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RED MARS
FADE IN:
EXT. EARTH - VIEWED FROM SPACE
A perfect blue marble - clouds, oceans, continents. A voice begins
to speak. An older, wise voice. Bud Chantilas. We'll meet him later.
CHANTILAS (V.O.)
The Earth. From space. In all its glory, the most perfect, self-regulating
organism you could imagine. We went out there; we turned around;
we looked back; we saw it. You'd think we'd behold and learn something.
(beat)
We didn't.
The DATE APPEARS in one corner of the screen. 1961.
CHANTILAS (V.O.)
It was 1961 when we first went into space. There were four billion
people in the world.
The POPULATION APPEARS in the other.
CHANTILAS (V.O.)
And at a rate that was scarcely comprehensible, we began to poison
and populate our planet.
DATE SPINS, the POPULATION as well. The big, sparkling blue marble
that is Earth begins to lose its luster and slowly turns gray. By
the year 2000, the population is six billion.
CHANTILAS (V.O.)
We increased by 80 million people a year. Pumped out our toxins
beyond measure. Destroyed our resources killed forests, trees, plants,
animals...Anything that couldn't be trademarked and sold at a profit
we annihilated without a thought. We killed half of what was on
the planet. We didn't care. Right about the millennium, we got another
warning...
DISSOLVE TO:
PERFECTLY ROUND LILY PAD
in the midst of a pond. Surrounded by hundreds of dead, dying and
deformed frogs.
CHANTILAS (V.O.)
We killed all the frogs. Every frog on the face of the planet.
We'd killed species before, sure, even a genus or two. But this
time we wiped out an entire phylum. As the frogs breathe through
their skin and react to toxins in the environment faster, this should
have been a warning, canary in the coal mine kind of thing.
The last frog dies.
CHANTILAS (V.O.)
Nah, we didn't pay any attention to that either. The only people
who were really upset were the French. And no one really likes the
French. We -
DISSOLVE BACK TO:
EXT. EARTH - VIEWED FROM SPACE
DATE and POPULATION begin to WHIR again. The planet grows dimmer
and dimmer. The oceans grayer and grayer.
CHANTILAS (V.O.)
By 2050 there were 12 billion people. It took us 100 years to go
from the Industrial Revolution to putting a man in space. It took
us only another 100 to poison and overpopulate the planet so seriously
that if we didn't go out and find somewhere else to live, we realized
we were gonna die out as a species ourselves in the next two generations.
FADE OUT.
FADE IN:
A billion stars. We PULL BACK THROUGH -
EXT. ARES - DAY
A spaceship unlike anything you've seen. Thirteen spheres up front,
cuboctoahedral packing. The MEV (Mars Entry Vehicle), a large cylinder
behind. The whole thing is slowly turning.
SUPERIMPOSE: FIRST MANNED MISSION TO MARS (DAY 190)
The ship floats by to reveal -
EXT. MARS
Red, huge, and very close. OVER which we hear -
BOWMAN (V.O.)
Houston, we are go for Mars orbit acquisition.
CAPCOM (V.O.)
You are go. Nice flight. Godspeed.
Engines light up in the back of the craft. The ship heads down towards
Mars. Enters orbit. Disappears around the back side.
SUPERIMPOSE: MARS - FOURTH PLANET FROM THE SUN
The WORD SUN STARTS TO BLAZE BRIGHTER AND BRIGHTER, FILLING the
SCREEN until we are LOOKING AT -
EXT. SUN
A writhing ball of plasma. The surface roils, waves of energy pass
by and a flare starts to grow and expand out from one quadrant like
a giant volcanic eruption.
INT. SOLAR OBSERVATORY (EARTH) - DAY
Two SOLAR ASTRONOMERS stare with mouths agape at the heliostat.
Monitors around record the event as well.
SOLAR ASTRONOMER
Jesus...It's gotta be 800,000 miles long. It's gonna shut down
every comm satellite on this side of the planet.
ALARMS are starting to BUZZ.
SOLAR ASTRONOMER
The good news is it's directional, most of it's gonna miss us.
