SPHERE
BY
PAUL ATTANASIO
Based on the novel by
Michael Crichton
BARRY LEVINSON VERSION SHOOTING SCRIPT
NOTE: THE HARD COPY OF THIS SCRIPT CONTAINED SCENE NUMBERS
AND SOME "OMITTED" SLUGS. THEY HAVE BEEN REMOVED FOR THIS
SOFT COPY.
FADE IN:
EXT. OCEAN FLOOR - DAY
BEGIN TITLES.
MOVING AMONG the hallucinatory variety of creatures --
barbaric, distorted, sublime -- that haunt the ocean floor.
All but unknown to man except in the deep preconscious brain
that houses the family album of the race... Where we remember
that they are us... Then...
DISSOLVE TO:
BALLET OF ODD SHAPES
and exotic colors -- like a living abstract painting --
tropical fish moving in the f.g... Aquarium fish -- fish we
know -- fish of the lesser depths, as we RISE UP TOWARD the
surface...
Then nearer the surface still, fish dart and flee before a
distant RUMBLE... that GROWS LOUDER AND LOUDER...
HELICOPTER
ERUPTS INTO WATERY VIEW as it blasts across the ocean...
CUT TO:
EXT. PACIFIC OCEAN - DAY
A tropical morning sun paints its luster on the sea-chop. A
helicopter hurtles across the Pacific Ocean.
CUT TO:
INT. HELICOPTER - SAME TIME
NORMAN GOODMAN, 50s, a day's growth of beard and eyes sandy
with sleep, wakes up. Adjusts his steel-framed glasses.
Unballs the tweed jacket he's been using as a pillow. He's
nearly sitting in the lap of the PILOT, 30s, a tightly wound
military type, as they zoom across the waves.
PILOT
Good sleep?
NORMAN
Not bad. So, where are we?
PILOT
Where'd they bring you in from?
NORMAN
San Diego. Left yesterday.
PILOT
So you came Honolulu-Guam-Pago-here?
NORMAN
Yeah.
PILOT
Long trip. What kind of work do you do,
sir?
NORMAN
I'm a psychologist.
PILOT
A shrink, huh? Why not. They've called
in just about everything else.
NORMAN
How do you mean?
PILOT
We've been ferrying people out of Guam
for the last two days. Physicists,
biologists, mathematicians, you name it.
Everybody being flown to the middle of
nowhere in the Pacific Ocean.
NORMAN
What's going on?
PILOT
They're not telling us anything, sir.
What about you? What'd they tell you?
NORMAN
They told me that there was an airplane
crash.
PILOT
Uh-huh. You get called on crashes?
NORMAN
I have been, yes.
PILOT
And why is that, sir?
NORMAN
I'm on a list of psychologists the F.A.A.
brings in when a plane goes down.
(beat)
So, where exactly are we now?
PILOT
Well, I'm not supposed to tell
you...let's just say we're two hundred
miles from nowhere, sir.
NORMAN
You're not supposed to tell me?
PILOT
No, sir.
Norman looks out of the helicopter, at the ocean.
NORMAN
Don't you get bored looking at that?
PILOT
To tell you the truth, no, sir. I'm real
happy to see it flat like this.
NORMAN
Why?
PILOT
Good weather. It won't hold though.
There's a cyclone forming up in the
Admiralties, should swing down this way
in a few days.
NORMAN
What happens then?
PILOT
Everybody just clears the hell out.
Weather can be really tough in this part
of the world. I was stationed in Florida
and I've seen a lot of hurricanes, but
you've never seen anything like a Pacific
cyclone, sir.
NORMAN
You never met my first wife.
PILOT
Don't be so sure.
That's where we're headed, over there.
Here take a look.
He hands Norman binoculars.
NORMAN'S POV THROUGH BINOCULARS
A salvage ship surrounding four other, smaller craft in
concentric circles. A mile long circle of bouys.
CLOSE ON NORMAN
as he absorbs this new information. What's going on?
NORMAN
All this for an airplane crash.
PILOT
I never mentioned a plane crash.
(beat)
CUT TO:
EXT. SALVAGE SHIP - DAY
The helicopter lands on the salvage ship helipad. Norman
hesitates at the door. A seaman coaxes him and he jumps down.
Blasted by the downdraft of the rotors, Norman humps his
duffel bag across the deck, hustles after his escort.
CUT TO:
INT. SALVAGE SHIP - LATER
Norman follows a SEAMAN, 20s, as he carries Norman's duffel
bag along the narrow corridors belowdecks...
SEAMAN
You have any other gear, sir? Watch your
step.
NORMAN
I'd like to call my family.
SEAMAN
We'll get you settled in quarters,
sir. You're to remain there until we
send for you.
NORMAN
I want to get started right now.
SEAMAN
We'll send for you.
NORMAN
It's critical that I see them, because --
SEAMAN
See who?
NORMAN
The survivors. If I don't get to them
within the first twenty four hours...
SEAMAN
What survivors?
NORMAN
The survivors of the plane crash.
SEAMAN
Plane crash?
NORMAN
Listen carefully. I deal in post-
traumatic stress and survivor guilt --
maybe I should talk to someone who knows
what's going on.
SEAMAN
You can talk to the ship's psychiatrist.
NORMAN
I'm a psychologist, that's why I was sent
down here.
Norman follows the Seaman through a hydraulic door...They
come upon TED FIELDING prowling the corridor.
TED
(to Seaman)
Look, I told you people over an hour ago
I need a phone. A phone.
The Seaman brusquely continues past with Norman's duffel
bag.
SEAMAN
You'll have to discuss that with
Mr.Barnes.
TED
That's fine...Barnes. Give me a phone,
I'll call him.
He recognizes Norman.
TED (cont'd)
Norman...what are you doing here?
The Seaman grabs Ted's arm.
TED
Would you take your hands off me, please.
Do you have any idea who I am?
NORMAN
He will if you just tell him the name of
the book you wrote.
TED
It's called 'Astrophysics You Can Use'.
It was a Book of the Month Club Main
Selection.
The Seaman turns, ramrod-straight, and fixes Ted with a
steely Aryan gaze.
SEAMAN
Never heard of it. Now back in your
quarters.
NORMAN
(to Ted)
You really thought that he read your
book...after all these years? You
haven't changed.
TED
Well, it's written for the layman.
NORMAN
He's not impressed.
TED
They don't read.
(to Seaman)
Is there a phone in here?
The Seaman grabs his arm again.
TED (cont'd)
Would you stop doing that! I can go to
the room myself.
NORMAN
I've been trying to call my wife for the
last 15 hours.
SEAMAN
(sharply to Ted)
Sir?
Ted backs off toward his room, opens the door.
The Seaman continues on his way with Norman, unlocks a door --
Norman's quarters. Norman glances up the hall...
NORMAN'S POV - BETH HALPERIN
Thirties, a mordant beauty, stands at the threshold of her
room. Watching him. A lot going on behind those eyes. She
and Norman exchange a look. Then without a word, she returns
to her room.
CLOSEUP - NORMAN
As the Seaman ushers him inside.
NORMAN
Beth?
Then the Seaman closes the door on him.
CUT TO:
INT. NORMAN'S QUARTERS - LATER
Norman lies on his cot, stares at the ceiling, his tweed
jacket folded up like a pillow beneath his head.
There's a knock at the door and it is opened by HARALD
COTESWORTH BARNES, 40s, an imposing man in dark glasses and
dark dress.
BARNES
Goodman! You been here long?
He shakes Norman's hand.
NORMAN
I've been here three hours.
Barnes sweeps him along into the hallway.
CUT TO:
INT. HALLWAY - SAME TIME
Barnes leads Norman along the hallway and down some stairs.
BARNES
Welcome aboard. I don't mind telling
you, this thing scares the hell out of
me.
NORMAN
It's probably already too late. You
might as well put me on a helicopter and
send me back. Whatever damage was done to
the survivors, is already done. You know
what I mean?
BARNES
Hold on, we'll get to that.
NORMAN
I don't even know who you are.
BARNES
(admiring)
Well, I sure know who you are.
NORMAN
Who are you...Navy...military? What are
you?
BARNES
You ever hear of the O.S.S.A.?
NORMAN
Yes.
BARNES
(proudly)
Well, they don't know who I am. That
should reassure you.
Barnes takes Norman aside.
BARNES
Look, you haven't talked to anybody about
this, have you?
NORMAN
Well, I talked to the helicopter pilot.
BARNES
What'd you tell him?
NORMAN
What did I tell him. I told him I was
here to see the plane crash. That's my
job.
Barnes chews this over thoughtfully...
BARNES
The plane crash. Good.
NORMAN
There was no plane crash?
BARNES
(confidentially)
Spacecraft.
NORMAN
Spacecraft? I guess that explains a lot.
NASA?
BARNES
That doesn't surprise you?
NORMAN
Well at least it explains the secrecy.
BARNES
The secrecy's critical, Norman. You made
that explicit in your report.
NORMAN
What report?
BARNES
The ULF.
NORMAN
(remembering)
I wrote that for the Bush Administration.
BARNES
And that's our Bible here. Every jot and
tittle.
NORMAN
But that was a report about a possible
encounter with an alien being.
Norman laughs nervously, looks at Barnes. Barnes isn't
laughing. Suddenly Norman isn't laughing either.
BARNES
You want to come with me?
NORMAN
Oh, boy.
CUT TO:
INT. BRIEFING ROOM - LATER
A video image of SEAMEN aboard a telephone-cable ship showing
the sheared fiber optic cable to the camera as Barnes, laser
pointer in hand, delivers a briefing.
BARNES
About three weeks ago, a ship laying
fiber optic cable between Honolulu and
Sydney hit an obstruction a thousand feet
underwater. Cut the cable clean as a
shears. The Navy got interested -- sent
out a search ship.
ANGLE ON BETH
As she watches... SUPERED below:
DR. BETH HALPERIN: PHYSICIAN/BIOLOGIST
ANGLE ON HIGH-RESOLUTION TV IMAGE
A sonar image of an enormous triangular fin jutting abruptly
from a ridge of coral...
BARNES
... Turns out what did it was this -- We
took this with the side-looking sonar --
an aerodynamic fin longer than a football
field. Bigger than any known wingspan.
ANGLE ON TED
As he watches.... SUPERED below:
TED FIELDING: ASTROPHYSICIST
TED
You have any idea what it's made of?
BARNES
We sent the SCARAB robots to snip a piece
out of it...
