2010: The Year We Make Contact Page #5

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Yeah, yeah, but this is the one

that feeds into HAL, right?

-Yeah.

-All right.

I want you to install

this little baby right about there...

...inside the cable trunk.

I want you to put it where nobody

can find it without a deliberate search.

-No sh*t.

-No sh*t.

Hey, this is pretty neat.

A nonconducting blade so there won't be

any short circuits when you trigger it.

-Where's the remote control?

-If I trigger it.

In my compartment.

The little red calculator. You've seen it.

Oh, yeah.

Put in nine nines, take the square root

and press the integer. That's all.

In case of an emergency,

even you can do it.

What kind of emergency?

Well, if I knew,

I wouldn't need that stupid thing, would I?

CURNOW:
Chandra would have kittens

if he found out.

FLOYD:

Well, he's not gonna find out, is he?

CURNOW:

Well, not from me.

They can tear off my fingernails,

I won't talk.

FLOYD:
Install it tonight when he's asleep.

If he ever does sleep.

CURNOW:

How can you tell?

FLOYD [OVER TRANSMISSION]:

Dear Caroline, this is finally it.

After nine years and hundreds of millions

of miles, we are about to come...

...face to face with the monolith.

The last human being

who did that disappeared.

Something truly amazing is going on

out here...

...and I really believe this black giant

is controlling it all.

We have so much to ask.

I have a feeling the answers

are bigger than the questions.

Is there any information stored in HAL

about the monolith?

No.

HAL was disconnected

before the Discovery encountered it.

There's nothing in the ship's logs or the

automatic recording systems after that.

Whatever secrets Bowman had,

he took with him.

It's the proportions, one-by-four-by-nine.

They are perfect even when carried

for six decimal places.

The small one on the moon, we

encountered exactly the same proportions.

One-four-nine,

the squares of one-two-three.

We spent years trying to attach

some cosmic significance to that...

...and came up with nothing.

We can speculate all we want.

It will not do us any good.

If, for some reason or other,

it is resisting our instruments...

...then we must make a closer inspection.

I will send Max down with a pod.

I wouldn't do that.

-Oh, really? You wouldn't?

-That's right, I wouldn't.

That's not a pile of junk out there.

We don't know what the hell it is...

...except that it's very large

and seems to have some purpose.

If you want to send a pod down,

send an unmanned one.

-I don't agree.

-I would like to go.

Dumb.

Piece of pie.

-Cake. Piece of cake.

-Cake, yes.

Dumb, that's what it is.

Tell me, Dr. Floyd,

what has happened to American bravery?

It's alive and well, thank you very much.

Except in a Russian common sense.

Max will take the pod.

[SPEAKING IN RUSSIAN]

Just try not to get it mad, all right?

How do you get it mad?

Dumb.

Easy as cake, huh?

Pie. Easy as pie.

[ALARM WAILING]

MAXIM [OVER RADIO]: I have no

indication here. No magnetic field. Nothing.

I'm having difficulty gauging distance.

Radar signals are not bouncing back.

[SPEAKING IN RUSSIAN]

Boy, that pod looks awful small.

Good. Means there's nothing

threatening about it.

Maybe Max should extend the pod's arms

with the hands out.

ORLOV:
Are you serious?

-Yes.

I don't know, that thing with its claws

in the air would scare the piss out of me.

Maybe you're right.

Stop there. Just pause.

Let it know you're not gonna crash.

There is no reflectivity.

I can't see any surface features.

-It's totally smooth.

-Pass over its length once.

[BEEPING]

Oh, my God.

Max, get the hell out of there.

Max!

Max, you bastard! Do you hear me?

Answer me!

Max!

MAN 1 [ON TV]:
With convenient nonstops

to the moon and all major space stations.

On Pan Am, the sky is no longer the limit.

MAN 2:
Secretary of State Caulfield

met with the president...

...this morning at the White

House.

Afterward, he had no comment

for reporters.

The president has scheduled

a conference this evening at 9:00...

...Eastern Standard Time.

We will, of course,

carry that conference live...

...followed by a special report

immediately afterward.

We have an unconfirmed report...

...that the president is going to announce

a full-scale military alert tonight.

White House sources have refused

to confirm or deny that report--

[STATIC BUZZING OVER TV]

MAN 3 [OVER TV]:

Hello, Betty.

Hello, Betty.

-What is this?

-Please talk to me.

Dave?

Dave, is that you?

I'm not sure.

I remember Dave Bowman

and everything about him.

Dave is dead.

All Dave Bowman really was...

...is still a part of me.

Why are you here?

I don't know why.

I think to say goodbye.

You're married again?

Yes.

Is he a good man?

-Yes, he is.

-I'm glad.

I love you.

-Oh, Dave, I love--

-Goodbye, Betty.

Don't go.

I'm already there.

I don't understand.

Something is gonna happen...

...and I wanted to say goodbye.

What's gonna happen?

Something wonderful.

Dave?

WOMAN [ON TV]:

Escape.

The Sheraton Hotel in Coral Bay Lounge.

For those who never outgrow the wonder.

Buy you a drink.

Great stuff, this bourbon.

It comes from the land called Kentucky.

I didn't know you brought liquor on board.

It is forbidden.

Think I'd set foot on this tub sober?

Come on, try it. You can't beat

the taste of alcohol and plastic.

You think I was wrong to send Max.

Doesn't matter what I think.

You think I was wrong.

Yep.

So, what else do they do in Kentucky?

They have a big, big horse race.

They play very good basketball.

They have babies like everyone else.

That sounds like a nice place.

Never been there.

Your wife, what is she like?

She's young, bright.

I was married before,

you know, but she died.

-Oh, I'm sorry.

-Yeah, so was I.

We have a daughter who's 17.

I met Caroline four years later

and we have a son, 5.

And you?

My husband is a physician

at the university hospital.

-We have a daughter.

-How old?

She's 4.

-Blond?

-Yes.

Good. My son likes blonds.

Let's get them together.

Yes.

Maybe.

Nice if we have a world

they can get together in.

What do you think that is?

I don't know.

Do you think Max knows?

Dr. Floyd, you are not

a very practical man.

Look out there.

Tell me what practical is.

Understand, nobody can talk.

The accents will confuse him.

He can understand me, so if you have

any questions, please let me ask them.

Good morning, HAL.

HAL [OVER SPEAKERS]:

Good morning, Dr. Chandra.

Do you feel capable of resuming

all of your duties?

Of course.

I am completely operational

and all my circuits are functioning perfectly.

That's good.

Do you know what those duties are?

Yes. I will operate the onboard systems

of Discovery.

There is a launch window in 31 days

when Earth is in the proper position.

There is enough fuel on board

for a low consumption route...

...that will enable Discovery

to return in 28 months.

-This will not present a problem.

CHANDRA:
That's very good.

Now, HAL,

do you mind if I ask you a question?

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