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The main characters are introduced, also hard science, political and religious intrigue. |
| FADE IN: INT. GALLEY As it turned out, Yuri and Ivan join them, as do John and Oksana when the aroma reaches the control deck. Everyone seems to show up when Mike is cooking and he wasn't certain whether it was because they liked his food, or just didn't want to fend for themselves. Surprisingly, dinner conversation is mainly small talk. There is an occasional reference to work, but for the most part, it turns out more of a social gathering for which Mike is thankful. GARAN (To Sharon) This is really quite a storm we are having. SHARON MANSON Oh yes. Something like this on Earth would cause billions of dollars damage if it crossed a populated area. And where would you find an unpopulated area on Earth? MEDVEDEV Most of Siberia? OKSANA You know, Mr. Angel, if a shield such as we have could be made around a city, it would provide protection against such a thing just as it is doing for us. MIKE ANGEL I've given that a great deal of consideration. There is only one major stumbling block that I see. All eyes turn to him as he pauses. MIKE ANGEL (CONT'D) Human nature. Now they all look puzzled, not following him at all. MIKE ANGEL (CONT'D) The same technology that makes the shield is the one that powers this ship. The shield can be made impenetrable to anything, including light. (beat) Your people, weren't exactly happy when one of our presidents a few years back wanted to resurrect the old 'Star Wars' defense initiative. There are nods around the table. MIKE ANGEL (CONT'D) The only reason there are so many countries still left on Earth is that we have a threat of mutually assured destruction hanging over our heads. How long would that balance remain if one country had a totally impenetrable defense? Silence falls as everyone at the table realizes the terrible implications of what he had just said. Oksana looks horrified. SHARON MANSON (Innocently) Couldn't it just be licensed to major cities with the understanding that it would only be used to protect against accidents of nature? Mike's inherent cynicism comes out against her naivete, MIKE ANGEL Right! That would last about a minute and a half! I'd turn my back and some bureaucrat would send in the Marines to confiscate and duplicate it! Don't forget, this is the same thing that creates the singularity that brought us here in three hours instead of six months. I know you are all familiar with the demonstration I had to put on in New Mexico of what else this is capable of if reversed and used on Earth. Now, I know I'm not going to do that again, and I trust me. My native paranoia tells me to place zero trust in anyone else, especially politicians and 'leaders' with an agenda. (beat) My agenda is to learn as much as I can before I die, which looks like a long time from now. (smiles at the group) And it is to also pass on to a trusted few what I have discovered. He looks directly at Oksana who looks down at her lap at the compliment. John understands what is being said and reaches over and squeezes her hand. VESNA (OS) Sir, President Forest would like to speak with you. Mike wipes his mouth slowly with a napkin and to his surprise, a video monitor at the end of the wardroom flickers to life with the image of the President. MIKE ANGEL Sir, it's good to actually see you tonight. PRESIDENT FOREST I didn't call to pick a fight, but I think we both realize that there is now a real potential security problem; not just for the United States, but globally, and I believe President Puchinskiy will agree with me. MIKE ANGEL Good. Thank you for seeing it realistically. For a change, I also agree with you. I had been hoping that you and your people would see the problem and understand it in a logical light. All heads at the table turn to Mike. Nobody really has any idea of what either is talking. The President nods. PRESIDENT FOREST I feel the most prudent action would be a conservative one until we get more answers. MIKE ANGEL Agreed. I assure you that until we understand what we're dealing with, we're not going to pry open those sarcophagi and start resurrecting aliens. The light of understanding dawns on the group one by one. MIKE ANGEL (CONT'D) Sir, we don't know if they are still clinically alive, that's just my guess. If they are, what were their motivations back then and what would they be today? I don't know. I assume benign, but I can't guarantee that because I just don't know. The technology we've discovered is well beyond anything that even the house and I could dream up. Until we understand its purpose and implications, it remains between us. PRESIDENT FOREST Thank you. I know that you can be difficult, but I also know that you're not irresponsible. There are already polls on the street giving almost even odds that the public thinks they are not only alive, but the forerunners of a galactic invasion of Earth. Mike laughs aloud and starts coughing, MIKE ANGEL Hollywood cranks out too many bad science-fiction movies! I think the evidence is going to bear out that the people from here are not invaders, but our ancestors. That's what leads me