ANGLE ON MICROSCOPE IMAGE
of the composition of the fin...
BARNES
It's a titanium alloy in an epoxy/resin
honeycomb. It's more sophisticated than
anything we can duplicate.
TED
The Russians don't have anything like
this?
ANGLE ON SONAR IMAGE
This one composed of fine dots.
BARNES
You tell me. That's the fuselage. Ultra-
high-res S.L.S. bottom scan, came in a
week ago. There it is...buried under
about eight yards of coral.
BETH
There's something wrong with that
measurement. Pacific coral grows at a
rate of an inch a year. You can set your
watch by it.
BARNES
That's right.
BETH
So, you're saying the spacecraft crashed
in the year...
HARRY (O.C.)
1709.
They all turn in the direction of the voice...
REVERSE ANGLE ON HARRY ADAMS
As he watches, bemused, from a chair in the corner, his
fingers forming a steeple. A black man with a dour manner
and lightning eyes, Oxford shirt and chinos. SUPERED BELOW:
"HARRY ADAMS: MATHEMATICIAN."
BETH
You're saying this spacecraft crashed
three hundred years ago?
HARRY
Two hundred and eighty-eight.
BETH
But that's impossible.
BARNES
It's not impossible if this spacecraft
came to earth from an alien civilization.
A long beat of wonderment...
TED
You think this is an alien spacecraft?
HARRY
You see, it's not impossible. It's
ridiculous.
BARNES
We believe this spacecraft contains an
unknown life form. That's why you're
here. You're the human contact team
recommended in the Goodman Report.
(gestures to each)
We have a biochemist to assess the
physiology of the Unknown Life Form, we
have a mathematician, because that'll
probably be our common language... and we
have an astrophysicist to locate its
place in the cosmos.
HARRY
Led by a psychologist.
BARNES
That's right.
HARRY
That's what the little green men say
nowadays? 'Take me to your therapist'?
Norman bites his tongue. He's used to it. Barnes refers to
his copy of The Goodman Report...
BARNES
(reading)
'Contact teams meeting an unknown life
form, or U.L.F., must be prepared for
severe psychological impact. Stress
reaction when confronted by unknown life
has not been sufficiently studied and
cannot be entirely predicted in advance.
But the most likely consequence of
contact is absolute terror.'
(beat)
That's from Norman's report.
TED
I'm sorry...are these parameters correct?
BARNES
Yup.
TED
So, you're saying you have a fuselage
from a spacecraft over a half-mile long
that crashed in the ocean three hundred
years ago, and it's completely intact?
BARNES
That's right, and the kicker is, our
sonar's picking up a low hum.
Something's still running inside.
A beat as they all look at each other...
HARRY
Hold on a second. There's no way that
coral could've grown faster than an inch
a year?
BETH
No.
TED
Well, that's why we're going down there
to see, isn't it?
HARRY
Who said we're going down there?
TED
Are you kidding? This is the greatest
scientific discovery since Copernicus!
Bigger than Copernicus! The idea that
we're not alone? It'll change
everything. We have physical evidence
that there's extra terrestrial life. You
don't want to see that?
HARRY
This is not an equation that needs to be
solved. No.
NORMAN
Harry's got a point. I'm not too sure
about this idea of going down a thousand
feet either.
BARNES
How deep have you been, Norman?
NORMAN
I can snorkle ten to fifteen feet.
BARNES
Good. You do that, and I'll take care of
the rest.
HARRY
I have got to say, I resent this briefing
very much.
TED
Oh, Jesus!
BARNES
Why is that, Harry?
HARRY
Did you decide you have to break the news
to us gently?
BARNES
What news?
HARRY
About the door.
BARNES
Harry, we have divers cutting through
excavation trenches as we speak,
searching for that door.
HARRY
You know exactly where the door is, am I
right. Am I right?
BARNES
You're right.
HARRY
One other thing. If Norman's report calls
for a biologist, a mathematician, an
astrophysicist, and a psychologist...
then why are you here?
Barnes grins enigmatically.
BARNES
I'm not here.
(he turns)
Physical protocols begin in half an hour.
He leaves.
HARRY
He's not here. What the hell does that
mean?
NORMAN
Harry, I'm impressed. You knew he
wasn't telling the truth about the door.
How did you know that?
HARRY
Oh, there's lots of things he's not
telling us about. He's not telling us
any of the important things.
TED
Like what?
HARRY
You wouldn't believe it if I told
you...but you'd probably publish it.
CUT TO:
INT. SHIP - SICK BAY - LATER
NORMAN AGAINST A WHITE BACKGROUND.
MEDIC (O/C)
Do you wear glasses all the time?
NORMAN
I just started wearing these...er...
CUT TO:
TED AGAINST A WHITE BACKGROUND.
TED
...Why? Are the glasses a problem?
Because I don't actually need them.
Clinically speaking they're just for
reading. They're more of a crutch
really.
(takes off glasses)
I see fine without them.
MEDIC O/C
Could you read the fifth line please.
TED
Sure.
(beat)
From here?
CUT TO:
NORMAN AGAINST A WHITE BACKGROUND.
NORMAN
They said there was no problem, but they
didn't anticipate that I would be going a
thousand feet under the water. I find it
interesting that a part of me wants to
find a way to get out of this, and
another part of me is not trying to get
out of it.
MEDIC O/C
Does this concern you?
NORMAN
Going down a thousand feet under the
water where no fish live but that's where
you want to send me? Mildly.
CUT TO:
BETH AGAINST A WHITE BACKGROUND.
MEDIC O/C
Do you take any prescription medication?
BETH
No.
MEDIC O/C
None whatsoever?
BETH
You know once in a while...sometimes I
might take like a piece of Xanax or
something ...if I'm nervous. Something
like that. Not...much.
CUT TO:
HARRY AGAINST A WHITE BACKGROUND.
MEDIC O/C
Would you consider yourself in good
physical condition?
HARRY
Yeah.
MEDIC O/C
According to your doctor, in 1990...
HARRY
Wait a minute -- you talked to my doctor?
CUT TO:
NORMAN AGAINST A WHITE BACKGROUND.
NORMAN
What do you mean, I'm off the graph? I
mean, is that a problem?
CUT TO:
HARRY AGAINST A WHITE BACKGROUND.
HARRY
Knee surgery. Complete reconstruction of
ACL right knee. Still have a steel pin
here...
(points to areas in leg)
...steel pin up here...little medial
collateral damage.
CUT TO:
TED AGAINST A WHITE BACKGROUND.
TED
I just take over the counter
antihistamines. I have some allergies.
Not to water, which is good.
CUT TO:
HARRY AGAINST A WHITE BACKGROUND.
MEDIC O/C
Do you feel comfortable about this dive?
HARRY
No. Hell, no! I don't feel comfortable
about this dive. Why would I? It's not
something I do on a normal basis.
CUT TO:
INT. CLASSROOM - LATER
Norman struggles to stay awake as a DIVE INSTRUCTOR
drones.
DIVE INSTRUCTOR
Let me remind you of a few points. This
will be a saturation dive. You're going
to be taken to a Habitat at a thousand
feet. We have an atmosphere of 21% OT and
79% Nitrogen, which means that the PO2
would be .21 and .79. In this case we
will be compressing on HE.
ANGLE ON HARRY, TED, BETH AND NORMAN as the Dive Instructor
continues.
DIVE INSTRUCTOR (CONT'D)
Compression to a thousand feet will then
occur, using pure helium. As you
compress, you will experience a warming
of the environment and you can also
expect to experience High Pressure
Nervous Syndrome. HPNS is manifested by
trembling, feelings of confusion,
disorientation and possible
nausea.
NORMAN
I got that now.
The Dive Instructor drones on.
DIVE INSTRUCTOR
These symptoms should subside after a
short time on the bottom.
You will also notice marked voice change
as the PPHE increases.
CUT TO:
EXT. SUBMARINE - CLOSE ON NORMAN - DAY
Peering up through the dome of the submarine as it drops away
from the mother ship and descends...
CUT TO:
INT. SUBMARINE - LATER
Norman takes a seat inside the cramped sub.
NORMAN
Sit anywhere?
The rest of the team sits, knee-to-knee. Ted sweats
profusely.
NORMAN (cont'd)
Everybody happy?
Barnes sits alongside a PILOT in the sub's cockpit, separated
by a wall of Plexiglas.
BARNES
(over intercom)
The descent will take about thirteen
minutes descending at a rate of eighty-
feet per minute. It'll get a little
chilly. Try and relax.
The sub rocks a little.
NORMAN
Next time, just tell us when you're going
to push the button.
Barnes flips a switch and a MOZART HORN CONCERTO BLARES
cheerily on the PUBLIC ADDRESS... Harry ties his shoes.
HARRY
Mozart. Horn Concerto in E Flat. K-447.
BETH
I'm surprised to see you here, Harry.
HARRY
Everybody went down but Harry -- written
down in some secret government file
somewhere.
Harry turns to Ted, shivering in a cold sweat of nerves...
HARRY
How you holding up there, Captain
Nautical?
TED
I'm loose.
HARRY
You're loose?
TED
I'm loose. I'm loose.
Then the sub lurches suddenly...
TED
I'm a little uptight...What was that?
The sub rocks again.
NORMAN
Are we okay? Why don't I have a
seatbelt?
Barnes' VOICE INTERRUPTS the MOZART.
BARNES
Oh, shit!
BETH
Shit?
TED
What was that?
BARNES
(over intercom)
We had a little flame out. But don't
worry, we'll ride this current until we
get power back.
TED
Did he just say we lost power?
The group contemplates this as the Mozart cheerily resumes.
NORMAN
Flame out? What's a flame out?
BARNES
Don't worry about it. We're in the river
now.
NORMAN
What river?
BARNES
It's a temperature salinity differential
that flows like a river inside the ocean.
NORMAN
We're in the middle of the ocean under
the ocean and there's a river?
BARNES
That's right.
NORMAN
You couldn't tell us that when you de-
briefed us?
BARNES
Need to know.
BETH
It's a good thing, Norman.
NORMAN
It just, you know...lessens the stress
response -- the more you know in front.
Ted is looking very tense.
NORMAN (cont'd)
You okay, Ted?
TED
No, I'm not okay.
NORMAN
Look at me.
Beth tries to soothe Ted. He gets more tense.
NORMAN (CONT'D)
Maybe you shouldn't touch him, Beth.
(to Ted)
Just look at me. I want you to breathe.
Just look at me. You want to take a
breath. On the count of three...one...
