Ares Page #2

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Evan smiles. Feels safer.

EVAN:

But they’ll figure out where I’m

going.

(his smile disappears)

I gotta get there first...

The realization kicks him into gear. He rips the medical kitout of the capsule wall. Finds SUPER GLUE.

EXT. ARES 1 - MOMENTS LATER

Using his reflective FISHBOWL HELMET as a mirror, he superglues his molar back in. But the glue seeps everywhere. Amess. He tries to hold the tooth in place as it sets.

EVAN:

F***, okay, keep twalking so youhmouth doesn’t gwue shut. Keeptawlking. Keep tawlking...

The glue’s probably set by now. He pulls his finger out.

Instead of being glued into his gums, the tooth is now super-

glued to his fingertip.

He tries to dislodge the tooth. Can’t. For a moment, his facecrumbles. He’s utterly defeated. It's all too much.

Finally the tooth peels off his finger. Relieved by the tinyvictory, Evan pulls himself together.

He struggles out of his pressure suit to just his undershirtand sweatpants. He’s muscle and bone.

He piles the collapsed parachute over the capsule. Startsheaping SAND on top. Hoping to obscure ARES 1 completely.

SEARING NOONDAY SUN - HOURS LATER

Evan's skin fries as he continues burying the capsule. Hungergnaws at him. He’s mad with thirst.

7.

He digs in the ground. Moving sand aside reveals BLACK SKY ANDSTARS beneath, as if the ground is paper thin and there isnothing underneath but deep space. It’s the view one might

have out a spaceship window.

Disturbed, Evan covers the vision up again with sand.

INT. ARES 1 - MOMENTS LATER

He rips out wall panels, uncovering the cooling system. Clearpipes of FLUORESCENT LIQUID web like veins through the walls.

He empties a bottle of rubbing alcohol from the medical kitonto the sand.

EVAN:

Coolant is 80% water, 20%...

liquefied neon? Or it is just dibutylphthalate? It glows so it can berepaired in the dark...

(pouring coolant into theempty bottle)

Can... I... drink you...

As he stares at the bottle, his gaze changes. His eyes lost.

He says quietly:

EVAN:

I never vote in Presidential

elections.

He stops speaking, his mind now somewhere else completely. Ashe sets the bottle of neon green coolant down on top of thedrawers built into the capsule wall, we hear:

EVAN (O.S.)

Anyone who thinks they’re special

enough to be President is obviouslyinsane -

MATCH CUT TO:

CHLOE putting a neon green margarita down on the bar inside

A HOUSTON DIVE BAR

Evan sits beside her. He looks radically different. 15 yearsyounger. Clean-cut. The only recognizable thing is the drivein his eyes.

Chloe’s 24. Playful. Bold. Easy to fall for.

8.

They obviously don’t really know each other from the way

they’re sitting; occasionally she shoots a look over at her

girlfriends in the corner. As they talk, she sips themargarita.

CHLOE:

Didn’t you tell me two seconds ago

that you’re trying to be an

astronaut?

EVAN:

(nods)

I find out in two weeks.

CHLOE:

There’s probably only been about asmany astronauts as presidents. Whatmakes you think you’re qualified?

INTERCUT:
EVAN IN THE CAPSULE IN THE DESERT

Leaning against a storage container as if over a bar. His eyesfocused on thin air, totally detached from the present -- asif he were in the bar right now. He half says the words, half-

mouths them. Unclear if this is memory or fantasy...

EVAN:

I spent my life preparing for it.

Every decision I’ve ever made.

BACK TO THE BAR:

CHLOE:

Wow. It is like running forPresident.

EVAN:

It’s much easier to be President.

Bush did coke. Clinton and Obama

smoked weed. I don’t get to do

anything.

CHLOE:

You’re telling me you’ve never smoked

weed?

EVAN:

Impressed?

CHLOE:

No.

9.

EVAN:

I haven’t had sugar since I was

eight.

CHLOE:

What does that have to do with beingan astronaut?

EVAN:

Sugar causes all kinds of chronicproblems. You can’t have any if youwant to go to space. Not evensinusitis.

CHLOE:

You didn’t even have birthday cake

when you were like ten? That’s sad.

EVAN:

Only if you’re thinking small.

Immediate gratification. Think bigpicture. What do you want?

CHLOE:

I’ll take another margarita, I guess.

EVAN:

No. What do you really want? What doyou want to die having done?

CHLOE:

Maybe had a family. Kids.

EVAN:

That’s it? That’s your big

accomplishment?

CHLOE:

Having a family is an accomplishment

if it sticks together.

EVAN:

(shaking his head)

People act like the kids are the onlything that matters. Why are we stillso focused on spreading our genes?

It’s primitive. Tribal.

CHLOE:

You have to have children. Otherwise

who will remember you?

EVAN:

The whole world.

10.

He smiles. She smiles despite herself. His confidence -- hisconviction -- is magnetic.

CHLOE:

If every decision you’ve ever made

has been about getting to space, whydid you decide to come over here andtalk to me?

EVAN:

If I’m going to be confined in a ship

with other astronauts, I need to

prove to my superiors that someonecan stand me.

CHLOE:

So you need a girlfriend?

EVAN:

Or a wife.

CHLOE:

(laughs)

I haven’t even finished the drink you

bought me. Now you’re asking me to

marry you?

EVAN:

Now you’re talking big picture. I

thought we could start with dinnerand go from there.

She looks at him. Can’t tell if she thinks he’s brilliant or

bananas. He can tell she’s unsure and smiles. Enjoying her

uncertainty.

CHLOE:

If you finish this.

She holds out her margarita to him.

EVAN:

I can’t drink margaritas. Sugar.

CHLOE:

Exactly.

A test. He looks at her, uncertain. She stares back at him.

Finally he takes her glass and downs her drink. He splutters.

Hasn’t had anything that sweet in 16 years. Chloe cracks up.

MATCH CUT TO:

11.

INT. ARES 1 CAPSULE

Evan spluttering as he drinks the disgusting GLOWING COOLANT.

He puts the bottle of it outside by the door.

He opens the DRAWERS built into the walls. Inside are HUNDREDSof tiny lead boxes. Each is numbered and sealed shut with a

strange complex lock.

He picks up a BOX labelled Lana Tube #97. Carefully zips itinto his pocket.

EXT. ARES 1 CRASH SITE - TWILIGHT

Evan finishes heaping sand over the capsule. Gasps for breath.

The sound of blood coursing through his head grows LOUDER. Its

rhythm changes. Like his heart’s beating in double-time.

Evan swallows -- what’s happening to him?

He looks up. Sees TWO TINY MOONS in the sky, as if he were on

an alien planet. He squints. The MOON reverts to normal. Then

A HELICOPTER sweeps over the brim of the mesa above him.

Evan’s eyes widen in horror a second. He DUCKS BEHIND A ROCK.

Peeks out. Terrified. He realizes he left the bottle of

FLUORESCENT COOLANT out. It’s half-obscured by vegetation, but

glows faintly in the dusk. Perhaps visible to the chopper.

EVAN:

F***. F*** f*** f***.

The helicopter swoops lower. Beams a giant SPOTLIGHT down.

Evan holds his breath. An eternity.

Finally the chopper moves on. Combs the hillside. Disappears.

Evan -- a long, deep breath.

He scans the sky. His voice is now just a dry rasp:

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