to the benign theory. Besides, we've already accounted for the major racial groups on Earth, but don't know what group these two represent, or why they were left behind. I'm not ready to wake them up until I know for certain what they represent. Were they criminals? Were they defective? Were they insane? You can rest assured, I'm not putting my people here at risk, much less the rest of you down there. PRESIDENT FOREST I appreciate your caution. Barry was right when he predicted that every flying saucer cult would start clamoring for something or another. On the plus side, church attendance is up 300 percent. I don't know whether it's good or bad, but almost every television in the country is being carted into offices and schools so that nobody misses anything. AFTRA and the Screenwriter's Guild are on my back because even the soap operas have been cancelled until you get home. You don't understand the damage control and PR nightmare you've created. MIKE ANGEL Vesna, is this conversation secure? VESNA (OS) Yes sir. I did not know what you wished to discuss and switched feeds when the President called. MIKE ANGEL Thank you Vesna. Sir, if I may speak freely, if you'd concentrate less on damage control and more on the positive PR side of this, you'll get fewer ulcers. People are resilient and will accept most of this at face value. That's why we have 24-hour coverage. This may be the information generation, but nobody is accustomed to total honesty from government. Now I know I backed you and President Puchinskiy into a corner on this publicity issue, but you can turn it to your advantage very easily and I'll cooperate with that. Here we have an International group of scientists who have made discoveries that will have an effect on the entire planet for generations to come and you were a part of it. Lord, the two of you could probably run for Tsar if you played your cards right and make it. (beat) Now I promise not to fight with you in public any more, if you'll just relax and trust my judgment in what we're doing. My people and I had just finished discussing the perils of the military applications of our technology just before you called. Everyone here can understand the full implication of how disastrous it would be to have an imbalance of power with it. I'd appreciate it if, until I come up with a viable solution, you keep your military advisors at arms length. MIKE ANGEL (CONT'D) I'm not about to upset that balance unless I get angry, and I hope you understand I don't want to do that. My agenda has never been hidden. It's 'knowledge for knowledge sake' - hopefully, a noble savant ideal. But I fully realize that some knowledge can be dangerous in the wrong hands, and I'm not saying that yours are the wrong hands. (added quickly, holding up his hands in a stopping gesture) But the only person I trust at the moment is me, and maybe Oksana over here. The girl shrinks back in her seat, again showing the beginnings of a blush. PRESIDENT FOREST I'm also being pressured by the people we've gotten together so far to get some physical samples of your finds so that they can be verified by independent tests. Is there any way more data can be transmitted? MIKE ANGEL I'm way ahead of you. I already contacted Sukhoi to construct another container pod that my prototype ship can pick up and bring here. It should be ready by the end of the week. The prototype wasn't built to accommodate humans, but I think she can ferry some samples back to you and President Puchinskiy's group quickly. I'll make the delivery arrangements and let you know. PRESIDENT FOREST Thank you. Can I be frank? MIKE ANGEL Yes, Sir. PRESIDENT FOREST With all respect to the rest of you in the room and up there, Mr. Angelskov, how can you stand these scientists? They're driving me crazy. MIKE ANGEL Sir, politicians drive me nuts. You handle politicians and I'll take care of the science types. Keep in mind that I'm one of them. And also, 'the geek shall inherit the Earth'. The President smiles at this. PRESIDENT FOREST I want you to know that the polls on the street put you a hands down winner of the next election as a write-in candidate. Mike chokes. After a minute of coughing: MIKE ANGEL Sir, your job is safe. I wouldn't have it on a bet! Please make sure that doesn't happen! Forest smiles and breaks the connection. MIKE ANGEL How's that for one-upmanship? He is met by completely blank stares. MIKE ANGEL (CONT'D) He must have found out that Vladimir Grigorovich has been using a video link and I guess he couldn't be outdone! Good for him. Now, does anyone have any comments on our discussion? SHARON MANSON I guess I hadn't thought of the threat. I was so caught up with the discoveries, that there might be something dangerous never dawned on me. I'm supposed to be a journalist, but I haven't been very objective. MIKE ANGEL Not really. You don't think like a politician or a military person. I can; I just don't like to. That's why I find both distasteful. But the inbred paranoia I have about both makes me look for all of the implications. MEDVEDEV You think there might be some danger here, then? MIKE ANGEL No. However, I'd rather cover all my bases before tilting at windmills