Ted breathes. Harry begins to hum.
TED
You're not breathing either, Norman.
NORMAN
I know I'm not breathing. We're going to
breathe together, okay? We're both
nervous, yes? Breathe in through your
nose...one, two, three and out. It's
just a stress response. Out.
BETH
You're not giving birth here, Ted.
NORMAN
In and out...two...three...four...
Ted and Norman exchange a smile. Harry's humming gets
louder.
TED
Would you cut that out please, Harry?
NORMAN
(to Ted)
You're having a stress reaction. That's
Harry's stress reaction, okay? A bunch
of adolescents here.
Beth is holding onto Ted's hand.
BETH
Okay, man?
She lets go of his hand.
TED
Thank you, that's better. I'm better.
He laughs with relief.
The sub continues to descend.
NORMAN
Those noises we're hearing, that's
normal?
BARNES
Those noises are the pressure of the
water attacking the integrity of the sub.
BETH
You know a little something about that,
don't you? Norman? How the pressure can
attack your integrity?
NORMAN
Come on...be nice this trip.
BETH
Were you nice last time?
TED
You two want to sit together?
Norman wipes sweat off his brow.
CUT TO:
EXT. OCEAN - LATER
The sub descends into the gloom... Not much light down
here... In the distance, the shadowy monolith of the tail fin
looms, like some ancient misplaced totem.
CUT TO:
INT. SUB - LATER
Ted peers out of the porthole. Then his jaw drops.
TED
My God! C'mere -- look at this!
Ted gestures to Norman, and Norman joins him. Peers out...
THEIR POV
Emerging INTO VIEW from behind a ridge...
THE HABITAT
A visually breathtaking network of cylinders and domes, in
yellow steel and glass, lit up from inside and out -- like a
vast underwater sculpture -- as fish dart around it...
BACK ON NORMAN AND TED
as Barnes comes over the intercom...
BARNES
(over intercom)
That's the habitat.
TED
It ain't the Motel 6.
CUT TO:
EXT. HABITAT - SAME TIME
The sub nestles beneath the imposing structure... a HYDRAULIC
HISS as the sub's hatch connects with the airlock...
CUT TO:
INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME
JANE EDMUNDS, the unit archivist, monitors the video feed. A
video image appears of the team entering through the hatch to
the moon pool.
EDMUNDS
They're here.
CUT TO:
INT. HABITAT MOON POOL - SAME TIME
The team crawls through the narrow hatch...
CUT TO:
INT. MOON POOL ROOM - LATER
The team are squeezed face-to-face in a cold steel-walled
chamber...Barnes stands outside and talks to them over an
intercom.
Then a scary HISSING sound as GAS under pressure enters the
chamber.
BARNES (V.O.)
(over intercom)
Alright. We're gonna pressurize you now.
I know it's hot in there, but you're
going to feel coolness. That's the
helium.
NORMAN
Helium?
TED
Was I the only one paying attention?
Ted is so captivated by his pompous explanation that he
doesn't realize his voice is getting higher and
squeakier...In fact, all of their voices have been distorted
by the helium.
TED
Oxygen is a corrosive gas in the same
family as chlorine and fluorine.
Hydrochloric acid. Hydrofluoric acid.
Everyone's smirking at Ted's seriousness and his squeaky
voice.
TED (cont'd)
Essentially that's why we're breathing
helium down here because oxygen at any
level higher than 2.3 becomes toxic.
NORMAN
Can you run that by me again, Ted. I
don't speak fluent balloon.
Everyone laughs -- a squeaky, high-pitched helium laugh...
TED
(off their laughter)
Yes...that's my voice. The helium
resonates differently with my vocal
cords.
BETH
Wait a second...
HARRY
Follow the yellow brick-road...
BARNES
(intercom)
Alright, kiddies, cut it out. The voice
regulators are behind you. Put 'em on.
NORMAN
(helium voice - to Beth)
How do you like it?
BETH
(helium voice)
It's nothing compared to the drugs I've
done.
Everyone laughs - helium laughs.
CUT TO:
EXT. HABITAT - POV FROM FIN OF SPACECRAFT - SAME TIME
And the dim sounds of the LAUGHTER inside... As if someone is
watching...listening... and the habitat is a craft full of
aliens.
CUT TO:
INT. HABITAT - VIDEO ROOM - LATER
TEENY FLETCHER, a gruff O.S.S.A. lifer in her late 30s, works
the controls (joystick, slide switches) for a remote
robot... Jane Edmunds monitors the video feed.
ANGLE ON TEAM
Clustered around, watching... They all now wear talkers
around their necks that normalize their speech.
BARNES (V/O)
Change the angle - different plane.
ANGLE ON MONITORS
A large hole has been excavated through the coral, revealing
what appears to be a door in the spaceship beneath... As
Teeny manipulates the joystick, a suction arm emerges from
the robot, latches onto the door...
FLETCHER
Alright.
BARNES
Get the plane...get the suction plane
flat.
FLETCHER
This has been a little difficult, sir.
No, no...you're doing good. Keep the
rubber plane flat.
Fletcher continues to manipulate the robot.
FLETCHER
There we go.
BARNES
Rotate the clamp.
FLETCHER
Come on!
BARNES
No, other way.
FLETCHER
Okay.
Ted is playing with his "talker" - the black box around his
neck that regulates his voice.
TED
I can't believe these things...mmmmmm
(starts to sing in helium
voice)
"Ole man river......that ole man
river...."
BARNES
Turn it to forty five degrees.
TED
Mmmmmm....
(replaces "talker")
I'm back.
BETH
Is that the door?
BARNES
Looks like it. We did sonar imaging of
the interior compartments. That's our
best bet.
(to Fletcher)
Damn it! It won't budge will it?
HARRY
Has it occurred to anyone that maybe we
shouldn't open that door?
NORMAN
Why do you say that?
HARRY
We always assume these creatures will be
green, or insect-like, but basicaily
human. But what if they inhale air and
exhale cyanide gas? It's perfectly
plausible.
BETH
Or live forever -- like a virus. Or a
yeast.
NORMAN
Why would you assume that an unknown life
form would want to kill us?
HARRY
A creature that can't be killed wouldn't
think killing was right or wrong. They'd
simply have no concept of it.
Ted noses up to the monitor, getting in everyone's way.
TED
How tall is that robot?
FLETCHER
Five feet.
HARRY
Instant extinction. It's what all the
serious scientific literature is about --
what little there is on the subject.
(to Norman)
That is in your report, isn't it, Norman?
NORMAN
It's in there.
BARNES
(to Fletcher)
Put some suction in it. Is that piston
broken?
TED
That's roughly the same size as an
airplane door, isn't it?
BARNES
Excuse me, Ted.
TED
I just think that's worth taking note of.
Don't you?
BARNES
Ted!
(to Fletcher)
Knock the suction up to point-four.
TED
Look at how clumsy this thing is. Three
million dollars worth of technology and
it can't open a door.
BARNES
Alright, Ted!
FLETCHER
(through her teeth)
There's nothing clumsy about the robot.
TED
I'm sorry. All I'm saying is I think any
one of us could do better with a crowbar.
BETH
Any one of us, Ted? Which any one of us
would that be?
TED
Okay, okay...I admit it. Nothing wrong
with a little glory in the name of
science? Jesus!
CLOSE ON BARNES
as he looks at the robot flailing impotently at the door...
Then looks at the team.
FLETCHER
We're not going to be able to control it
from here, and all the divers have pulled
out.
CUT TO:
INT. SUIT ROOM - LATER
Lockers with nameplates for the team... Inside each, a diving
suit and helmet... Heavier than scuba gear -- more like
spacesuits. The team sets about changing into them.
NORMAN
I'm not too thrilled at the prospect of
this, you know.
BETH
You know what, Norman...don't think of it
as swimming, think of it as walking.
NORMAN
The walking part I can do, it's the
underwater part. You drown underwater.
(adjusting equipment)
If I break anything, does that mean I
don't have to go?
TED
What if I have to go to the bathroom?
HARRY
Just go down your leg, Ted.
TED
Really? You can urinate in these?
HARRY
You can. Question is, would you want to?
NORMAN
(looking at helmet)
Where's the switch?
BETH
Okay, let's go.
CUT TO:
INT. MOON POOL ROOM - LATER
Barnes opens a hatch to the ocean, kept at bay by the
positive pressure in the airlock room. Suited up, the team
jumps through the hatch and down to the ocean floor.
CUT TO:
EXT. OCEAN FLOOR - CONTINUOUS
Norman emerges from a cloud of bubbles onto the ocean floor,
kicking up sand and clouding up the already murky view...
NORMAN'S POV
The LABORED sound of Norman's BREATHING as we look out from
inside his helmet.
BARNES
(over intercom)
Alright, Fletcher. We're at one thousand
and twenty two feet, ambient temperature
thirty four degrees, heading out north,
north west three thirty. It's a firm
bottom, intermittent coral.
Norman turns and sees a blinding light... shields his eyes --
it's the light on Harry's helmet.
HARRY
(over intercom)
Norman, your light's off again. Try the
switch at your waist.
INSERT - NORMAN'S GLOVE
As he fumbles with the switch on his waist... His helmet
light flashes on...
WIDER
The team makes its way across the ocean floor, their helmet
lights sweeping the foggy bottom like headlights...
BETH
(over intercom)
This is great you guys. Wow!
(beat)
Hey, Norman. You know, a space launch
costs a hundred million dollars. You
could come down here once a day every day
for fifty years for that. The ocean is
the oldest living environment...so much
older than the land, yet we don't know
anything about it.
BACK ON NORMAN'S POV - LONG, HIGH WIDE SHOT
He can barely make out the others... This is a long way from
sherry at the faculty club. Then he HEARS...
BETH
(over intercom)
Oh, my God!
TED
(over intercom)
Look at the size of that thing.
BARNES
(over intercom)
You see that tunnel...we go there.
That's the "heart of darkness".
They continue across the ocean bottom.
BARNES (cont'd)
(over intercom)
We're in the coral pipe now, approaching
the airlock.
NORMAN
(over intercom)
I'm feeling pressure in my ears, is that
normal?
BETH
(over intercom)
Just use your equalizer.
Norman adjusts his equipment.
NORMAN
A little better.
BETH
You know, the most toxic creatures on
earth live down here. The venom of a
land animal is nothing by comparison.
Even the weakest sea snake is inveritably
lethal.
NORMAN
(over intercom)
Is that supposed to make me feel good,
Beth?
