Event Horizon Page #2

LYLE:

The official inquiry blamed Weir's

design for the ship's loss.

HOLLIS:

That doesn't mean a damn thing. They

were looking for a scapegoat and

Weir fit the bill. But he's not

responsible for what happened to the

ship.

LYLE:

Does he know that?

HOLLIS:

What's on your mind?

LYLE:

He doesn't belong on this mission.

Responsible or not, he blames himself.

He's too close to it.

(beat)

And then there's his wife.

HOLLIS:

It's been two years since she died.

He's over it.

LYLE:

Some things you don't get over.

Beat.

HOLLIS:

I want our best people on this.

Where's Miller?

LYLE:

The Lewis and Clark just returned

from patrol in the asteroid belt,

she's docked in bay four.

CUT TO:

EXT. DAYLIGHT STATION/EXT. LEWIS AND CLARK

The Lewis and Clark pulls away from Daylight station, turns

towards the depths of space. It is a tough-looking spacecraft,

all engine.

Sequence omitted from original script.

INT. LEWIS AND CLARK - BRIDGE

MOVE IN on thick quartz windows near the ship's nose: the

bridge...

Split level. Above: avionics, navigation, flight control.

STARCK (female, Navigator, sharp mind, sharp tongue) checks

the navigation data on her screen as SMITH (male, Pilot,

wrapped too tight) punches in the course.

SMITH:

I can't believe this, I haven't gotten

more than my hand in six weeks and

now this sh*t. Why not Mars, Cap,

Mars has women...

STARCK:

Smith's right. Neptune? There's

nothing out there. If something

happens, we'll be on our own.

The captain's chair drops from above, swivels to reveal MILLER

(male, Captain, intense).

MILLER:

I don't like it either, but you know

the rules:
we get the call, we go.

Is the course locked in?

SMITH:

Locked and cocked.

STARCK:

We're past the outer marker, we can

engage the ion drive whenever you're

ready.

MILLER:

Justin?

Below:
the bridge's "war-room" -- ship's systems and mission

stations. JUSTIN (male, Engineer, young hot-shot).

JUSTIN:

Everything green on my boards,

Skipper.

MILLER:

Start the countdown.

STARCK:

Ion drive will engage in... T-minus

ten minutes.

MILLER:

Let's go.

Miller slides down a ladder into the war-room. The others

follow into...

INT. LEWIS AND CLARK - AIRLOCK BAY

Bulky EVA (extra-vehicular activity) suits line the walls.

MUSIC blares from a JAMBOX, built into a storage locker.

An Emergency Tech stows safety lines: COOPER -- male, the

resident pain-in-the-ass. He SINGS along with the music.

MILLER:

(not breaking stride)

Kill it.

Cooper reaches up, turns off the box.

COOPER:

Time to play Spam in the can.

MILLER:

Don't start with me, Cooper.

Cooper falls in as the crew continues into...

INT. LEWIS AND CLARK - QUARTERS

Evidence of long term habitation. Personalized lockers. Fold-

down bunks, chairs, tables; currently stowed for docking. A

modular galley.

PETERS (female, Emergency Technician, the crew's denmother)

and DJ (male, Doctor, a cold perfectionist) load CO2 scrubbers

into a bin in the floor.

Weir stands to the side like a fifth wheel.

WEIR:

Captain Miller, I just want to say...

MILLER:

The clock is running, Dr. Weir. If

you'll follow the rest of the crew,

they'll show you to the gravity tanks.

Weir hesitates, then follows the crew into Medical. Miller

hangs back.

MILLER:

What's the hold up?

PETERS:

Just loading the last of the CO2

scrubbers.

(to Miller, accusatory)

Good for four months.

MILLER:

I put in for a replacement for you

but no one...

PETERS:

No, no, its alright. I talked to my

ex, he'll keep Denny over Christmas

and I'll get him this summer.

(beat)

Goddam it, Skipper... I haven't seen

him in two months.