and risking everything, including civilization, as we know it. We've already had a couple of major surprises; I'd like to keep them to a minimum: especially the dangerous ones. OKSANA Then what should we do? MIKE ANGEL For starters, I need you to understand as much as you can about the machinery in there: what it does and how it works. That means you need to keep working closely with Doctors Belisar, Barishnikov, and Vesna on the translations of the labels. I know you still want to understand Vesna fully, but there's plenty of time for that. Right now we need to figure out what's really in there and possibly how to use it. Vesna? VESNA (OS) Yes, sir. MIKE ANGEL You have a complete database on human psychology. While you're working on translations, see if you can detect any attitude or motivation in the language once you can come up with a reasonable understanding. VESNA (OS) I will do that. MIKE ANGEL Yuri, you and Peter work on the materials analysis. That may give some insight on the level of technology we're dealing with. Ivan, you and Jim need to find out whether those two bodies are corpses or alive in suspended animation. I don't want to open a coffin and have one sit up. All of you make a list of additional equipment you need to perform whatever tests you want. McKinney will get it together and send it up with the prototype in a few days. Pass the word to your counterparts, too. GARAN But, won't that put us over the thousand pound limit? MIKE ANGEL I only set that limit to keep the women from bringing along 17 suitcases of junk for a one-month stay. Sharon makes a face and sticks her tongue out at Mike. MIKE ANGEL (shrugging and smiling) Hey! What can I say? The coveralls are color-coordinated enough for my taste and we didn't have unlimited storage space. I just figured that 15 pairs of shoes wouldn't really be appropriate and heels are out of the question in this sand. SHARON MANSON I'll have you know that I only own three pairs of shoes and none of them are high-heels! And I could probably only fill ten suitcases. CUT TO: INT. COMMAND DECK The storm passes a few hours later and the video screens on the control deck again show the normal evening scenery. The placement of the dunes has changed a bit, but otherwise the view is the same. Most of the crew has retired for the evening, but a few are either in their labs or chatting in the lounge. Oksana has gone down to the Russian archaeology lab and is conferring with Vesna and the doctors over possible translations of the text and functions of the various machines. BARISHNIKOV This writing appears to have components of the other four languages, but with something else added. I really feel that the color shades are also part of the script, and not just a decoration. VESNA (OS) I agree. There is also something which none of you has noticed because your eyes aren't made that way. The color variations extend above and below the spectrum that's visible to the human eye. BELISAR That would mean whoever wrote that had a wider range of vision than we do. Probably better hearing, too. BELISAR (CONT'D) I'd like to put forth a theory. The others look his way in anticipation. BELISAR (CONT'D) First, we discovered that the other four languages were precursors of languages known on Earth, right? The other two nod, VESNA (OS) That is true. BELISAR Second, we have found similarities of each of those languages to the characters in these writings, correct? BARISHNIKOV Da. I think I know where you are going with this. The writing we have here may be a precursor of each of those four. Each of them may have been extracted from this earlier writing for some reason or another. BELISAR Exactly. Vesna, can you apply a regression against the words and meanings we understand from the original four alphabets in relation to the similarities that you found in this one? VESNA (OS) Already started. I also have the house working on this to try to come up with an algorithm based on the natural progression of alphabets and languages that we know on Earth. This may take some time. OKSANA You may want to also try to correlate that with the placement and possible function of the indicators and switches on the panels. This may give some idea of meaning, even if we do not know what they do. VESNA (OS) Very good. I will work on that part myself. At this point, Mike walks into the lab. MIKE ANGEL How's it going? BELISAR Very well! They bring him up to speed on what they have found and the planned approach to the problem. Mike beams at this progress. MIKE ANGEL Oksana. I want you to pay close attention to these two. She looks at him questioningly. MIKE ANGEL (CONT'D) I don't want you to fall into the trap that most engineers have of thinking only in a straight line or only one way. Even if you think like a Russian, most engineers think that there is only one solution to a problem. These people here may be archaeologists, but they are anthropologists first. They're trained to use an interdisciplinary approach to problem solving. I'll bet they don't even think about it any more, but they will automatically apply whatever discipline produces the best results to a problem. Am I right, gentlemen? Both doctors look a