INT. MISSION CONTROL (HOUSTON) - DAY
More ALARMS. Science Officer, ANDY LOWENTHAL, turns to the Flight
Director, MATT RUSSERT.
LOWENTHAL
The bad news is it's directional, and most of it's going toward
Mars. Sub-light speed. It'll take 40 minutes to get there.
RUSSERT
Let 'em know.
He looks to the Capcom, JOHN SKAVLEM. News gets worse.
SKAVLEM
No comm. They're on backside. They'll be clear in...40 minutes.
(NOTE All the crew in mission control wear small Projected Image
Monocles (PIMs) over their dominant eye. There are no giant viewscreens
dominating the room as in missions past. When so moved, the flight
director can throw an image on a large general viewscreen. But unless
noted, there are no projected images in the room.)
EXT. MARS ORBIT - NIGHT
Dark side of Mars. The Ares is a slightly shining speck, moving
towards the horizon and light. At 17,000 mph.
INT. ARES - FLIGHT DECK - NIGHT
Commander KATE BOWMAN is at the helm. She's got a kind of quiet
assurance. You'd like her. Mission co-pilot ED SANTEN is beside
and behind her. She speaks into a mike to rest of the ship -
BOWMAN
We have stable orbit. We've got three laps around, ninety minutes
each. In four and a half hours, we will launch the Mars Entry Vehicle.
ROBBY GALLAGHER floats in through the hatch in the back. He's been
waiting 309 million miles for this -
GALLAGHER
Are we there yet?
Kate shakes her head. She's about to respond when -
EXT. SPACE
They just clear the edge of the planet, lights hit them and...
INT. ARES - FLIGHT DECK
Wham. One light starts to flicker to red. And then another. Some
just go off.
BOWMAN
What the hell??
Santen reaches for the RADIO as it begins to blare STATIC.
SANTEN
Comm's out.
Bowman begins to rapidly reset states. Some hold, some flip back
to red. Things are bad, but she's calm. Decides.
BOWMAN
Single event upsets. All over the board. Latch up. Free flow. We're
gonna lose chips. Shut it down.
SANTEN
Shut it down?
Safety BUZZERS start to go off.
BOWMAN
Everything. SEP, some kind of massive flare.
(then; into the intercom)
Gentlemen, correction, we will launch on this pass. In fact...in
five.
Santen is shutting off every system he can get his hands on. She
reaches to finish it off herself.
BOWMAN
Proton flux. MULTIPLE Event Upsets. Ed, bye.
Santen is out of his seat and heading back as fast as he can. Gallagher
behind him. ALARMS ring now as he rushes out, the artificial gravity
begins to fail.
INT. ARES - MULTIPLE DECKS
The crew madly scrambling everywhere.
On the MEV DECK, BUD CHANTILAS, Chief Science Officer (60s, graying)
is pulling himself into a spacesuit.
Popping out of his bunk and into the wall, CHIP PETTENGILL (30s,
a little dour), grabs a satchel of personal possessions and swims
off down an access tube.
Gallagher and Santen rush along, careening off the walls.
Emerging onto the MEV deck, looking absolutely calm, COOPER BURCHENAL
(40s, weathered, unconcerned) stops at an intercom station, presses
a toggle -
BURCHENAL
Katherine, you could probably cut off that caterwauling now. I'm
up from my nap.
A moment later, the ALARM CEASES.
INT. MARS ENTRY VEHICLE
6 High G couches are faceted about the interior walls, crew names
stenciled on them. (Bowman's remains conspicuously empty.) Santen
straps himself in. Chantilas, Burchenal, Pettengill, and Gallagher
stream aboard. Start cinching themselves in as -
INT. ARES - FLIGHT DECK - DAY
Kate continues to try to shut the ship down. Some circuits do, others
flicker/free flow and refuse to stop. One particular circuit will
clear, but only as long as she holds it shut manually - MEV Launch
Release. Only takes her a moment to decide. She's not happy, but
tries not to let her concern show as -
BOWMAN
Gentlemen, it seems I will not be able to join you and will maintain
the manual release for the MEV from the Flight Deck.
SANTEN (V.O.)