MILLER:

I am sorry. But now we have to go to

work.

CUT TO:

INT. LEWIS AND CLARK - MEDICAL

A high tech operating room. Modular equipment. Vertical tanks

line the walls, each large enough to hold a human being:

gravity couches.

The crew stands before the gravity couches, almost nude, no

room for modesty.

Starck catches Cooper looking at her ass as she strips to

her undergarments. Cooper grins. She flips him off, not

bothering to turn around.

COOPER:

Is that an offer?

STARCK:

It is not.

Miller disrobes. Two service tags hang around his neck. He

does not remove them. Weir approaches him.

WEIR:

Captain Miller, I appreciate this

opportunity...

MILLER:

Doctor Weir, my crew is not going on

your mission because we want to. We

were pulled off a well deserved leave,

to be sent out to the middle of

nowhere, and no one's even told us

why.

WEIR:

I've been authorized to brief you

and the crew once we reach Neptune

space.

MILLER:

Until then, do what you're told and

stay out of my way.

Weir nods, moves to an empty couch bearing his name, written

on a piece of tape. Peters watches him.

PETERS:

First time in a grav couch?

WEIR:

Yes.

She checks Weir's couch, helps him climb in. Weir keeps one

eye on Miller.

PETERS:

(Off of Weir's glance)

Don't worry about it. He's hard, but

he's fair. You're lucky to be shipping

out with him. He's one of the few

Captains in the service with

experience in the Outer Reach.

WEIR:

He's been past Mars?

PETERS:

He served on the Goliath.

WEIR:

Wasn't that ship destroyed?

PETERS:

(nods)

They attempted to rescue a supply

shuttle bound for Titan. The shuttle's

oh-two tanks ruptured during the

rescue, flooded both ships with pure

oxygen. There was a spark and both

ships were incinerated. The Skipper

and three others just made it to a

lifeboat. Captain Miller was able...

DJ:

(interrupting)

He doesn't like to talk about it.

DJ swathes one of Weir's arms with alcohol.

DJ:

You didn't eat anything in the past

twelve hours?

Weir shakes his head.

DJ:

When the Ion drive fires, we'll be

taking about 30 gees. Without a tank,

the force would liquefy your skeleton.

DJ injects Weir. The scientist winces.

WEIR:

I've seen the effect on mice.

The overhead lights change to red.

MILLER:

Five minutes.

DJ hands him the breathing mask.

DJ:

Put this on.

Weir does. DJ checks the fit.

PETERS:

You'll be fine. You'll wake up and

we'll be there. Watch your fingers.

DJ closes the tank. It begins to fill with green gel. Weir's

eyes grow large with fear and then the anaesthesia hits. His

eyes close. His body draws into a fetal position.

DJ:

(checking the monitor)

Heart-rate decreasing... body temp

dropping to 80... 70... 60... 50...

40 degrees Fahrenheit. He's in stasis.

CUT TO:

EXT. LEWIS AND CLARK - MODEL

THE ION ENGINE at the aft of the ship begins to glow a deep

red.

INT. LEWIS AND CLARK - MEDICAL

The crew hang inert in the gravity couches.

EXT. LEWIS AND CLARK - MODEL

SILENCE. The engine flares white hot. The Lewis and Clark

lances forward.

CUT TO:

EXT. LEWIS AND CLARK - INTERPLANETARY SPACE - MODEL

The Lewis and Clark races SILENTLY past. The engine at its

aft holds a sustained fusion reaction like the sun.

GRAPHIC:
U.S.S. Lewis and Clark. 56 days out.

INT. LEWIS AND CLARK - MEDICAL CLOSE ON WEIR

immobile in the grav tank. He might be sleeping. He might be

dead. A distant SOUND echoes though the ship, the unholy

garble of human and inhuman voices -- it is the Event Horizon,

calling to him -- the sound refines into a WOMAN'S VOICE, no

more than a WHISPER:

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