HARRY
(looking at coral)
Amazing. This stuff only grows an inch a
year?
BARNES
Airlock's in sight now.
TED
(re: spacecraft)
This thing is enormous.
Norman looks up...
LONG, HIGH, WIDE SHOT - THE TEAM
As their little helmet lights sweep up towards...
SPACECRAFT
Buried under a mountain of coral, it's about as big as an
airport terminal. With the titanium fin looming beyond...
ANGLE ON BARNES
Near the entrance -- carved through the coral and lit by
tiny hanging bulbs. Barnes waves them on and they follow him
down.
BARNES
This is our airlock. It'll take us from
a wet to a dry environment. We're
assuming the inside of the ship is
sealed.
ANGLE ON NORMAN
as he descends awkwardly, grabbing clumsily at the bulky iron
pitons drilled into the coral walls... till he reaches...
PORTABLE AIRLOCK
A large Plexiglas tube reinforced with steel struts, butted
against the door of the spacecraft. Norman and the rest of
the team enter. Barnes seals it shut...there's a rush of
incoming gas which pushes the water out...
CLOSE ON NORMAN
as the water recedes down past his face-plate... Then he and
the rest of the team turn toward...
DOOR
CUT TO:
EXT. SPACECRAFT/INT. PORTABLE AIRLOCK - LATER
Barnes labors over the robot, the innards exposed, with an
Allen wrench, Ted hovering over him.
CUT TO:
INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME
Fletcher watching the team on the bank of videos.
FLETCHER
Alright. What's happening here guys?
CUT TO:
EXT. SPACECRAFT/INT. PORTABLE AIRLOCK - SAME TIME
Barnes struggles with the robot.
BARNES
Put a light in the digit, Norman.
Norman shines his flashlight inside the robot hand.
BARNES
Yeah...maybe it's the hydraulics. The
pressure messes everything up at this
depth.
In frustration, Ted grabs a hammer from Barnes' tool kit.
TED
Time for a demonstration in basic
physics, gentlemen.
He goes to the door and bangs on it...
BETH
What is this, a pinata party?
BARNES
No. Dr. Fielding is demonstrating
advanced applied physics for us.
ANGLE ON HARRY
as he notices something... moves toward the door... runs his
finger along the edge... Norman moves alongside him...
NORMAN
What is it, Harry?
HARRY
Take a look.
Norman looks closely at the door.
HARRY (cont'd)
It's chipped.
Then the others gather around them.
BARNES
It's chipped. So what?
HARRY
I thought you said there was no damage in
the crash. That this titanium alloy was
super-strong, there was no way you could
hurt it.
BARNES
I did.
HARRY
But it gets chipped just from some
scientist whacking on it with a hammer?
ANGLE ON BETH
As she feels the door with her palms...
BETH
Is there heat coming off this thing, or
is it just happy to see me?
BARNES
Get away from there, Beth.
BETH
Just one minute.
BARNES
I said back off! Now!
Barnes yanks Beth roughly and shoves her aside. Angry,
she glares at him. The door starts to RUMBLE...Barnes
unstraps a weapon... Then the door opens... revealing
blackness inside.
HARRY
Is anyone else here wondering who opened
the door?
CUT TO:
INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME
Fletcher at bank of videos.
FLETCHER
Yeah. I'd like to know who hit the
button too.
CUT TO:
EXT. SPACECRAFT/INT. PORTABLE AIRLOCK - SAME TIME
Norman and Harry exchange a look. Then, ever so cautiously,
Norman moves in, followed by Ted, Harry, Beth and Barnes who
closes the door behind them.
TED
How did that happen?
BARNES
I'm not sure about the atmosphere.
Helmets stay on.
TED
We come in peace.
(to Harry)
I always wanted to say that.
CUT TO:
INT. SPACECRAFT - SAME TIME
Norman enters, his helmet light leading the way...He
realizes he is walking along a five-foot wide catwalk...
NORMAN'S POV
as his helmet light sweeps forty feet down into the maw of
the craft, a dense web of struts and buttresses...Beth heads
along a separate path of the catwaik...Looks down. Stops.
BETH'S POV
as her helmet light sweeps the path...footprints.
BACK TO SCENE
BETH
Somebody's been here.
HARRY
What?
BETH
Yeah. There's footsteps, and they ain't
ours.
Harry joins her. Looks down. Then Norman joins them.
HARRY
What do you say, Norman? Time to turn
around?
NORMAN
I'm a little curious.
BARNES
Let's break up into two squads. We'll
never cover the ground otherwise.
HARRY
Split up?
TED
He's got a point. We've got maybe a half-
hour of gas left.
BARNES
Ted and Harry you come with me. Beth and
Norman stick together. Come on.
HARRY
I think the people who built this place
would call that divide and conquer.
NORMAN
Whoever built this thing wanted us dead,
we'd be dead already.
(beat)
As a matter of deductive logic, Harry.
CUT TO:
INT. SPACECRAFT - LATER
Barnes, Harry and Ted move ahead, their helmet lights
sweeping the surfaces and structures of the craft -- both odd
and oddly familiar. Barnes inspects one of the girders with
his gloved fingers, then whacks it with the crowbar.
BARNES
Look at this, Harry...cross-stress
bracing for the outer hull. Tremendous
support along all axes. This is
interesting. This material -- strong and
soft at the same time. Better than
rubber, better than steel.
(off insulation)
Heck of a lot of radiation shielding.
Wonder what that's for?
HARRY
You seem to know a lot about this.
BARNES
Huh?
(beat)
Yeah, I, uh, studied aeronautical
engineering at M.I.T. Isn't that where
you got your Ph.D.?
TED
Where I got mine. All three of them.
A regular hotbed of academic envy though.
HARRY
Ain't that the truth. I hated M.I.T.
TED
Envy?
HARRY
Puberty.
TED
Puberty? How old?
HARRY
First Ph.D, eighteen.
TED
Damn! One year, Harry. You beat me by
one year, Harry.
HARRY
(singing)
"What a difference a year makes...."
TED
Where'd Dr. Halperin get her Ph.D.?
BARNES
On her knees, is what I'd guess.
HARRY
You might be underestimating her.
BARNES
Oh, yeah?
(beat)
Let's push on.
ANGLE ON TED
as he looks around for a place to sit.
TED
Man. They didn't tell you how heavy
these things were out of water.
He finds a box. Brushes the silt off the top. Double-
takes...
TED
What the hell --
(to others)
Come here -- look at this!
Barnes and Harry join him. Peer down with their head-
lamps...
INSERT - BOX
Where Ted brushed the silt off, it reads, "TRASH/BASURA".
BARNES
(reading)
'Trash/Basura'?
HARRY
Trash?
CUT TO:
INT. SPACECRAFT - HALLWAY AND ELEVATOR - SAME TIME
Norman and Beth move through the craft. Beth finds a door
with a control button.
BETH
What do you think?
Norman shrugs. Beth moves to press the button. Norman stops
her.
NORMAN
Listen, Beth, I've got a dilemma. I have
to tell you something about the report.
BETH
Okay.
NORMAN
You know, I needed the money. Ellen
wanted to buy a house and I was broke --
the divorce had cleaned me out... These
guys show up with a federal grant to
study the psychological effects of an
alien invasion --
BETH
What are you saying, Norman?
NORMAN
I mean...I needed money to buy a house.
BETH
Uh, huh...
NORMAN
So I made it up.
BETH
You made what up?
NORMAN
I made up the report.
BETH
You made up the report?
NORMAN
Not all of it. I mean, I did research
on half of it.
Beat.
BETH
Well, who did the other half?
NORMAN
I borrowed from, you know, good writers.
Isaac Asimov...Rod Serling.
BETH
Rod Serling? This isn't the Twilight
Zone, Norman, and I can't change the
channel, so what do you want me to do
now?
NORMAN
I'm just telling you, Beth. I mean, who
the hell would think that anyone would
ever read those government reports?
What's the odds of it? You know what I
mean? I show up and I've got half the
Pacific Fleet here. I didn't know what to
do. I just wanted to tell you, that's all.
Beat.
BETH
Would this fall under the same category
as "Gee, Beth, I thought you knew I was
married?"
NORMAN
Boy, you don't forget, do you? I don't
think we have enough oxygen to talk this
through now.
BETH
I don't think there's nough oxygen to
talk this through...ever.
Beth angrily presses the button and she heads inside, then
stops. Norman tentatively follows her. Suddenly they're
elevated with a fast jolt. Beth screams.
NORMAN
Who pushed the button? Did you push
something?
BETH
No.
INT. SPACECRAFT - FLIGHT DECK
Norman and Beth arrive at the flight deck. It is extremely
dark. They discover a large, contoured console -- but with
no instrumentation of any kind. Norman feels his way around
what seems to be a leather chair...
NORMAN
This must be the cockpit. Hold
on...here's a chair.
He sits down.
NORMAN (cont'd)
You know, this is fairly comfortable.
BETH
Norman, do you hear a kind of gurgling
sound?
NORMAN
Gurgling... Aaaaargh!
Suddenly the chair grabs him... Squeezing his shoulders,
grabbing his hips, wrapping around his head... as if it was
swallowing him... Beth screams.
BETH
Norman!
NORMAN (cont'd)
Oh, yeah. You know, they're seatbelts.
CLOSE ON NORMAN
As he disappears into the chair... Being swallowed up by it.
Beth screaming, "Norman! Norman!" And then it stops.
NORMAN
I'm okay.
Then a loud WHIR as the CHAIR snaps forward, zooms up tight
to the console.
NORMAN (cont'd)
Er...Beth, I could use a little
help. Beth.
CLOSE ON NORMAN
He maintains his composure by dint of will. Then his face is
bathed in a soft Christmastime glow of colored lights.
BETH
Norman! Norman!
He gestures down with his eyes. She follows his gaze...
ANGLE ON CONSOLE
As it begins to take on depth... The instrumentation is
somehow within the surface of the console, like a hologram...
"POS THRUSTERS"... "F3 PISTON BOOSTER".."GLIDER".."SIEVES"...
NORMAN
Beth, you still with me?
BETH
(reading)
Yeah. The symbols...the symbols are in
English.
NORMAN
English?
BETH
Yes, English. Our mother tongue.
NORMAN
There must be an explanation.
BETH
Well, there's something weird going on
here, Norman. There's something Barnes
isn't telling us.
NORMAN
Well, Beth, while you're ruminating, do
you think you can find the chair release
button.