Commander!?!
She has no time or inclination to engage in discussion about her
decision.
BOWMAN
You are go for Mars descent, Lieutenant. On my signal.
INT. MEV
Santen powers up the smaller craft. Seals the door. He can't believe
he's doing this, but he has no choice.
SANTEN
We are green across the board.
The last of them finish torquing themselves down. Gallagher toggles
his intercom to Bowman -
GALLAGHER
Promise you won't leave if we don't like it there.
INT. ARES - FLIGHT DECK
She responds in kind. Keeps her tone as light as she can...
BOWMAN
I promise.
(then)
Lieutenant Santen, you have control authority of the MEV. Now.
She holds the circuit closed...
INT. MEV
Lights are starting to flicker off on the board. Waiting is not
a good plan. Santen calls out quickly -
SANTEN
Crew secure??!
ALL OF THEM
Secure. Secure. Secure. Secure.
Santen slams two large buttons on either side of him.
EXT. ARES - MEV CYLINDER - DAY
Explosive bolts blow the two halves of the cylinder away. The MEV
is an icosahedron revealed inside. As this is space, and a vacuum,
there is no sound.
INT. MEV - DAY
However, in here, it's LOUD. EXPLOSION REVERBERATES. Half a moment
later, ANOTHER EXPLOSION and -
EXT. ARES - DAY
The MEV is blown free of the Ares. Again, oddly silent. Small maneuvering
MOTORS BURN for a moment, starting the MEV out of orbit and in free
fall towards Mars.
It drops, drops, drops and disappears, friction blazing as...
INT. ARES - FLIGHT DECK - DAY
There are still free-flows all over the board. Bowman can't get
them to shut down. They flicker, pop on and off. Systems start and
shut down and start up again all over the ship. Checks the COMM
again. Still STATIC.
INT. ARES SPHERE SIX
Control panel on the wall. We hear a CLICKING. Inside the panel,
we see the switch sputtering on/off. It fails, arcs. Smoke begins
to wisp out.
INT ARES - FLIGHT DECK - DAY
A red light comes on. Soft BUZZ. Kate turns. It's a smoke warning
in sphere six.
INT. ARES - VARIOUS DECKS - DAY
Bowman rushes through A sphere that's a garden. Another with orchids
growing on walls. Artwork on huge LCD screens...Pulls open panels
and slaps down banks of breakers as she goes. Rooms turn dark, the
artwork disappears. Only phosphorescent safety lights remain. More
ALARMS.
INT. ARES - SPHERE SIX
Bowman yanks out a fire extinguisher. Sprays down the offending
area. She is, of course, hurled across the room by the force. For
a moment, though, it looks like she's succeeded. Smoke begins to
wisp out again. She pushes over, anchors her feet and jams the nozzle
into a fire port. Empties it. This time it seems as if she's prevailed.
And then a gentle voice on the intercom.
ANNUNCIATOR (V.O.)
Fire. Sphere 5. Fire. Sphere 5. Smoke. Sphere 8. Smoke. Sphere
8.
She still doesn't panic. Hurls herself down another access tube
and...
EXT. MARS - DAY
Way up in the sky, we can see the tiny flare of the MEV entering
the atmosphere. A moment later, a SONIC BOOM reaches us.
INT. ARES
Bowman fights a fire in another sphere. Dark now except for the
flickering flames. This time we see them otherworldly round and
glowing in the zero G. Smoke's in the air it's getting hard to breathe.
She puts out the fire, but from the ALARMS, it's clear she's now
fighting a losing battle.
INT. ARES - MAINTENANCE LEVEL/MEV DECK - DAY
Kate rushes in. Starts pulling master breakers. LIGHTS are EXPLODING
as the power surges. She's surrounded by a cloud of glittering glass
fragments. We can see the fire/smoke panel lit up nearby. The news
is bad. Half of the lights are red. She yanks on a spacesuit. Slaps
on a small oxygen container. Locks on the waist, wrists. Reaches
back to what seems to be a gelatinous hood. Pulls it over her head,
locks the front down and the helmet turns rigid and transparent.