bit sheepish, but nod. MIKE ANGEL (CONT'D) Precisely. You may become an engineer, but I want to see you think also like a physicist, a priest, a poet, a shaman, a sociologist, and a mystic. There are always a dozen ways to look at a problem and at least a dozen solutions. Only when you can see from all of these viewpoints will you be all you can be. Oksana stares at the floor, trying not to blush. MIKE ANGEL (CONT'D) Would you guys take her under you wing and show her what I'm talking about? And Joe, would you include John a bit more? He's feeling somewhat left out and could use the training. He's a bit unfocused now. MIKE ANGEL (CONT'D) If you could open up the infinite possibilities to him, I would really appreciate it. BELISAR I hadn't considered that. But, of course! MIKE ANGEL Thanks. A night well spent, I'd say. It may be time to let the computers do their crunching and the humans get some sleep. There's a big day ahead and some time to make up tomorrow, so why don't we knock off for today? The three nod. Barishnikov closes a notebook he has been writing in and puts it in a desk drawer. CUT TO: INT. GALLEY Chapter Thirty-five Dawn breaks rather unceremoniously and Mike straggles over to the galley around 0600 Zulu. The telltale aroma of fish cooking assails his senses and woke him up immediately. Oksana has arrived early and was preparing a large breakfast of smelt and eggs along with sausage and bliny as well as something he didn't immediately recognize. MIKE ANGEL (Playfully) We're not at the farm, you know. OKSANA (Laughing) Ya znaiu, but a good breakfast will put everyone at their best today. One by one, the rest come in. Most of the Americans are not used to the sardine-like fish for breakfast and aren't quite certain how to take it, but the Russians dig in. CUT TO: INT. RUSSIAN SCIENCE SECTION The crew assembles on the lower deck and suits up. Most has already packed the equipment they anticipate needing that day and it was ready by the airlock. John and Mike exit first and disable the force field across the entrance of the tunnel. There is another two feet of sand piled in front of the opening that collapses when the field is turned off. John has thought ahead and brought along a shovel. As soon as the sand falls, he begins clearing the hole again. The scene inside the airlock is just as they had left it. The party removes their suits and start in pairs down the passageway carrying their gear. Oksana tags along with the two archaeologists. Carol and Lana run along to catch up with them. Sharon, Mikhail, and John go with the hydrologists, while Mike joins up with the geologists. CUT TO: INT. WATER POOL The hydrologists and Sharon reach the pool before the others get to the main chamber. They begin setting up several makeshift hydrophones. SHARON MANSON (Reportorial voice) What is it you're attempting to do? STROMBERG We're going to try to calculate the depth of this pool. Once we've determined that, we hope to find the source of this water. I seriously doubt it's naturally occurring. It's much too pure to be natural. In fact, we've determined it's more pure than triple distilled water on Earth. You really couldn't drink it. SHARON MANSON Why is that? It's water, isn't it? STROMBERG It would leach the calcium and other minerals from your bones and blood. That's how pure it is. MEDVEDEV Yes. It is as if someone took pure hydrogen and burned it in pure oxygen with no other contaminants present. There is absolutely nothing else that we can detect. Of course we'll know better tomorrow when the big gas chromatograph arrives from Earth. SHARON MANSON Then where do you think it's coming from? MEDVEDEV We do not know. Once we know the depth, we will use a camera such as you have to try to locate any pipes or sources on the bottom and sides. There was a time, as I'm sure doctors Jameson and Garan will confirm, that the surface of this planet had as much water as the Earth does today. Where did it go? We don't know, but maybe some of it is here. Maybe we can stop at the poles before going home to see if that is water ice or just carbon dioxide ice. Until then, we just do not know. We come here for answers and all we get is more questions. CUT TO: INT. MAIN EQUIPMENT ROOM In the main room, Lana and the girls reach the panels with the archaeologists. For a moment, all of them just look around at the myriad of controls and writings trying to make some sense of it. They had studied pictures previously taken, but the real thing is still awesome to behold. SVETLANA (Reporter's voice) Have you come up yet with a translation? BARISHNIKOV Not as yet. We have been busy trying to find the similarities and mapping out the position of the various symbols. OKSANA We have discovered that eight of these panels are almost identical except for this symbol here. (points to a symbol near the top of the panel) This looks like a title or an identification of some sort since this line does not appear associated with any of the controls. Everything else is next to a control or an indicator. SVETLANA You said eight of the panels. I count 11 on this wall. BELISAR That is correct. The two on either side of the center bear several extra lines of controls