green dots are touching.
JENNY
How long will it take you to get
home?
STAR MAN
(absently)
Many, many days and nights...
He presses the satel compass into his palms.
JENNY
Would you like to listen to some
music?
The STAR MAN shakes his head "no."
JENNY
I'm sure we could find a country and
western station.
STAR MAN
No, thank you.
Jenny takes his hand in hers.
JENNY
Don't worry. Everything's going to
be fine.
The STAR MAN smiles wanly at her.
JENNY
(leans forward to
look up at night sky)
Which star is yours?
It only takes the STAR MAN an instant to find his home.
STAR MAN
There.
JENNY
Where?
He directs Jenny's attention to the constellation Auriga.
STAR MAN
(meaning the star
Capella)
The yellow one.
JENNY
Oh, wow... I'll tell you what. When
the baby is born, we'll go out in my
back yard and wave to you.
STAR MAN
(smiles)
I will wave to you.
All we can HEAR are the TIRES HUMMING over the road. The
Camaro rounds the side of a low hill.
STAR MAN
Oh, shit!
Jenny slams on the brakes. One of the Cobra helicopters, lit
from the inside, is parked next to a line of flares across
the road ahead.
EXT. CLOSED GAS STATION - NIGHT
The STAR MAN is looking through a window at the repair bay,
lit by a work light. Jenny is standing in a phone shell on
the front of the garage, the receiver to her ear.
The STAR MAN moves to the office door. He tries the knob. It
is locked.
JENNY
(to the STAR MAN)
They're trying to get him.
Suddenly the STAR MAN slams his shoulder against the door.
It swings open.
JENNY
What are you doing?!!
Fox's voice comes out of the receiver in her hand.
FOX (V.O.)
Mrs. Haydn...
INT. COBRA - NIGHT
FOX
(speaking into a
headset)
This is George Fox...
JENNY (V.O.)
I want to speak to Marc Shermin.
FOX
You can speak to me, Mrs. Haydn. I'm
in charge of this operation now.
EXT. CLOSED STATION - NIGHT
JENNY
If I don't speak to Mr. Shermin, I'm
hanging up.
FOX (V.O.)
(a beat)
Okay...
Tethered by the phone cord, Jenny tries to see what the STAR
MAN is doing inside the repair bay.
INT. REPAIR BAY - NIGHT
Using an air filter top as a basket, the STAR MAN scavenges
from the work bench and the car up on the lift, fuses, lengths
of wire, circuit boards from a radio, tubing, metal pipe and
a Black and Decker drill. While he is doing this we get
glimpses of Jenny pleading his case on the phone. Finally,
leaving the receiver dangling at the end of its cord, she
comes around to stand in the doorway.
JENNY
Mr. Shermin wants to speak to you.
INT. SHERMIN'S HELICOPTER - NIGHT
JENNY (V.O.)
Here he is.
Shermin looks warily at the headset. When the STAR MAN doesn't
speak immediately, he takes the initiative.
SHERMIN
Hello...
STAR MAN (V.O.)
I must get to my ship, Mr. Shermin.
SHERMIN
We can't let you do that.
STAR MAN (V.O.)
I don't want to hurt anybody. I just
want to go home.
INT. COBRA - NIGHT
Fox is listening to the conversation.
SHERMIN (V.O.)
All the roads into Death Valley are
blocked. We'd like to talk to you.
STAR MAN (V.O.)
If I talk to you, I will miss my
ship.
SHERMIN (V.O.)
Hold on a minute... Let's take the
chance, George.
FOX
No deal.
EXT. CLOSED GAS STATION - NIGHT
SHERMIN (V.O.)
I'm afraid we can't let you go.
STAR MAN
I understand.
He hangs up.
INT. REPAIR BAY - NIGHT
The STAR MAN shaves the rubber off the electrical lines
leading into the fuse box and clips two wires of his own
onto the exposed copper. With Jenny watching we have a montage
of the STAR MAN working through the night: modifying the
insides of the Black and Decker drill, cutting out the mid-
section above the trigger, fitting electrical components
into that area, screwing a pipe into the bit-clamp, welding
it together with the spark that arcs between the electrical
wires.
INT. OFFICE (GAS STATION) - NIGHT
Jenny folds a sheaf of money into a sheet of yellow paper
and props it on the cash register. 'For Damages. Thank You'
is scribbled on the front. She runs out to catch the STAR
MAN who is on his way to the Camaro.
EXT. CAMARO - NIGHT
Carrying the modified Black and Decker drill the STAR MAN
opens the driver's door.
JENNY
Where do you think you're going?