BETH
Oh!
(reading)
Ignition...
NORMAN
No, not that one.
Beth explores the console. Finds the appropriate control.
Touches it.
BETH
Here. This is it, I think.
The chair unwraps around Norman.
NORMAN
There you go.
Norman relaxes. Beth turns and sees that the chair beside
Norman has opened as well. And there's a skeleton in uniform
inside it.
BETH
Aaaargh!
NORMAN
Oh, God!
Beth examines the skeleton with her scientific sangfroid.
BETH
Jesus! It's human.
NORMAN
You mean humanoid?
BETH
No, Norman. I mean human.
(off skeleton)
Blunt force trauma. You can see by the
direction that the fracture runs, that he
was hit in the back of the head.
NORMAN
What's in his hand?
BETH
I don't know.
Norman takes a small package from the skeleton's hand.
BETH
What is it?
NORMAN
Smokehouse almonds?
They look at each other a beat.
BETH
My God -- it's an American spaceship.
They exchange a look as they absorb this stunning revelation.
NORMAN
It can't be an American spaceship. It's
three hundred years old. There weren't
even Americans, let alone spaceships.
BETH
Well, it can't be, but it is.
NORMAN
Okay. Let's see if there's some kind of
flight recorder or data computer that we
can ring up a flight history. Just punch
punch... punch... punch something!
BETH
Alright. Let me try this thing again.
Beth touches the console...
ANGLE ON THEIR FACEPLATES
As data starts to spool out on the console... RV-LHOOQ...
DCOMl... ASSIMILATING DATABASE...
BETH
Alright. Look at this. Okay, good.
Here we go.
ANGLE ON CONSOLE
As Norman punches another button...
FLIGHT DATA ENTRIES
FDS 01/01/43-12/31/45
FDS 01/01/46-12/31/48
FDS 01/01/49-12/31/51
FDS 02/01/56-UNKNOWN ENTRY EVENT
NORMAN
Look at the dates. That can't be --
BETH
It could be. It could be 2043 or 1643.
I don't know which one is weirder.
NORMAN
'Unknown Entry Event'? Press that.
BETH
Are you sure?
NORMAN
Yes.
Beth presses the console at "Unknown Entry Event"...
ANGLE ON SCREEN
As it expands... A sort of hologram created all around
them...As they streak through a galaxy, stars and planets all
around them... They feel like they're falling into outer
space...
Then in the middle of the screen, a black spot... That gets
bigger... Then suddenly has a white cluster in the middle of
it... As if they're flying toward a giant black donut...
And then...nothing... They sit a beat in the eerie blankness
and silence...
BARNES (V.O.)
(over intercom)
This is Barnes. Norman?
Norman and Beth exchange a look.
NORMAN
Yes, I can hear you. I can't explain it,
but I think we're inside an American
spacecraft.
BARNES (V.O.)
It gets better.
NORMAN
This is enough.
CUT TO:
INT. SPACECRAFT - CARGO BAY - LATER
The Sphere, a giant metal ball with an iridescent surface,
ten meters across, is held suspended by a giant claw-like
apparatus in one of the forward bays. Something mesmerizing
about it... The team approaches tentatively...
TED
What the hell is it?
BARNES
Whatever it is, it seems to be what this
bird was designed to do. Go out into
space and gather things like this up and
bring it back.
TED
Yeah...but back from where?
HARRY
Don't get too excited, Ted. We'll turn
it over and it'll say, 'Made in Korea.'
TED
Somehow I doubt that, Harry.
BARNES
What do you think, Norman?
NORMAN
I'm still working on what the hell is it.
BARNES
No hinges... No doors of any kind...
TED
I bet if you put a laser micrometer on
this you'd find it's a perfect sphere. I
mean a perfect sphere -- down to a
thousandth of an inch. That's a message
in itself.
HARRY
Really.
BARNES
What do you mean?
TED
I mean when Pope Benedict asked Giotto
for a drawing to prove his worth as an
artist, what he did was draw a perfect
circle freehand. Perfection is a powerful
message.
BETH
I know what the Zen masters would say.
HARRY
What's that?
BETH
The ball wants to be caught.
BARNES
Nobody built a thing like this looking
into his third eye. They went to a lot
of trouble. And they didn't do it for
nothing. Something put it out there to
get picked up and brought back. Are you
forgetting the Trojan Horse? It could be
a trap.
TED
That sounds a little paranoid, don't you
think, Barnes?
BARNES
Paranoia is a disease. Fear is useful.
Defense is basic -- down to the simplest
one-cell organism. Us. Them.
(checks watch)
We'll leave a video camera here, keep an
eye on it.
NORMAN
Can I ask you something about this
reflective surface --
Barnes edges up to the sphere.
BARNES
It looks like it's made of mercury.
Except mercury is a liquid at this
temperature.
NORMAN
No. That's not what I'm talking about.
What worries me is that it's reflecting
everything but us.
Barnes steps back to get a better look. The team edges up
beside Norman...
NORMAN (cont'd)
I hate to be the one non-scientist who
picks this up, guys. You know what I
mean? What do you think it is?
THEIR POV
It's true. A perfect mirror image of everything in the cargo
bay but them.
BARNES
I don't know. Whatever it is, it's
alien.
SPHERE POV
Through a convex lens, of the team looking in.
BACK ON NORMAN
As he watches Barnes gingerly reach out and touch the surface
of The Sphere.
CUT TO:
INT. BARNES' ROOM
CLOSE ON TELETYPE MACHINE
A message types out:
"ADMIRAL MANNION HAS LEARNED CIVILIANS AT SATURATED DEPTHS.
DEMANDS THEY BE SENT TOPSIDE IMMEDIATELY."
Barnes reads message, crumples it into a ball and throws it
away, then types a response.
"COULD NOT DE-CODE LAST MESSAGE. TRANSMISSION SCRAMBLED.
PLEASE RE-SEND."
"CYCLONE DUE 0800 HOURS. GALE FORCE CONDITIONS AND SOUTHEAST
SWELLS TOPSIDE. CONTACT TEAM MUST EVACUATE TWO HOURS OR
REMAIN HABITAT FOR DURATION OF STORM. OSSA."
CUT TO:
INT. BARNES' ROOM - LATER
Barnes talks on the radio transmission speaker to the
surface.
BARNES
Sounds like it's gonna get pretty
hairy up there. What's the word from
meteorology?
CUT TO:
INT. CAFETERIA - MOVING INSIDE
to the galley, where the team, now in their blue jumpsuits,
confers over hot coffee. Fletcher bakes something in the
oven...
TED
An American spacecraft -- materials and
technology more advanced than anything we
know of -- crashes into the ocean --
HARRY
If it crashed how come it's not damaged?
TED
The materials are obviously superstrong.
HARRY
If that's the case, how come the door
chipped just from you banging on it?
Fletcher brings them a tray of fresh-baked muffind. They all
dig in.
TED
Okay. Better. It didn't crash. It
arrived. Three hundred years ago.
BETH
From where?
TED
Not from where, from when.
BETH
So, you're saying, this thing took a
wrong turn?
TED
Yes, that's right. What if the craft
inadvertently flew into a black hole. It
arrived in our past from its present.
What about those dates you saw on the
flight recorder.
NORMAN
'43, '47 --
TED
That's right. That has to be two thousand
forty three...two thousand forty seven.
That image that you told me you saw on
the monitor...from what you describe that
sounds exactly like a black hole...a tear
in the space...
HARRY
We know what a black hole is, Ted.
NORMAN
I don't know what a black hole is.
HARRY
A black hole is a collapsed dead star
that has so much gravity it acts like a
huge vacuum cleaner, sucking everything
into it. A light interstellar dust...
time...
TED
Time.
HARRY
It's possible, but not plausible.
TED
It's more than probable, it's rudimentary
astrophysics. We just haven't been able
to fly into one and prove it.
HARRY
Well, Ted, sounds like you've got this
all figured out.
Barnes enters.
BARNES
Well, I just got off the horn topside.
Expecting a bad blow-up there. They're
pulling us out.
TED
Pulling us out? Wait a minute...what do
you mean, pulling us out? What does that
mean, pulling us out?
HARRY
What part of 'pull out' don't you
understand, Ted? Extraction...we're
leaving.
TED
No...no...that's ridiculous. I mean,
we haven't even begun to scratch the
surface down here.
BARNES
If you've ever seen these Pacific
cyclones -- what we call a tornado is
nothing more than a little fart, so I
suggest you go back to the dormitory and
take a nap. You need to lower your
metabolism before the decompression.
TED
You're just gonna leave a time-traveling
spacecraft at the bottom of the coean?
BARNES
I'm just going to follow my orders, Ted.
BETH
We're the Welcome Wagon for the aliens,
right? There's no aliens. It's all Made
in America.
TED
(to Beth)
What's your point?
BETH
My point is I'm a biochemist. There's no
life down here, and you guys are bugging
the shit out of me.
TED
What is wrong with all of you? That
doesn't mean there's nothing left to
learn -- nothing to explore -- Jesus!
BARNES
(cutting him off)
She's right, Ted. You guys are the human
contact team for an Unknown Life Form.
There is no Unknown Life Form.
(beat)
So, we're pulling out at oh-nine hundred.
TED
Norman, will you please say something to
him.
NORMAN
What?
TED
I don't know. Do you not have an opinion
about this?
NORMAN
Yes. I'm delighted we're going back up
top. You know what I mean?
I mean, I don't know about you, this
might look like a road-side diner, but in
the meantime, my ears won't pop...if I
pull this thing away from my neck I sound
like someone's squeezing my testicles.
Let's go home.
Ted takes Barnes aside.
TED
Look, why don't you tell me. What is it
you don't want us to find out, huh?
BARNES
I don't want you to find out what I
really think of you.
ANGLE ON HARRY AND NORMAN
NORMAN
Harry. Doesn't it seem odd to you that
Barnes was so excited about coming down
here, but he wasn't the least bit upset
about going up?
HARRY
We're on the same page.
Norman puts his finger in his ear to release pressure.
HARRY (cont'd)
Equalize, Norman.
NORMAN
What do you mean?
HARRY
You know how to equalize, don't you? Just
pinch your nostrils together and blow.
NORMAN
Don't get racy.
CUT TO:
INT. BARNES' ROOM - LATER
CLOSE on LAPTOP SCREEN as words appear...
"DESPITE RISKS CONTACT TEAM ELECTS BY UNANIMOUS VOTE TO
REMAIN HABITAT FOR DURATION OF STORM. BARNES."