She throws the last breaker. Life Support. The ship is now dead,
but still burning. She clips herself in with a set of safety tethers
and...throws open the main hatch.
INT. ARES - DAY
The venting air crystallizes in a huge white plume. Papers, books,
cups, clothing flies forth as well.
INT. ARES - MAINTENANCE LEVEL/MEV DOCK
Bowman is sucked towards the open hatch. Tethers hold. Watching
all her air escape is not a calming moment.
INT. ARES MULTIPLE DECKS
Without oxygen, the fires subside and die. All of them. The ship
is still and dead.
INT. MAINTENANCE LEVEL/MEV DOCK
Total silence. Fire lights are out. Kate shuts the hatch. Finally
she lets herself begin to react. Starts to hyperventilate and shake
inside her spacesuit.
EXT. MARS SURFACE
The MEV has crash-landed. It's a wreck. Air bags deflate. Half have
been destroyed. The icosahedron attempts to unfold. A figure struggles
out of the shattered craft, collapses on the ground.
GALLAGHER
It wasn't supposed to be like this.
FLASHBACK - EXT. JOHNSON SPACE CENTER - DAY
SUPERIMPOSE: LAUNCH MINUS 9 DAYS
The air is gray, thick. Stragglers in heavy protective gear struggle
through the fetid wind to an airlock on the side of...
INT. NASA BRIEFING HALL - DAY
...and join hundreds of journalists in the audience. Lights dim.
In front, face lit from below at a podium, Senior Scientist HAROLD
ERNEST, 60s, head of the Space Exploration Office.
ERNEST
As many of you may know, in 2032 the Space Exploration Office began
a series of unmanned flights to Mars.
The entire wall behind him, 40 feet by 100 feet, is a vid screen.
As he speaks the images appear. Not as if he's narrating to the
footage, but as if it's voice activated.
ERNEST
It had been determined by 2020 that Mars harbored no life. Although
beginning with the same resources as Earth four billion years ago,
Mars didn't support any life beyond the microbial stage in the last
300 million years. Nor did it have an atmosphere or climate supportive
of human life.
Exactly as he describes it, it occurs. (Icecaps melt, temperature
gradients rise, etc.). In the audience are hundreds of journalists
watching.
ERNEST
It was, however, concluded that Mars was receptive to terraforming.
If we could raise the temperature of the planet by only four degrees,
the resultant melting of the ice caps would increase the density
of the atmosphere, thus holding greater heat, melting the icecaps
further. We could use the greenhouse effect to our benefit. To do
this, we needed to increase the oxygen content of the atmosphere.
Resultingly, a series of probes were sent, each releasing further
and further genetically manipulated lichen and algaes designed to
stand the rigors of the Martian environment while augmenting the
oxygen content of the Martian atmosphere. In the last 28 years,
we have sent 2200 probes. The terraforming was initially successful.
We see the probes launching and bursting in aerosol deployments
over the Martian surface. Algae blooms. Red, orange, green, black,
burnt sienna. Every color you can imagine. Valleys covered with
color.
ERNEST
The average temperature on Mars has increased two and a half degrees
over the last three decades. The oxygen content began to increase
as well. And then eleven months ago, the O2 on Mars suddenly began
to decline. Soon after, all the remote sensors on the planet ceased
functioning. We have no idea what's gone wrong. We need to know
why. Man's very destiny may lie in the answer.
The color on Mars ebbs away.
ERNEST
We are about to embark on the greatest mission of human exploration.
By using a number of Heavy Lift Launch Vehicles and a modified close
lunar cargo ship, we have created a vessel capable of journeying
to Mars.
We see construction being rushed along and Hab-1 (a kind of big
space RV) landing and deploying on Mars as -
ERNEST
Three months ago, Hab-1, an unmanned living environment, was launched.
In nine days Ares-1, our first manned mission, will be sent to Mars.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the first men and women to travel
beyond the reach of Earth to the next planet in the solar system.
Light comes up on the crew.
ERNEST
Lt. Commander Katherine Bowman will supervise the flight component
of our mission. Commander Bowman has 2200 hours in space. She will
be assisted by Pilot and Mission Specialist Ed Santen.