and a very different inscription on the top. The very center panel has no relationship to any of the others. It is as if it was a master control for the other ten. Some of the same characters are on the others, but there is other verbiage associated with them. In addition, the layout of the indicators is different. Oksana is attempting to determine the purpose of these controls which may help translating the characters. Lana nods as Carol speaks up, CAROL MANSON What about that panel on the other wall? She points to what could be a mural except that there are a few controls evident on it. There is more script and much fewer controls and indicators than on any of the other panels. BELISAR We don't know. It is totally different from the others, we felt it better to concentrate here first to try to get a handle on what we are doing. The girl wanders off to study the lone panel. CUT TO: INT. BY THE SARCOPHAGI Mike and Yuri are busy at the sarcophagi trying various chemical tests to determine the composition while Doctor Jameson is going over every square inch of another with high-powered magnifiers. Lana strolls over to watch their progress as Sharon comes down the long hallway and enters the room. SHARON MANSON Anything yet? Mike shakes his head. MIKE ANGEL Nothing definitive, but it's beginning to look like I was right. SHARON MANSON (Under her breath) As usual. Mike ignores her. MIKE ANGEL So far it looks like these coffins are pure diamond. JAMESON Not just that, look here. (pointing at the junction of the black base with the clear lid) Do you see that? SHARON MANSON No, just a change in the color. JAMESON Alright, now look closely through this. (indicating a microscope attached to the side of the case with suction cups) Lana puts her eye to the instrument and adjusts the focus slightly. SVETLANA There is a microscopic line there between them. JAMESON Exactly! The joint between the two materials has been polished optically smooth to within a few angstroms. There is maybe one or two molecule's difference between the two surfaces. It makes a perfect seal. We don't have the technology to do that with diamond without shattering it. Mike's hunch was right. SVETLANA This is news? Lana makes another face at Mike. Since the television camera mounted on her shoulder keeps her face out of range, Mike can't retaliate by sticking his tongue out. Instead, he just looks back sheepishly and shrugs. SVETLANA Why is this important? GARAN Because this creates an almost perfect airtight seal. Molecules of an atmosphere can escape, yes, but no more than they can through the walls and the top. It would take millennia for any gas inside to escape out into this chamber, or vice-versa. We are measuring the thickness of the top and the sides of box to be nearly 15 centimeters. Any diffusion of gas through that thickness of this material would be on the order of millennia, instead of the decades it would through most metals. SVETLANA So it's a perfect seal? JAMESON More perfect than we could make. I would say that the majority of whatever gas was inside there 10,000 years ago is still there. SVETLANA How would you open it? GARAN Ya nye znaiu. (shrugging) I assume it could be lifted off somehow, but it would be heavy. It's four feet by eight feet by six inches of solid diamond. It would be at least several tons. MIKE ANGEL Yeah, try putting that on your finger. There is another dirty look from Lana. CAROL MANSON (Calling loudly) Hey guys, come take a look at this. Mike stands and sees she is in front of the oddball panel on the side of the room. She has been studying the inscriptions even though she is no linguist. The excited look on her face, though, indicates that she might be on to something. The two geologists go back to what they were doing, but the rest of the crew in the room walks over to where Carol is standing. MIKE ANGEL What do you have? CAROL MANSON Look here and tell me what you see. MIKE ANGEL A waterfowl walked across an artist's palette then climbed up the wall? This time it is not just Lana who gives Mike a dirty look, but the other two girls as well. He shrugs and tilts his head to one side. CAROL MANSON Look at the colors and tell me what you see. OKSANA Except for the top and the bottom symbols, it looks like a rainbow almost. MIKE ANGEL Doesn't go with my living room set. He ducks in case somebody had something loose in their hands. This time they don't even bother looking at him. SVETLANA Is this something significant? CAROL MANSON I think so, and I'll bet that the top and the bottom are colored also. We just can't see it. VESNA (OS) That is correct, Miss Manson. The top is actually in the infra-red and the bottom is colored in the ultraviolet. BARISHNIKOV (Curiosity piqued) Does this mean anything? CAROL MANSON It must, because I detect something else here; a pattern. Everyone looks questioningly at the young woman CAROL MANSON (CONT'D) Vesna, would you analyze the frequencies of each image for me, please? VESNA (OS) The top character is a little over 300 terahertz or about 900 nanometers. The bottom image is radiating at a thousand terahertz or 300 nanometers. MEDVEDEV Ah, and the human eye can only see between 400 nanometers