REVERSE ANGLE
Barnes hits TRANSMIT BUTTON.
BACK ON LAPTOP
As the message appears: "TRANSMISSION COMPLETE"
BACK ON BARNES
As he looks around furtively. Turns off his laptop and
closes it.
CUT TO:
INT. DORMITORY - LATER
Beth and Ted sleep. Harry reads a paperback novel to mask his
anxiety. Norman brushes his teeth.
HARRY
...Barnes is wrong, you know.
NORMAN
What do you mean? Wrong about the storm?
HARRY
No...about The Sphere.
NORMAN
What about The Sphere?
HARRY
It's alive.
Norman stops a beat. Thinks. Then turns to Harry.
NORMAN
Why do you say that, Harry?
HARRY
There's something inside it.
NORMAN
How could there be anything inside it?
There's no doors, no seams...
HARRY
The Sphere chooses what it will and won't
reflect. Doesn't that seem like the
actions of a conscious being to you?
NORMAN
Okay...pop psychology - you want to know
what this is really about I think, for
what it's worth? Your anger towards our
friend, Ted in there, is because he
figured this out before you did.
Beat.
HARRY
You really think so?
NORMAN
I don't know. This is my first
underwater session.
They laugh.
HARRY
You're right. Ted did figure it out
first, didn't he? Good shrinkage.
Harry takes a slow, rueful, ruminative beat. Then:
HARRY
We're all going to die down here, you
know.
This stops Norman.
NORMAN
What? What?
HARRY
You see, it's curious, Ted did figure it
out. Time travel. And when we get back,
we're gonna tell everyone...how it's
possible. How it's done. What the
dangers are. But then why, fifty years
in the future, when this spacecraft
encounters a black hole, does the
computer call it an 'Unknown Entry
Event'? Why don't they know? If they
don't know, it means we never told
anyone, and if we never told anyone, it
means we never made it back. Hence, we
die down here.
(beat)
Just as a matter of deductive logic,
Norman.
CLOSE ON NORMAN
As he absorbs this...
HARRY
Damn! I wish I could get inside that
Sphere.
CUT TO:
INT. BARNES' QUARTERS - CLOSE ON PRINTER - SAME TIME
As it TYPES... "... 30 knots... ETD -- 00:19 MIN..."
CUT TO:
INT. HALLWAY
ALARMS sound and lights flash as Norman hustles past
Fletcher.
NORMAN
What's wrong?
FLETCHER
Talk to Mr. Barnes...
NORMAN
Where is he?
FLETCHER
Video feed room.
NORMAN
Where's that? I don't know where the
hell anything is.
CUT TO:
INT. SPACECRAFT - SAME TIME
Harry walks towards the Sphere.
CUT TO:
INT. VIDEO ROOM - LATER
Norman joins Barnes in the video room.
NORMAN
What's going on?
BARNES
I don't know, Norman. You tell me.
Barnes punches up an image on the monitors. They look up...
REVERSE ANGLE - MONITOR
Harry, in his diving suit, inside the spacecraft as he
approaches The Sphere...
BACK ON NORMAN AND BARNES
As they look up. Then look at each other.
NORMAN
What the hell is he doing?
BARNES
I don't know what he's doing. Do you
know what he's doing? Come on, Norman,
there's no time. I need to know what you
know.
NORMAN
Nothing. He said he wanted to go inside,
I just didn't think --
BARNES
We are inside, Norman. You mean outside?
NORMAN
He said inside.
BARNES
Inside what? Inside the spacecraft.
NORMAN
I think inside The Sphere.
BARNES
The Sphere...
INT. SPACECRAFT - SAME TIME
Harry approaches The Sphere... Unlike before, his image is
now reflected in the luminous surface... Harry smiles ...
Then his image revolves, faster and faster... His grin
growing wider and wider... And then the reflection isn't
there...
REVERSE ANGLE
And neither is Harry.
CUT TO:
INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME
As Barnes and Norman watch this scene on the monitors...
BARNES
Holy shit!
NORMAN
Oh, my God! Did he go inside?
BARNES
I don't know. I don't think he went
inside.
NORMAN
Well, what the hell's going on? He
didn't just disappear.
BARNES
I don't know. I don't think he
disappeared. I think it's a glitch in
the video.
Fletcher hustles back inside.
BARNES
Fletcher, can we get playback on that?
FLETCHER
Playback coming to you now.
BARNES
(turns to Norman)
You knew he was going to do this and you
did nothing.
NORMAN
I didn't think --
BARNES
You didn't think, Norman?
NORMAN
Fella...okay...Mr. Barnes...I was
sleeping, you know. I'm a little
disoriented.
BARNES
You're disoriented?
NORMAN
I didn't think it was possible.
BARNES
Disoriented? Where are Beth and Ted?
NORMAN
I don't know.
BARNES
You don't know?
NORMAN
No, I don't know. I woke up...I heard
bells ringing.
CUT TO:
INT. COMMUNICATIONS ROOM - SAME TIME
Edmunds, puzzled, fiddles with a control knob...
REVERSE ANGLE
The gauge marked "SUB DESCENT"... It's not moving.
EDMUNDS
(to microphone)
I'm not getting an image on the sub, sir.
CUT TO:
INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME
Barnes pulls on his headset.
BARNES
That's impossible. I just got a cable in
my quarters.
(checks watch)
They're gonna be here in twenty five
minutes or less.
EDMUNDS (V.O.)
(over intercom)
The only logical explanation is that the
sub is still at the surface.
BARNES
Isn't it also logically possible your
sonar's messed up?
Barnes punches up some controls.
ON MONITOR
As Harry's image revolves around The Sphere and then Harry
disappears.
NORMAN
Okay, let's just calm down, alright? He
didn't just disappear. We're not going
to leave him.
BARNES
You got that right, Norman. We're not
going to leave without him. I'm not
going to lose a civilian on my watch...
so you have just screwed up our trip to
the surface. We're not going up to the
surface until we find Harry.
(to intercom)
Harry. We're not going up. Harry, can
you hear me? Harry?
ANGLE ON MONITOR
Harry's grinning, whirling image on The Sphere as it plays
back on the monitors...
BACK ON BARNES
As he barks into the intercom... Then starts talking to
Norman, but Norman's not there.
BARNES
This is not a triage situation here..
(turns towards where he expects
to see Norman)
Norman?
Norman's disappeared.
BARNES (cont'd)
(to Fletcher)
Go and find me Ted and Beth.
CUT TO:
INT. HABITAT - SAME TIME
Norman runs through the corridor toward the dressing room...
BARNES
(over intercom)
Norman... Norman...
CUT TO:
INT. SUIT ROOM - SAME TIME
Norman climbs into his diving suit...
BARNES
(over intercom)
Stop now, Norman.
(beat)
Norman, that's an order.
INT. HABITAT - CORRIDOR TO MOON POOL - ANGLE ON EDMUNDS
As she runs down the corridor... Enters the dressing room.
EDMUNDS' POV - MOON POOL
No Norman. Beyond -- to the airlock -- no Norman.
CUT TO:
INT. BARNES' QUARTERS - SAME TIME
The PRINTER TYPES, "ETD -- 00:05 min"...
CUT TO:
EXT. HABITAT - SAME TIME
Norman plunges down from the airlock to the ocean floor in a
cloud of bubbles...
NORMAN'S POV
The door to the spacecraft illuminated by the airlock tube in
the distance... The sound of his BREATHING as he trudges
across the ocean floor...
Norman goes through airlock.
Norman runs on spacecraft catwalk.
Norman runs through spacecraft hallway.
CUT TO:
INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME
Barnes watches on the monitors as he punches up different
views of the habitat...
EDMUNDS (V.O.)
(over intercom)
Sir, I'm still getting no reading on the
sub.
BARNES
(to microphone)
Forget about the goddamn sonar. When Beth
and Ted get here, keep your eye on them.
Make sure they don't go anywhere,
alright?
(mutters)
I don't need a submarine, I need a
schoolbus.
CUT TO:
INT. SPACECRAFT - CARGO BAY - LATER
With some trepidation Norman turns the corner...
NORMAN'S POV
The Sphere... Its luminous, opalescent surface...
BACK ON NORMAN
As, cautiously, he approaches The Sphere...
Norman approaches The Sphere... Gets closer, till it looms
above him...
REVERSE ANGLE
The curious surface of The Sphere, reflecting the room but
not Norman...
BACK ON NORMAN
As he glances over, doubletakes... Harry has appeared,
unconscious, right beside him...Norman kneels...
NORMAN
Harry. Can you hear me?
He checks the vital signs on Harry's breastplate...
NORMAN (cont'd)
Harry?
CUT TO:
INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME
Barnes at the monitors watching Norman.
BARNES
Norman, is he alive?
CUT TO:
INT. SPACECRAFT - CARGO BAY - SAME TIME
Norman checking Harry for signs of life.
NORMAN
Barnes. We have a problem. Harry's out
coldhere. His pulse is normal...all his
vitals are normal. I don't get it.
(shaking Harry)
Harry!
The Norman lifts Harry in his arms, looks up. Something he
sees stops him...
REVERSE ANGLE - THE SPHERE
Now Norman is reflected in the liquid surface...
CLOSE ON NORMAN
As he stops, frozen --
CUT TO:
INT. VIDEO ROM - SAME TIME
Barnes watches on the monitors as Norman approaches The
Sphere...Suddenly the monitors go black. Then the lights
flicker off...
FLETCHER
Hello...hello...
BARNES
Norman. Can you hear me? We lost video
here. Can you hear me, Norman. Norman?
(beat)
That tears it.
FLETCHER
What, sir?
BARNES
We're on internal power.
FLETCHER
I don't follow you.
BARNES
(right back)
They cut us loose, Teeny. The sub has
gone to the surface.
FLETCHER
I'm not following you.
BARNES
Get out your Five-Day Deodorant Pads.
We're down here for the duration.
CUT TO:
EXT. OCEAN FLOOR - LATER
The power cable detaches from the habitat.
CUT TO:
INT. DORMITORY - LATER
Harry lies unconscious on his cot. Beth finishes taking his
vital signs as Fletcher assists her.
BETH
Everything's normal.
Ted enters. Looks down at Harry as he sleeps.
TED
What's going on? Is it true? Harry went
inside? What did he say?
(off Beth's look)
I get it -- he didn't say. He can't
talk. He's aphasic.
Beth rolls up the stethoscope, hands it to Fletcher.