(next)
And we're pleased to have Dr. Bud Chantilas come out of retirement
as our Chief Science Officer. Bud brings a view as a generalist
few can offer, with a Nobel in chemistry and a MacGregor in molecular
biology. He was off getting another Ph.D., this time in...
(checks)
...theology when we asked him to join us.
(next)
Dr. Chip Pettengill, who until recently has held the number two
position in the Terraforming Office, is an expert in extremophile
and cryptoendolithic biology.
(then)
Dr. Cooper Burchenal, late of Western BioTech has left the private
sector to help us.
(last)
And we are also joined by Robert Gallagher.
Santen turns to Kate and quietly mutters.
SANTEN
The janitor.
His MIKE was on. It ECHOES across the room. But Gallagher's too
quick to let him try to apologize anyhow.
GALLAGHER
That's technically space janitor.
Crowd likes this. Gallagher continues -
GALLAGHER
When the toilet breaks 80 million miles from the nearest hardware
store, they call me. Actually, they called me now 'cause then would
be too late.
ERNEST
To be more precise, Mr. Gallagher is the Mechanical Systems Engineer.
We're glad to have him along.
Ernest moves on quickly.
ERNEST
We stand on the threshold of the most triumphant moment of the
millennium. Science has brought us here, and science will take us
further.
CUT TO:
END FLASHBACK
EXT. MARS SURFACE - DAY
The MEV is horrendously battered. It's a wonder they're alive. Chantilas
is propped against a rock, moving a device the size of a hardback
book across his abdomen. It's a kind of combination x-ray/sonogram.
Doesn't like what he sees. Puts it aside for the moment without
discussing it with the others.
Gallagher emerges from the MEV dragging some tools and other salvaged
gear. (NOTE All communication is via the VOX radios in their spacesuits.)
CHANTILAS
What've we got?
GALLAGHER
The radio's dead. Rover's dead. AMEE's dead. You gave me a shop
and three months and I could get this thing set for orbital re-entry.
Otherwise...it's staying here.
Santen's climbed to the top of a nearby outcropping of rock. Surveys
the area
red sky, blue clouds, rocks.
BURCHENAL
Anything?
SANTEN
No.
PETTENGILL
Great. We put up with your shit for three hundred million miles,
so you could crash-land us on Mars. Just fucking great.
BURCHENAL
By all rights, son, we should be dead. That was a decent piece
of flying.
SANTEN
We have a mission to accomplish, people...
PETTENGILL
We'll be dead in eight hours anyhow when the air runs out. 'Cause
megapilot missed the landing site. There is no more fucking mission.
That puts it all into perspective.
GALLAGHER
So, where the hell are we?
SANTEN
The G.P.S. was tied to the radios...which are dead. Transponder
on the Hab was tied to the nav computer...
GALLAGHER
...which is dead. Didn't the boys at NASA pack us a compass?
BURCHENAL
There's no magnetic core on Mars. Wouldn't do any good.
Gallagher considers all this for a moment.
GALLAGHER
I don't think I like this planet.
CHANTILAS
Best guess. Where do you think we are?
Santen shrugs. As much as you can shrug in a spacesuit.
SANTEN
Somewhere downrange.
Santen pulls his HHC out of a pocket on his thigh. 2050 descendant
of a laptop. Mutters at it. It whizzes past all Hab info
schematics, the standard 360 degree pan from the landing site,
topo map of Mars. Zooms in to show where the Hab was deployed.
SANTEN
Based on the last uncorrupted nav state, and given that we were
in a full manual descent with no computer correction, I'd say...in
this 60x120 mile ellipse.
Okay. That's big. There's a long moment of resignation. It's a little
irrational, but then, re the HHC -
BURCHENAL
We've got every other mission variable in here, we ought to be
able to figure aerobrake friction and the speed and orbit of the
Ares when we exited. We should be able to close in on the downrange
variables. Tighten up the ellipse. It's about the math.
Gallagher can't believe it.
GALLAGHER
This is it. This is that moment they told us about in high school.