and 700 nanometers. This confirms that whoever wrote this has a wider range of vision. Mike tries to redeem himself. MIKE ANGEL It also means that whoever wrote this could never go outside here unprotected because the ultraviolet would burn their eyes terribly. MEDVEDEV (Nodding) That might explain why there is a reddish cast to the light in here. Not to imitate the outside, but to soothe the eyes. BELISAR That would indicate that there was a denser atmosphere here at one time. It would need to filter out the heavy ultraviolet. It probably still had a red cast to it because of the iron in the soil, but I'd wager that there was enough oxygen to make ozone then. BARISHNIKOV Maybe so, but even then, our sun is not really suited to a race with such a wide range of vision. Maybe a white dwarf, but certainly not an old orange ball of gas! SVETLANA (Protesting) But that would mean that these beings were not from here. MIKE ANGEL (Seriously) Precisely. If our current theories are correct and we came from here, then it's also safe to say that they didn't. Mars was just a staging area to seed the Earth from. There is silence as this began to make an impression on the group. CAROL MANSON Vesna, would you please plot the differences in the frequencies and wavelengths between the characters in each of the columns of writing? VESNA (OS) Certainly. Vesna pauses for a moment and then reads off a series of numbers to the girl. Suddenly Carol looks as if she would fall over. SVETLANA What's wrong? CAROL MANSON Nothing! Absolutely nothing! It's just too much to be true. VESNA (OS) (A sound of concern in the voice) Why is that? CAROL MANSON Take the frequencies from the first column. What pattern do you detect? VESNA (OS) (Astonished) Why it's a Fibonacci series! CAROL MANSON And the second? Again a short pause. VESNA (OS) It's based on the Golden Section with a base of ±1.6180339887, a perfect folding! CAROL MANSON The next? VESNA (OS) A binary progression from top to bottom! CAROL MANSON Exactly! The colors are mathematically precise. I believe that they determine the context of the letters they are shading. If you will try not just to interpret the denotation of each character, but the connotation and context determined by the coloration, you might be able to figure out what they really mean faster. VESNA (OS) (Almost apologetically) I'm sorry that I didn't see that sooner. MIKE ANGEL Take a lesson in the way humans think. That's why I wanted this group. Human intuition will beat machine logic any day. That's something you have to learn and use. VESNA (OS) Noted. By now, the two hydrologists and the two boys have joined the others gathered at the panel. Sharon lags behind, still not used to lower oxygen content in the room. The men are also breathing hard and somewhat pale. MIKE ANGEL What's up? STROMBERG Do you have any idea how much water is in that tank back there? MIKE ANGEL No, but I hope you do. STROMBERG That tank is almost five miles deep! There's enough water in there to supply Los Angeles for a couple days, almost a half- billion gallons! And it's absolutely pure! MIKE ANGEL Where's it coming from? STROMBERG I've got no idea. We don't have enough cable to lower the camera far enough. NEWS DIRECTOR Vesna, have McKinney include a deep-submergence robotic camera on the load with the prototype. VESNA (OS) Yes, sir. GARAN What have you discovered here? MIKE ANGEL Carol here may have come up with the key to interpreting the scribbles on the walls. It seems that the colors play a large part in their language, not just the characters themselves. She's deciphered a pattern on this panel that may just let us understand what the rest of this means. CUT TO: EXT. SHOT OF VESNA The extra equipment was waiting for them when they awoke the next morning. Vesna is another section "tall" and the new module with the supplies is at the bottom. CUT TO: INT. NEW SECTION Series of shots. The labs and the center space are crammed full of everything that the scientists could think of, plus a lot of gear recommended by the two government teams back on Earth, just in case. It looks like a university science department's dream come true. Everything from laser quantometers to gene sequencers is included. Kitch and Medvedev have received their gene sequencer and enough plates to analyze the heritage of half the city of Chicago. Now they could stop using the blender in the galley and the Jell-O from the food locker for their analysis. The hydrologists have their remote controlled deep- submergence camera and extra sonar gear to relay images and readings directly to Vesna for storage and analysis and the NOAA had donated their newest high-powered Doppler radar to the meteorologists. There are several days of rearranging equipment and re- running prior tests using the more sophisticated equipment. Each of the scientists retreat into themselves as they focus on getting their new equipment up and calibrated, verifying their preliminary test results. Meals become hit-and-miss with each of the crew totally fending for themselves. The microbiologists manage to create several sets of genetic "keys" that allow each team to open the primary airlock in the pyramid