BETH
He's asleep, Ted.
TED
I can't believe he went into The Sphere.
He didn't say anything. How? There's no
door. No entry hatch... How'd he get in?
BETH
(cutting him off)
He sweet talked his way in.
Beth exits, Fletcher following. Ted thinks a beat.
TED
(to Harry, still sleeping)
Okay, I get it. In an alternative
universe you're actually charming.
CUT TO:
INT. COMMUNICATIONS ROOM - CONTINUOUS ACTION
Barnes talks on a phone, refers to his watch. Edmunds
fiddles with the sonar equipment beside him.
EDMUNDS
... I don't know why we didn't see the
sub on the sonar.
BARNES
Forget the sub, Edmunds. I think as long
as we're stuck here, I want to do another
'reccie' of the spacecraft, only this
time I don't think we need to involve the
civilians.
EDMUNDS
Right, sir.
Beth enters.
BETH
So now what?
BARNES
Everything's going to be fine, Beth.
BETH
How much oxygen do we have left?
BARNES
The storm'll only last 72 hours. At the
outside, four days. There's plenty of
oxygen, barring any unforeseen --
BETH
Unforeseen? You mean like Harry going in
The Sphere?
BARNES
What exactly is your point?
BETH
My point is, Harry should never have been
anywhere near that sphere. If you were
doing your job instead of fuddling around
here like some middle-aged man who's lost
his keys, we'd all be breathing fresh air
right now instead of worrying about how
much oxygen...
BARNES
For someone who's worried about oxygen,
you sure are using it up.
BETH
I know you're not with O.S.S.A. You're
doing a good job of pretending, turning
dials and flipping switches, but you
don't know one end of a rudder from the
other. We're all counting on you like you
know something about how to get us back
safely. Or even care.
BARNES
I know enough not to get killed down
here.
BETH
Good for you.
Barnes gives her a hard look.
BARNES
Beth, let me ask you a question. What
exactly are your qualifications for being
here?
BETH
Guess.
BARNES
Well, I mean Norman chose Harry - a
genius kid from the slums of Philadelphia
...in six years he had a Ph.D;
Norman chose Ted - a whiz kid
astrophysicist...and Norman chose you.
Why are you here? Are you the most
qualified in your field? Norman must
have thought so. Then again, the report's
a few years old, maybe things have
changed.
Beth glares at Barnes. He stares her down. She storms out.
INT. CONTROL SHAFT - LATER
The guts of the habitat. Fletcher adjusts a valve as Barnes
comes over the intercom.
BARNES (V.O.)
... Can I have your attention? We have
lost contact with the surface. The
habitat is now operating solely under
internal power...
CUT TO:
INT. HABITAT - CORRIDOR - SAME TIME
Beth strides angrily down the corridor...
BARNES (V.O.)
... We have plenty of food, oxygen, and,
fresh water to sustain us until the storm
is over and we re-establish contact with
the surface.
CUT TO:
INT. DORMITORY - CLOSE ON HARRY - SAME TIME
As he sleeps in his bunk. Visible beneath his eyelids, rapid
eye movement as he dreams...
BARNES (V.O.)
(on the intercom)
...But until that time, this mission is
subject to emergency authority under my
command. This is Barnes. Over and out.
PUSHING THROUGH PORTHOLE
Jellyfish swarm outside the habitat...
CUT TO:
INT. VIDEO ROOM - LATER
Barnes with Ted and Fletcher as he punches a few commands at
the computer. Takes a videotape out of the console. Stacks
it up with the other videotapes.
FLETCHER
I'm going to take this out to the mini-
sub, sir.
BARNES
You're up on the duty roster?
FLETCHER
Yes, sir.
BARNES
Alright.
Fletcher.
TED
Where's she going?
BARNES
Procedures. Everything in the habitat is
videoed, so every twelve hours we take
the video storage out to the mini-sub and
press the reset button. The idea is, if
something happens to us and we don't
reset it, the sub goes to the surface
automatically, so if we're all dead, they
at least have a partial record of what
went wrong.
(off Ted's look)
Cheerful thought, huh?
(getting up)
Mind the store a minute.
Barnes exits. Ted swivels into position to watch...
ANGLE ON MONITORS
An exterior view of the habitat as Fletcher splashes down
out of the airlock...
CUT TO:
INT. BATHROOM - SAME TIME
Beth stands in front of a sink. She opens a bottle of pills.
Takes a pill out, breaks it in half and washes it down with
water. Then she swallows the other half pill and washes that
down.
INT. DORMITORY - CLOSE ON HARRY - SAME TIME
Harry suddenly opens his eyes wide.
EXT. HABITAT - SAME TIME
Fletcher sweeps through a pretty cloud of pink jellyfish...
Like tiny dancers with blooming pink petticoats... The mini-
sub visible in the distance.
FLETCHER
(to intercom)
This is beautiful. It's snowing down
here. There's got to be a million
jellyfish down here.
CUT TO:
INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME
Ted looks at the view on the monitors...
FLETCHER (V.O.)
(over intercom)
I'm having a hard time seeing.
TED
(to intercom)
Hello...hello...hello...hello...
FLETCHER (V.O.)
(over intercom)
They're sticking to my face-plate.
TED
(to intercom)
Fletcher, this is Dr. Fielding. Swim
through them. They're harmless.
Barnes enters, turns to the monitors and his jaw drops...
ANGLE ON MONITORS
Fletcher all but lost in a dense snowfall of jellyfish...
CUT TO:
EXT. HABITAT - SAME TIME
Fletcher struggles through the sea of jellyfish...
FLETCHER
(over intercom)
Hey, guys...I think they feel the heat
from my legs --
Then Fletcher howls.
BARNES (V.O.)
(to intercom)
Fletcher, get out of there.
FLETCHER
(over intercom)
They're stinging me through the --
(beat)
Aaaaaargh!
BARNES (V.O.)
(to intercom)
Fletcher, I want you back at the habitat
on the double.
Fletcher thrashes...
FLETCHER
(over intercom)
I can't move my legs. It's burning!
BARNES
(to intercom)
Come back to the habitat.
FLETCHER
(over intercom)
They're inside my suit! They're inside my
--
BARNES
(to intercom)
Keep moving...keep moving. Just keep
moving...
Fletcher thrashes as the water rises inside her
faceplate... And then a jellyfish swims up... stings her in
the eyeball... Then they're swarming into her nose, her
mouth...
BARNES (V.O.)
(over intercom)
Fletcher, come on.
FLETCHER
Aaaaaaaaaaargh!
TED
Jesus Christ! Can't you do something?
BARNES
No.
CUT TO:
INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME
Barnes and Ted watch, horrified, powerless, as Fletcher
disappears in the cloud of jellyfish. And then her SCREAMS
STOP. And there's just the jellyfish.
TED
Jesus Christ! She's dead, there's no
bubbles.
CUT TO:
INT. COMMUNICATION ROOM - SAME TIME
Edmunds supervises the computers. Suddenly a series of
numbers spools across the screen --
00032125252632 032629 301321 04261037 18 3016 06180
8213229033005 1822 04261013 0830162137 1604 083016 21
182204261013 0830162137 1604 083016 21 1822
03301313043200032125252632 032629 301321 04261037 18 3016...
EDMUNDS
What the hell's that?
Irritated she presses buttons. More numbers appear.
BARNES (V.O.)
(over intercom)
Edmunds?
EDMUNDS
Yes, sir?
BARNES (V.O.)
(over intercom)
Come on down here. Something happened to
Fletcher.
Edmunds hustles out.
CLOSE ON MONITOR
As Edmunds exits in the f.g. And the numbers return...
... 00032125252632 032629 301321 04261037 18 3016 06180
29033005 1822 04261013 0830162137 1604 083016 2104261013
0830162137 1604 083016 21033013130432...
CUT TO:
INT. HABITAT - SICK BAY - LATER
Fletcher lies dead on a gurney, her naked body studded
with jellyfish. Beth wears scrubs, a surgical tray
beside her. Norman, also in scrubs, watches as Beth
reaches for a long stainless-steel tweezers...
BETH
At this level of toxicity, the blood
vessels dilate. Blood pressure falls
through the floor. They go right into
shock.
I saw a little boy down at Orchard Beach
attacked by a school of jellyfish.
NORMAN
You've seen jellyfish aggressive like
this?
BETH
I haven't seen piranha aggressive like
this.
(starts working on Fletcher)
Okay...rock and roll.
CLOSE ON FLETCHER
As Beth probes with the tweezers up Fletcher's nose and into
her sinus cavity... Norman grimaces, looks away as Beth pulls
out a jellyfish.
BACK TO SCENE
BETH
What's the matter, Norman? You never saw
a dead body before?
NORMAN
As a matter of fact, I've seen one dead
body in two different counties.
BETH
Ouch. The plane crashes. I forgot.
NORMAN
I've just never seen a jellyfish coming
out of a human being's nasal cavity
before.
BETH
Well, you live and learn.
NORMAN
When I was five years old, I was out in a
boat with my father, he told me not to
jump in so of course I had to. Right
into a school of these guys. Not this big
though. I think everyone had a shot at
me. I don't know what this lady felt,
but man, it went beyond pain...it
was...it was...
BETH
Would it make you feel any better if I
tell you this isn't exactly a jellyfish?
NORMAN
What do you mean?
Beth pokes at the jellyfish on the tray.
BETH
Jellyfish like this are unheard of.
NORMAN
Well, congratulations. You've just
discovered a brand new species.
BETH
You know, Norman, if you had spent a
much time as I have sitting at a lab
bench, you would know when something had
been touched by the hand of God.
NORMAN
I'm just complimenting you. Why are you
angry? I'm not being critical.
BETH
I'm just saying...God didn't make this.
Okay. It's fictional, it's a forgery,
it's a copy...it's...moving!
INSERT - JELLYFISH
The jellyfish moves toward Beth as she adroitly impales it
with a scalpel.
NORMAN
Beth, are you sure it's moving?
BETH
No, Norman, I lied.
NORMAN
Maybe I don't understand. I was just
trying to make the point that you of all
people, I would think, would want to keep
this creature alive to study, not hack it
up...if it was alive.
BETH
Look, don't try to get inside my brain,
okay?
NORMAN
I care about you.
BETH
Great! I like to work alone. Thanks.
CUT TO:
INT. HABITAT CORRIDOR/SHOWERS - LATER
Ted heads down the corridor. Hears a SOUND coming fron
Harry's room. Sidles up to the door. Hears from inside,
HARRY SINGING exuberantly from 'South Pacific'.