Where one day again we'd use algebra. And it would save our lives.
And I thought they were fucking kidding.
Gallagher turns in frustration and walks away. Chantilas calls to
him -
CHANTILAS
Stay in range. A thousand yards. And your radio's line of sight.
GALLAGHER
Right, I wouldn't want to get lost.
He continues to wander off. We can hear them discussing drag coefficients
and whatnot. It just makes him ill.
Gallagher stares out at the Martian plain. It would be kinda cool.
Except for the fact he's gonna die here. He's pissed and frightened.
Yanks his HHC out. Mutters, images appear. All the Hab details.
Stares at the map and then the 360 degree panorama. Back at the
map. Back at the panorama. Something about it strikes him. Looks
at it some more. He gets up, looks around. Looks around some more.
Heads back to the guys...
GALLAGHER
I don't think it's about math. I don't like math, so I'm biased.
I think it's about the picture.
He holds out the picture of the panorama. Santen dismisses him -
he's not a scientist, he's not a pilot, he should leave them alone.
SANTEN
We're not in that picture. If we were, we'd know where the Hab
was. We're trying to figure this out.
Robby ignores him, tosses a rock in the sand, wraps the the 360
degree panorama around it. Screen bends and turns translucent as
he does.
GALLAGHER
Look, say that's the lander. At about 30 degrees in the distance,
it sees this mountain with the funny top. And at about 180 degrees
it sees this funny set of twin peaks. (points)
Now I see this mountain over there. And these peaks over there
behind me almost on a straight line. And then there's this other
peak maybe, which would put us on the line, say here. Which leaves
the angle to the Hab at about there...
Santen and Chantilas start to manipulate their HHCs faster than
you can follow. Muttering to them, hand-gesturing, cross-referencing
back and forth to the map, as the ellipse shrinks and their landing
location is...determined.
BURCHENAL
Space Janitor First Class Gallagher, nicely done.
SANTEN
The good news is it's an eight-hour walk.
GALLAGHER
There's bad news?
Chantilas checks Gallagher's wrist monitor.
CHANTILAS
You've got seven and a half hours of air. Try not to breathe too
deep.
BURCHENAL
Let's get the hell outta here.
Chantilas struggles to his feet. As the five of them tromp away
in the giant landscape...
FLASHBACK - EXT. SPACE -DAY
The Earth FILLS the SCREEN. And then PULLING BACK, BACK, BACK, BACK...It
recedes in the distance and disappears. We CATCH UP WITH the Ares
as the final launch stage fizzles out and is discarded.
SUPERIMPOSE: MISSION TIME: DAY 1
INT. ARES - PRIMARY SPHERE - DAY
A large open common space. Empty for the moment. Until Chantilas
and Pettengill enter through an access tube. Gravity follows them
around as they walk. Floor, ceiling wall...A meter on the wall with
a glowing "G" points an arrow the direction of the current
gravity.
PETTENGILL
Chief Science Officer Chantilas.
(off his nod)
This is trippy.
Chantilas grins. He's been up so many times he's forgotten what
it's like the first time.
CHANTILAS
You'll get used to it. When you get home, it feels weird you can't
walk on the ceiling.
INT. ARES - MEV DECK - DAY
Gallagher comes in too fast. Stumbles up. It's just confusing. He
resets. Opens up a locker, about three feet by three feet. He calls
in to what seems to be a large tangle of silver pipes.
GALLAGHER
Good morning, AMEE. Step out carefully, we're in multi-directional
gravity.
AMEE, the Autonomous Mapping Exploration and Evasion unit, unfolds
and steps gingerly from the cabinet. About waist high, eight legs,
stereo camera eyes. Like a big silver spider. Old attachments have
been sawed off and buffed down. She's a piece of off-the-shelf gear
that's been modified. When the light hits her at the right angle,
we can see a Marine Corps insignia still etched under the refinishing.
GALLAGHER
How are we after launch? I'd like to run a systems check. (as she
nods)
Shall we do the hokey-pokey? Just to satisfy me?
She rapidly shakes each of her legs in turn. Gallagher flips on
a wrist panel display. Built into the fabric of his suit. He sees
what AMEE sees.