without having to go in groups. The journalists resort to scheduled "official" reports from on board Vesna during this period until something Earth shattering happens that requires real-time coverage. The scientists conducted outside research in pairs or fours at odd times, rarely assembling the entire group for an outing. Overall, things began to settle into a routine, albeit, an exciting one. Vesna continues the real-time television feed of those things that she found interesting, but for the most part, it becomes a typical mundane research routine. CUT TO: INT. GALLEY OKSANA Mr. Angel? MIKE ANGEL (Chiding) Oksana! You're beginning to make me feel really old with that. OKSANA I'm sorry; I have a problem being near such great people. Yes sir, Mike. MIKE ANGEL You're one of those 'great people'. Don't forget that! Yeah, what's up? OKSANA I believe we are making some progress on the translation of the odd panel. Not so much the full meaning of all of the characters, but a general meaning of the function of that one section. MIKE ANGEL That's fantastic! What do you have so far? OKSANA You all know that there are only two controls on that panel and a great deal of writing. We don't yet understand most of the writing, but the labels on one of the controls may be 'pictures', 'dialogue', or 'history'. It seems to refer to some kind of explanation. Vesna has found a similarity to both ancient cuneiform and Sanskrit in the symbols themselves. MIKE ANGEL And the other control? OKSANA It refers to a language, or words. We are not certain, but we hope that it would be some kind of dictionary. MIKE ANGEL Then you think that this was left with the intention of us finding it? OKSANA We are not certain, but it would seem so. The doctors think that this is a link to teaching us what the other panels mean, and Carol says that with the colors of the letters on the second control it is mathematically below the first, meaning it should be used after the first one. Mike is about to burst by now. MIKE ANGEL Okay! We'll organize the full group for an outing today to test your theories. Have you figured out how the controls work yet? OKSANA No, we have all been afraid to touch any of them. I do not know if they are push buttons, or should be turned, or even if they are coded like the ones at the entrance to your genes. It may be all three, but I do not know. MIKE ANGEL Well, let's find out today! If you're right, we now have the key to life, the universe, and everything! Oksana just gives him a strange look. CUT TO: INT. COMMAND DECK Mike has assembled the crew a few hours later on the command deck. MIKE ANGEL OK. Oksana, Carol, and Doctors Belisar and Barishnikov think they've got a handle on what that twelfth panel is trying to tell us. The doctors nod, a bit hesitantly, and look around at the rest of the group. MIKE ANGEL (CONT'D) I'd like us all to go back and see if Oksana's evaluation of the function of that panel is correct or not. I personally don't think this is dangerous, but I'd like to put it up to the rest of you whether we experiment or not. There is a general murmuring from the crowd as they turn to each other in discussion. SHARON MANSON Have you discussed this with the governments? MIKE ANGEL (Shaking his head) No. I figure we're the ones on site, so the final decision should be ours anyway. Anything goes wrong it's our heads. The rest of them are 47-million miles away. MEDVEDEV (Disgusted look on his face) Good. That is as it should be. MIKE ANGEL What's wrong, Ivan? MEDVEDEV While it is nice to have other eyes and thoughts, I am getting tired of the politics of committee. Mike raises an eyebrow and makes a questioning face. MEDVEDEV (CONT'D) I remember now why I decided not to be a medical doctor. They are all idiots! The American doctor from the Medical Association came close to accusing us of falsifying the samples we sent back. He said that our tests are all wrong and that the samples were impossible. My people are just as bad. They do not believe either that cells can exist that have no defects and are demanding to know how we synthesized them. Mike grins from ear to ear. MIKE ANGEL I knew there was a reason I liked you guys. You all hate the formal bull as much as I do. MIKE ANGEL (CONT'D) Just remember that we're goring quite a few oxen here, but that sacred cows make the best hamburgers. More blank stares from the Russian delegation. MIKE ANGEL (CONT'D) It's a reference to the Hindus and sacred cattle and...oh, never mind. It's not important. Boy, this is a tough room! What do you say we go push some buttons? As they start out of the room, Lana cornered him. SVETLANA You really are a risk-taker, aren't you? MIKE (Smiling) The meek may inherit the Earth, but the bold will inherit the stars. SVETLANA You're no better than the children here! You are nothing more than a big teenager. He smiles broader, puts his arm around her waist, and gives a squeeze. MIKE ANGEL Darn straight! That's really why they're here; I needed somebody I could relate to. (looking down at her surprised face) Look, I know that's the way your Illya was and I understand why it frightens you. I am not going to take risks that I don't have a good idea will turn