HARRY (O.S.)
(sings)
Where the sky meets the sea./ "Here
I am, your special island!/ Come to me,
come to me!"/ Bali Ha'i, Bali Ha'i, Bali
Ha' i!
CLOSE ON TED
As he thinks to himself.
TED
(to himself)
Harry?
CUT TO:
INT. BARNES' QUARTERS - LATER
Barnes reads through the cables with his feet up on his bunk.
A KNOCK at his door.
BANRES
Come on in.
Norman enters.
NORMAN
You called for me?
BARNES
Have a seat, Norman. Coffee?
NORMAN
No thanks.
Barnes refills his mug from a Thermos.
BARNES
How long have you known Dr. Halperin?
NORMAN
I used to teach at UC San Diego, years
ago. She came to do her master's there.
BARNES
What'd you teach - psychology?
NORMAN
They require a pretty full teaching load--
that's one of the reasons I left.
BARNES
They squeeze you, don't they? Then you
have to see patients on top of it.
NORMAN
They're gonna get their money's worth,
one way or another.
BARNES
You and Dr. Halperin seen pretty close.
NORMAN
We've fallen out of touch over the years.
Why?
BARNES
Well, don't take this personally, Norman,
but I assume she wasn't a romantic
interest of yours.
NORMAN
I'm sorry...don't take what personally?
BARNES
She's a tall, vibrant, younger woman...
NORMAN
And I was married.
BARNES
Then you saw her as a patient.
NORMAN
I'm not at liberty to discuss that. You
understand.
BARNES
What I understand is that an exotic-gas
environment a thousand feet underwater
with no link to the surface is just about
the most dangerous place on the planet.
If there's a problem, I need to know.
NORMAN
Beth is fine.
BARNES
Beth is fine? Beth is fine?
NORMAN
She's very fine.
Barnes suddenly throws a fax transmission at Norman.
BARNES
Beth's fine? Okay...what about this?
You want to read it? What does it say,
Norman?
NORMAN
(reading fax)
These are my actual notes. How in the
world did you...
BARNES
What does it say, Norman?
NORMAN
She was having some problems with a
boyfriend.
BARNES
Does it say 'suicide attempt'?
NORMAN
How did you get a hold of my papers?
BARNES
Does it say 'electric shock therapy'?
Isn't that what it says, Norman?
NORMAN
What's your point?
BARNES
My point is you didn't feel it was
important enough to mention this to
somebody? You're willing to jeopardize
the lives of all of these people by
having someone here who could in fact be
mentally unstable?!
NORMAN
Are you aware of the term 'over-
reacting.'
BARNES
Don't play with me, you little shit!
We're 160 fathoms down and now we've got
a nut bag down here who can flip-out and
crack up. why didn't you tell me that?
NORMAN
I can't believe you had someone go into
my office...take my personal records.
BARNES
You chose the team, Norman. Why didn't
you tell me this?
NORMAN
When I wrote this report, I didn't know
the team was going to be a thousand feet
underwater.
BARNES
It doesn't matter if it's a thousand feet
or ten feet, why didn't you tell me about
her past mental history?
NORMAN
I didn't think it was pertinent.
BARNES
It was not for you to make that decision.
NORMAN
It was a passive attempt.
BARNES
A passive attempt?
NORMAN
Yes. People who really want to kill
themselves get a gun and shoot
themselves, or go off a bridge, they
don't call their boyfriend and say: "I
just took 20 Nebutol...help me."
BARNES
She took twenty yellows and you're
telling me she's perfect?
There's a KNOCK at the door.
BARNES
Yeah?
Ted enters, thoughtfully rubbing his chin.
NORMAN
What's going on?
TED
It's Harry.
NORMAN
He's awake?
TED
He's really awake.
CUT TO:
INT. CAFETERIA - LATER
Harry eats a big farmer's breakfast with great gusto as the
team, skeptical and scared, surround him at the table.
Norman prepares food for the others at the stove.
HARRY
... Man oh man, you got a problem with
me, Barnes.
(gestures to Norman)
Because as long as my good buddy Norman
keeps cooking like this I ain't leaving.
Wheeee! Ummmmm-ummm. I mean, this
toast is good, and the bacon is better.
But the eggs are fantastic! What've you
got in here? Wait, don't tell me.
(closes eyes, inhales deeply)
Parsley... Chives... Tarragon... Chervil!
Is it chervil?
NORMAN
Yes, it is. I'm glad you like it.
HARRY
Eggs! I'm telling you, eggs? I love
eggs!
BETH
They sure have improved your mood.
HARRY
(to Beth)
How 'bout it? You keep laying them and
I'll keep eating them.
He elbows her and nearly knocks her off her chair.
ANGLE ON NORMAN
Watching Harry, as if he's under a microscope...So is Barnes.
They exchange a look. Then Barnes gingerly launches in.
BARNES
Harry, with you and The Sphere -- do you
remember what happened?
HARRY
Of course I remember what happened. I
went inside.
TED
How did you get inside? There are no
doors.
HARRY
This place is full of doors and we can't
get out. We're still here.
Barnes forces a chuckle.
BARNES
So we are, so we are...
TED
You still didn't answer my question,
Harry.
Harry resumes eating his eggs. From behind Harry's back,
Norman assesses Harry with a shrewd, appraising gaze. As if
he has eyes in back of his head, Harry catches him doing it.
HARRY
Why are you looking at me like that,
Norman?
Then Harry turns. Norman's eyes crinkle in a kindly
smile.
NORMAN
Er...I'm jealous, Harry. I love eggs,
but my cholesterol...You're making me
hungry.
Harry laughs heartily. Norman brings a big platter of
calamari to the table... Harry spears a few with his fork.
BARNES
(circling back)
Are you saying we shouldn't still be
here, Harry?
HARRY
(looking around)
Hey, where's Teeny? I thought she did
all the cooking. Not that I'm
complaining, Norman, this is great. And
grits, you got everything down here.
Where did you learn to cook grits,
Norman?
NORMAN
I wasn't sure you'd like them.
HARRY
You had a nanny.
(laughs)
So, where is Teeny?
BARNES
Teeny had an unfortunate accident. She
was killed.
HARRY
Killed? How?
BEAT.
BARNES
By jellyfish.
HARRY
Jellyfish? That's strange.
BARNES
(beat)
Yes, it is strange, isn't it.
Norman brings Harry another plate of food.
NORMAN
Here you go, Harry.
Harry digs in.
HARRY
Whoa, onion rings.
NORMAN
It's not onion rings.
HARRY
Good though.
NORMAN
Guess what it is?
HARRY
What?
NORMAN
Calamari.
Suddenly, Harry spits out his calamari... Starts to gag...
HARRY
Uccch! Aaaaargh! Squid!
Ted runs around the table and gives Harry the Heimlich
maneuver... Harry struggles to say something... Ted
vigorously pumps at Harry, lifting him high in the air...
TED
Okay, Harry, bring it up! Bring it up,
big fella!
NORMAN
Ted. Ted! I think he's trying to say
something!
Ted stops the Heimlich maneuver. Harry shrugs him off.
HARRY
I'm not choking, you asshole! I just
hate squid!
Ted backs off.
TED
I m sorry. I was trying to help you.
Barnes warily takes the platter of calamari away. Harry sits
down again. Norman sits opposite him.
HARRY
I hate squid!
NORMAN
As long as it wasn't my cooking, okay?
(beat)
Can I ask you something, Harry? Before
you went inside The Sphere, you were
convinced that we were all going to die
down here.
HARRY
I remember that.
NORMAN
Do you still believe that?
HARRY
(nods)
Are you afraid to die, Norman?
NORMAN
You know, I just thought, if we're gonna
die, thought I'd have a couple of eggs.
Go out in style.
CUT TO:
INT. COMMUNICATION ROOM - SAME TIME
Edmunds is sitting at the bank of computers which are all
blank. She looks relieved. Suddenly numbers start scrolling
up on the monitor directly in front of her. She hits the
keyboard to clear the screen, but the numbers keep
coming...on another computer screen, then another and
another, until all the screens are scrolling numbers. She
frantically hits keys, but the numbers remain.
CUT TO:
EXT. HABITAT - SAME TIME
Camera moves around the Habitat.
CUT TO:
INT. HALLWAY - SAME TIME
Ted and Norman walk away from the Cafeteria.
TED
Bullshit! Bullshit! He's hiding
something.
NORMAN
What are you talking about?
TED
He was in there. He went inside the
Sphere. Whatever it was he saw, he
doesn't want to tell us.
NORMAN
He doesn't remember anything.
TED
Oh, come on, Norman. You bought that?
No! no! That whole food thing, it was
all a diversion. He wants to keep it all
to himself. Think about it. The guy's
willing to put all of our lives on the
line because he doesn't want to share
information...
NORMAN
Ted, I think....
TED
I can see it right now...he's making
notes for his new book. Wants to win the
Nobel Prize.
NORMAN
And you don't?
TED
No! ...yeah. Norman, you've known me
since I was 17 years old. I would love
to be the guy who gets the recognition.
NORMAN
Have you any idea how respected in your
field you are?
TED
I'm not. What have I done? No. I've
written one "Fun with Dick and Jane" book
on physics. I mean, for christ sake, Neils
Bohr, he published 'The Quantum Theory
of Atomic Structure' I think when he was
28. Einstein - "Relativity", 26...Newton
- "Gravity", 23. Norman, in physics, if
you haven't done it by the time you're
35, the chances are you never will.
NORMAN
And this has nothing to do with being
competitive with Harry?
Ted gives Norman a look.
TED
Harry?
NORMAN
Harry.
TED
Harry...19. Wunderkind!
NORMAN
I rest my case.
TED
Norman, I'm thirty years old.
NORMAN
I wish I was.
Ted laughs.
Then Edmunds comes toward them.
EDMUNDS
Mr. Barnes would like to see you, Ted.
TED
Why?
EDMUNDS
There's something wrong with the computer
system.
CUT TO:
INT. COMMUNICATIONS ROOM - CLOSE ON BANK OF COMPUTER SCREENS
- LATER
The numbers Edmunds saw earlier - on all of the monitors:
00032125252632 032629 301321 04261037 18 3016 06180
8213229033005 1822 04261013 0830162137 1604 083016 21
182204261013 0830162137 1604 083016 21 1822 033013130432
REVERSE ANGLE - TED
as he tin