STAR MAN
Thank you, Jennyhaydn. You are good.
I must go alone now.
JENNY
I said I would get you to your ship
and that's where we're going to say
goodbye.
INT. CAMARO - NIGHT
Both hands on the wheel, Jenny is burning down the center
line. The STAR MAN bends two thin wires trailing out from
the grip of the drill. Jenny winces as he buries them into
the flesh on either side of his left wrist. The car skates
around the corner of a low hill. They can see that the Cobra
is still sitting next to the road.
JENNY
(glancing at the
modified drill)
I hope that works.
The STAR MAN is lost in concentration.
Jenny kills her lights and glues the accelerator to the floor.
Three MEN scramble from the helicopter with M16s. A BURST OF
SLUGS RIPS THROUGH the Camaro's WINDSHIELD. The STAR MAN
leans out the passenger window and with an other-worldly
scream, fires. The helicopter is BLOWN TO SMITHEREENS. The
concussion throws the men to the ground.
EXT. BURNING HELICOPTER - NIGHT
The Camaro whizzes through the falling DEBRIS.
INT. CAMARO - NIGHT
JENNY
It works.
The STAR MAN slumps in exhaustion and pain.
STAR MAN
I do not know how many times I can
do this.
INT. SHERMIN'S HELICOPTER - NIGHT
It is filled with the radio voices of the Cobra crews setting
up to attack the Camaro.
EXT. DESERT HIGHWAY - NIGHT
The Camaro becomes airborne at the crest of a dip. Only its
new shocks save the landing.
INT. CAMARO - NIGHT
The STAR MAN draws the satel compass out between his palms.
The green dot now covers the right half of the red dot. He
presses his palms together and looks past Jenny at the rugged
foothills.
The first light of day is starting to color the sky behind
them. Jenny and the STAR MAN are startled by the DRUMMING
WHOMP OF A HELICOPTER. The STAR MAN looks out the window for
its source. He can't see anything. The SOUND FADES. In a
moment, it is REPEATED ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CAR and AGAIN
IT FADES.
STAR MAN
If my ship is not here, we are in
trouble.
This is a truism that Jenny doesn't want to hear and she
flexes her fingers on the wheel.
STAR MAN
(points at a
distinctive cone
peak)
That's where we landed last time.
Right under that mountain.
Jenny and the STAR MAN steady themselves for the last leg of
their journey. Suddenly, their silence is exploded by a COBRA
dropping out of the sky in front of them. Its searchlight
bangs into their faces and, with its thirty-calibre MACHINE
GUNS BLAZING, it comes straight at them.
Jenny yanks the Camaro onto the shoulder. The SLUGS CHEW UP
the asphalt beside it. She fishtails back onto the road. A
SECOND COBRA surprises them from the STAR MAN's side. Its
MACHINE GUN KNOCKS OUT the BACK WINDOW before he can FIRE.
The STAR MAN crawls over his seat and arranges himself in
the hole that was the back window to meet the Cobras' next
FIRING RUN. It doesn't take them long. The first two have
been joined by a THIRD. They swoop down on the Camaro.
INT. LEAD HELICOPTER - NIGHT
The gunsights lock on the car below. The CO-PILOT squeezes
the trigger.
EXT. CAMARO - NIGHT
SHOTS THUMP INTO the trunk in front of the STAR MAN and he
FIRES. The lead HELICOPTER ERUPTS, raining pieces of hot
metal over the desert floor. The other helicopters are jarred
out of their run and their BULLETS harmlessly KICK UP SAND
on the shoulder. Before they can regroup, the STAR MAN BLOWS
THEM OUT OF THE SKY.
JENNY
In front!!! In front!!!
The STAR MAN has to hang on as Jenny dodges the car out of
the path of a Cobra skimming over the highway toward them.
As it goes over, he is able to get off a SHOT directly INTO
its UNDERBELLY. The BALL OF FLAME almost engulfs the Camaro.
INT. CAMARO - NIGHT
The STAR MAN slumps down into the back seat breathing hard.
Jenny looks over her shoulder at him and is shocked at the
strain that shows on his face.
JENNY
Hang on.
She throws the car into a skid and leaves the blacktop for a
dirt road winding between two low hills.
EXT. DESERT - NIGHT
At the base of a sandstone cliff, the Camaro slides to a
stop. Jenny helps the STAR MAN out. She supports him as they
struggle toward the protection of the boulders. Fox's Cobra
roars over the hill.
INT. COBRA - NIGHT
FOX
(spots the car)
Over there.