GALLAGHER
Take a look around.
He flips off the lights. She flicks over to IR, sees just fine in
the dark. Turns the lights back on.
GALLAGHER
And how is your C.P.U. today?
A 1000 quick calculations flash by and then - "Good."
GALLAGHER
Okay, run the occasional self test. Let me know if anything's wrong.
And back to storage.
AMEE contracts and climbs back into her locker. Gallagher shuts
the door. Display reads "Good-bye" and winks out.
INT. ARES - KITCHEN/DINING SPHERE - NIGHT
All six of them are gathered. First dinner in space.
BOWMAN
Any Space Adaptation Sickness? Vertigo? No? Liars. You'll wake
up all night long thinking you're falling. Promise. I'll hear you
scream. Status?
BURCHENAL
Garden's good.
CHANTILAS
Didn't lose a plant.
BOWMAN
Anything else?
Gallagher holds back here a little. Not a scientist, not an astronaut.
Suddenly feels like the most junior member of the crew.
GALLAGHER
Ahh, Commander...Bunch of the HVACs jammed from the lift-off. Reset
'em. They're fine now.
BOWMAN
I'll tell you what, unless we pass a recruiting station on an asteroid
and you sign up for the military, you can call me Kate for the next
six months, okay?
GALLAGHER
Okay.
(as she waits; he relents)
Kate.
BOWMAN
Why'd you come, Gallagher?
Not expecting this one. Takes a sec -
GALLAGHER
I did two years as a mechanic at NASCAR. A year and a half at McMurdo
in the South Pole. Three years on subs. I had the highest military
tech ratings you can get. And I went cross-country once with my
cousins in a motor home. This didn't seem so bad.
BOWMAN
That's why they called. Why'd you come?
A beat, then -
GALLAGHER
You ever been to Europe? Europe's horrible. It's full of stodgy
people whose ancestors didn't have the balls to go to America and
try something new. Earth is gonna be like Europe. You might visit
there and admire some old buildings and crap, but you wouldn't want
to live there. This was like getting a call to go with Columbus
to America the first time. But harder. How could you not go?
Damn. Burchenal grins.
BURCHENAL
I don't like Europe much either, son. Didn't quite figure it the
same way, but damnation, you don't turn down a phone call like that,
do ya?
(to Kate)
You?
BOWMAN
I spent my entire life training to fly the biggest, fastest thing
you can fly. This is it. It's the best job in the world.
(points to Santen)
He's going 'cause he got the second best job in space. He's a little
pissed about it, but he still came.
She's nailed him so precisely, Santen can only wince and look away.
Pettengill just pipes up. Maybe no one's gonna ask and he wants
to get it out in the open -
PETTENGILL
I was never supposed to come. I came 'cause my boss couldn't. He
failed the medical. Heart arrhythmia. So here I am. They tapped
me on the shoulder, told me I was going to Mars. I was supposed
to be second in charge of the Terraforming office till I died.
Chantilas's the last. They turn to him. His reason's a little different.
CHANTILAS
Psalm 107, verse 23
They that go down to the Sea in Ships, that do business in great
waters, these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the
deep.' So I figured how much wonder for those in space?
Beat.
SANTEN
You're going to Mars because of a poem??
Chantilas thinks about it. He could go on about it, but...
CHANTILAS
Basically.
INT. ARES - EXERCISE SPHERE - DAY
SUPERIMPOSE: MISSION TIME: DAY 13
There's no up here, equipment is attached to the floor, ceiling
and walls. Santen and Bowman are on a large spinning bicycle-driven
centrifuge. Santen's pedaling. By keeping up the speed, he's able
to provide enough extra gravity for Bowman, on the other side, to
lift free-weights. They're both dripping sweat so it must work.
TIMER goes off, they slow to a stop. Pettengill comes in. He looks
a bit uncomfortable. Certainly out of his element. A little, well,
puny.
PETTENGILL
So...required exercise. Haven't had this since grade school.
SANTEN
Yeah, you musta been doing some kind of reverse thing where you
get small...