out how I want them to. Your husband and I both joined the military service with many ideas of saving the world. We both became cynical after we realized that the idiots got there first and were in charge. He ran into some bad luck that wasn't his fault and it got him killed. I'm calling the shots here, and I'm not about to let anyone get hurt, OK? CUT TO: INT. NEW SECTION They all gathered in the new laboratory section. At Vesna's request, Lana carries a tripod mounted camera and Sharon a transmitter pack to be left inside. CUT TO: EXT. TUNNEL OPENING As they exit the airlock onto the small outcropping in front of the tunnel, Sharon glances back, astounded by the immensity of the craft with the added section. CUT TO: INT. MAIN EQUIPMENT ROOM Lana sets about putting up the tripod camera and flips it on. She trains it on the 12th panel and Vesna checks out the remote pan, tilt, and zoom functions so that she can get a good uninterrupted view. Mike turns to the archaeologists and the two girls. MIKE ANGEL You want to explain again what you've found so far? Doctor Belisar steps forward and points to a set of deep blue characters under the leftmost protuberance on the panel. BELISAR Very honestly, we do not, as yet, have a literal translation of any of these symbols. However, we do have some similarities to the writing on the outer door that resembles early languages on Earth. These characters, for instance, closely resemble the words for 'ancient' or 'history'. The consensus is that this control will indicate something that may provide a further explanation of what this structure is all about and what went on here. Mike looks a little skeptical. It is Barishnikov's turn to point to the second control with its Kelly green lettering. BARISHNIKOV These symbols are similar to ones that mean 'words', 'language', 'reading' or 'meaning'. I think that this is a dictionary to their language. Mike has an extreme look of excitement on his face. There is a good half-minute pause. MIKE ANGEL OK, so which button do we push first? CAROL MANSON I'd say we go for the one on the left. MIKE ANGEL History? Why so? CAROL MANSON Look at the color, it's just past blue. If I'm right about the frequency of reflected light giving importance to the meaning, then the blue would be more important than the green. MIKE ANGEL But red is near the top of these panels and blue at the bottom. Wouldn't that indicate a superiority of red over blue? The girl thinks for a moment and then looks Mike squarely in the eye. CAROL MANSON I don't think so. Since they used easily identifiable patterns on the first panels that range from least to greatest, I think that greatest, that is the higher frequencies, are more important. I still say the blue. MIKE ANGEL As John would say, cool! Oksana, do you want to do the honors? The girl stiffens and looks around the room in a panic. Mike nods at her. MIKE ANGEL (CONT'D) You're the chief engineer, and you should have the honor, my lady. She tries to hide the panic in her eyes as she steps forward stiffly to the panel. The girl hesitantly extends her right hand until her fingertips touched the raised portion of the panel. The metal does not give when she presses harder. Oksana places her entire palm over the knob and presses; still nothing. She tried grasping the protuberance with her fingers and twisting: first clockwise and then counter-clockwise, nothing. She looks rather desperately at Mike, who just shrugs and tilts his head, telling her to keep trying. She places her palm on the knob and twists her hand to the left with no result. Then Oksana placed her palm on the control with her fingers extending upwards and twists it 90- degrees clockwise and all can hear a low humming coming from nowhere in particular. Suddenly a cylinder of light appears behind the group in the center of the room. If everyone had swiveled around any faster, there would have been broken bones. Mike had been facing the group and is the first to see the column of light descend from the ceiling. All can hear a sound that was almost musical as Vesna pans the camera to the sight. The journalist's shoulder cameras show the audience on Earth a hologram of the woman in the second sarcophagus that would make Walt Disney envious. The mouth is moving synchronously with the sound, which is more of a song than speech. She is not naked, as in the sarcophagus, but clothed in a robe resembling a Greek toga. The fabric appears to be metallic fibers instead of cloth. The vision is suspended on a pedestal about a meter from the floor. Across the bottom of the pedestal are five rows of graphic symbols in time with the "speech", appearing to be not only in the current symbol set, but also in the four languages that were shown on the outer door. FADE OUT: Ben W. Gardner Sedona, Arizona "I do not fear computers. I fear lack of them." --Isaac Asimov http://ca.geocities.com/vladilyich/ In The Beginning - ISBN: 1-4116-3848-4 Just In Time - ISBN 1-4116-3851-4 Ad Astra - ISBN: 978-1-84728-518-8 In stores and at Amazon.Com http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/103-1761779-3946261?url=search-alias%3Daps&... |
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