EXT. DESERT - NIGHT
The STAR MAN turns toward the Cobra. Weakly, he raises his
weapon and pulls the trigger. Nothing happens. The searchlight
from the Cobra finds them. Its machine guns begin to raise
puffs of gravel around them. Jenny grabs the STAR MAN's arm
and pulls him into the relative safety of the rocks. The
STAR MAN collapses against the cool stone.
STAR MAN
(gasps)
I can't shoot anymore.
Jenny looks out between the crags. Shermin's helicopter
arrives to join the Cobra. With their searchlights flicking
over the sagebrush, they move cautiously toward the cliff.
Jenny turns back to the STAR MAN. He is too weak to run
anymore.
JENNY
(touches his shoulder
lightly)
I won't let anyone hurt you.
INT. FOX'S HELICOPTER - NIGHT
FOX
Watch it. They're coming out.
INT. SHERMIN'S HELICOPTER - NIGHT
Six images (close-up to full shot) of Jenny and the STAR MAN
stepping out of their hiding place fill the television screens
in front of Shermin.
FOX (V.O.)
End it, Shermin.
Lyman taps his keyboard. The screens all change to a long-
shot of Jenny and the STAR MAN with cross-hairs superimposed
on them.
EXT. DESERT - NIGHT
Shermin's helicopter moves toward Jenny and the STAR MAN
standing helpless in the circle thrown by the searchlight.
INT. SHERMIN'S HELICOPTER - NIGHT
The cross-hairs have locked on Jenny and the STAR MAN. Shermin
knows he can't do it. He picks up a headset.
SHERMIN
George... Do you hear me, George?
FOX (V.O.)
What?
SHERMIN
I just retired.
FOX (V.O.)
Shermin!! Shermin!!!
Shermin flips a switch on the console that cuts Fox off.
SHERMIN
(to his crew)
Let's get out of here.
EXT. DESERT - NIGHT
Shermin's helicopter passes over the heads of Jenny and the
STAR MAN and rises into the dawn sky.
INT. COBRA - NIGHT
FOX
Shermin!!!
He throws down his headset.
FOX
(to the pilot)
Lock in.
The gunsights lock in on Jenny and the STAR MAN. Fox's grip
tightens on the trigger. Suddenly the helicopter begins to
vibrate and drift off its target. Fox looks toward the sound
coming from his right and his eyes widen in fear as he sees
the STAR MAN's ship looming over him.
EXT. DESERT - NIGHT
The spacecraft passes over the top of the helicopter. The
whirling downdraft emanating from the spaceship's underbelly
yanks the Cobra away from Jenny and the STAR MAN and whips
it into a spin which gets faster and faster until it
disintegrates and falls to the desert floor.
EXT. DESERT - NIGHT
Jenny and the STAR MAN shield their faces against the DUST
STORM that billows under the WHINING DESCENT of the
spacecraft. It settles into a landing across the dirt road
resting on its three pods. With a crack, a cone of bright
white light blasts from the underside.
JENNY
Well...
STAR MAN
I must go.
Jenny nods.
STAR MAN
What do I do now?
JENNY
You say you love me and kiss me
'goodbye.'
The STAR MAN puts his arms around her and holds her tight.
STAR MAN
I love you.
JENNY
(her head on his
shoulder)
I'm never going to see you again, am
I?
STAR MAN
No.
He kisses the tears out of her eyes, then full on the mouth.
JENNY
I love you.
The STAR MAN steps back and places a hand on Jenny's stomach.
STAR MAN
Tell the baby about me.
JENNY
I will.
STAR MAN
Goodbye.
He turns from her and walks to his ship. Jenny watches him
go, then remembers something.
JENNY
Wait!!
She gets the Webster's Dictionary and the Columbia History
of the World from the Camaro and runs to the STAR MAN. He
takes them and kisses her again.
STAR MAN
Thank you, Jennyhaydn.
Jenny backs away as the STAR MAN walks under the ship into
the white light. He waves one last time to Jenny and is
swallowed into the ship by the light.
EXT. DESERT - NIGHT
Jenny turns away from the stinging sand as the space-craft
lifts off. When she looks again, it is high and moving over
the foothills. A banking turn brings it back. The ship dips
low over her, rocks itself in a gesture of farewell, then
shoots off into the stars. When she can no longer see it,
Jenny drops her wave with a sigh and starts back toward the
Camaro.
Over her walk, we SUPER:
JENNY HAYDN GAVE BIRTH TO AN EIGHT-POUND, SEVEN-OUNCE BABY
BOY ON MARCH 10TH.
FADE OUT:
THE END
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