Santen's got years in the gym. Muscles on muscles. Bowman takes
a two-second evaluation of the situation.
BOWMAN
You're done. You can shower.
SANTEN
I'm not done. I was gonna...
BOWMAN
No. You're done.
Santen can't believe he's being thrown out. But he's also a product
of the military and couldn't argue if he tried.
SANTEN
Yes, ma'am.
He leaves. Pettengill feels stupid.
PETTENGILL
You didn't have to do that.
BOWMAN
No. I did. If I didn't nip that in the bud, I wouldn't be doing
my job.
(then)
Flying this beast is only half the job. The whole job's to get
the crew in place in shape to do what they have to do. And the funny
thing is, flying's the easy part.
Pettengill stands abashed for a moment and then his resentment just
bubbles out...
PETTENGILL
I just hate all those fucking guys. I feel like I've spent my entire
life being the guy who was hassled in phys ed. I lost the first
girl I ever cared about to some thug who could throw a football
farther than I could. It's like women are hardwired to think that
guys who are proficient at sports are going to be better providers.
It's not like we hunt and kill our own food anymore.
(then)
He sells cars for a living now. Cars. I end up working on a project
that may save the existence of mankind and he sells cars.
This is impressively obsessive.
BOWMAN
You kept track of him. What happened to her?
(off his look of "who?")
The girl.
He has no idea. She grins at him -
BOWMAN
Little competitive? Who's hardwired for what, Cro-Magnon guy?
He can't help it, he grins, a little abashed.
BOWMAN
We're gonna start with the bungees. Try to quit being pissed off
you weren't chosen for dodgeball, willya?
PETTENGILL
I'll try. Twenty years of hating the bullying motherfuckers is
a hard habit to break.
END OF FLASHBACK.
EXT. CRASH SITE (MARS) - DAY
It's quiet. And then, a slight METALLIC SOUND. We PUSH TOWARDS the
MEV and IN. AMEE lies on the deck beside her storage container.
A leg twitches. Then another. Servo WHINE. Gets gingerly to her
feet. Eyes turn. Wriggles once as if she was stiff and cautiously
makes her way outside.
EXT. CRASH SITE (MARS) - DAY
Looks around. Analyzes. Turns and heads off into the landscape.
EXT. MARTIAN PLAIN - DAY
A landscape so huge, it's hard to comprehend. Five tiny figures
progress across the bottom of the frame. They've already come a
long ways. Beginning to string out. Pause and regather. Pettengill
stops to catch his breath.
GALLAGHER
How you doing?
PETTENGILL
Little tired. I'm okay.
SANTEN
You should have put more treadmill time in.
PETTENGILL
(sotto)
Go fuck yourself.
SANTEN
What'd you say?
PETTENGILL
Ahhh...Musclehead, go fuck yourself??
They're both getting louder and louder...
BURCHENAL
Guys...
Burchenal reaches out, checks their wrist monitors.
BURCHENAL
We're doing fine. In point of fact, he's using less O2 than you
are. We can stop a minute. Unless you two want to shout at each
other and use up your air.
PETTENGILL
Sorry.
SANTEN
Fine. I'm sorry, too.
No one's sorry. They rest. Use the moment to look around. It's pretty
astounding. Chantilas uses the respite to re-scan his abdomen. Puts
the device away again. He's in pain but refuses to acknowledge it.
GALLAGHER
How you doing?
CHANTILAS
Things are as they are.
(then)
Lord. Look at it, we're on Mars. Pretty damn amazing.
PETTENGILL
It' weird. There's nothing here.
GALLAGHER
It's Mars.
PETTENGILL
No, I mean there's not even a trace of the algae.
He kneels down, examines a rock. Nada.
PETTENGILL
Even if it all died, there'd be something - a dried algal mat,
traces on the lee sides, something. Nothing. Nada.
BURCHENAL
He's right. We sent up fifty-two varietals. Blue-green, black,
orange. Anhydriobiosics, chemotrauphs, even a thibacillus that could
grow autotrophically on elemental sulfur. Not only are they dead,
they're all just gone. I don't get it. It's like they were scoured
off the rock.
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