Gravity Page #10

ball and is expanding, coming at her.

Ryan makes a fast turn and launches herself in the opposite

direction into the-

UNITY NODE-

Dashing straight into the-

ZARYA MODULE-

She darts across the module, behind her-

The expanding fire ball has swallowed the Unity Node and is

making its way towards her, chasing her into the-

UNITY NODE 2

Where she makes a quick turn and darts down into the-

DOCKING MODULE-

Just in time. Above her, the flames cross the Node as they

spread into the rest of the Station.

They quickly spread downward, into the Docking Module.

Ryan, the flames caressing her feet, dives through a hatch into

the-

SOYUZ. AIRLOCK.

Ryan crashes against a Space Suit floating inside and turns to

close the hatch.

THE FIRE is spreading outside in the module, sucking the oxygen

out of the Soyuz. An incandescent blue bubble that charges at

her.

Ryan, faster than fire, CLOSES THE HATCH.

THE SOYUZ IS SEALED OFF.

She closes a second hatch, and the Soyuz is safe.

She exhales in RELIEF.

A RUMBLE in the Station makes the Soyuz quake.

The extinguisher is blocking her path to the hatch and Ryan has

to push it into the cabin as she darts toward the-

SOYUZ. CONTROL CABIN.

As soon as she makes it through the hatch, she TURNS the CABIN

LIGHTS ON.

There is just enough space for three astronauts to sit

surrounded by the CONTROL PANEL that navigates the vessel.

She sits down in the command chair.

She fastens the safety belt, and looks around, trying to

recognize the different buttons on the panel, which are all

labeled in Russian.

RYAN:

OK... where was it?... where was it?

She moves her finger across the different buttons, searching.

RYAN (CONT’D)

Where is the power?... Here you are.

Her finger stops on a button, which is labeled-BKN

She presses on it and the CONTROL PANEL turns ON. All the

buttons light up and with a hum, the Soyuz’s systems start to

run.

RYAN (CONT’D)

Good... good... just like training...

Ryan reaches to the right, where next to the panel, there are

several binders, each a different color.

RYAN (CONT’D)

Undocking... undocking... Yes...

red...

And she takes out a RED BINDER.

It’s all written in Cyrillic. She turns the pages until she sees

a GRAPHIC representing the UNDOCKING PROCEDURE.

RYAN (CONT’D)

Ok... Ok... I remember this...

undocking...

She uses the CURSORS on the panel and selects a function on the

COMPUTER SCREEN.

She presses another button and-

On the SCREEN, a COUNTDOWN- 4:30... 4:29... 4:28...

Another RUMBLE in the Station.

RYAN (CONT’D)

We don’t have four minutes to spare.

We’re going manual...

She flips through the binder to another page. She looks at a

diagram and uses the cursors on the panel to change the function

on the screen-

RYAN (CONT’D)

Okay. Arming the system...

She releases the SAFETY LOCK on a BUTTON.

AN EXPLOSION in the Station makes everything shake. The

vibration passes through her body, startling her, and

RYAN (CONT’D)

Firing the pyros...

SHE PRESSES the BUTTON.

RYAN (CONT’D)

Rezerv rasstyk!

The SOUND of a mechanism releasing reverberates throughout the

vessel.

OUTER SPACE. INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION. 500 KM ABOVE EARTH.

SILENCE.

A SPRING MECHANISM pushes the Soyuz away from the Station.

SLOWLY.

VERY SLOWLY.

The Spacecraft is made out of three modules- the ENGINE, the

CONTROL CABIN, and the AIRLOCK at the front.

SOYUZ. CONTROL CABIN.

Detached from the Space Station, the rumbling has ceased,

leaving only the gentle hum of the cabin.

ON THE PERISCOPE-

The distance between the Soyuz and the Docking Module grows

little by little as the vessel drifts away from it.

Ryan sits tensely and checks the manual and-

She presses different buttons, bringing to life a new set of

systems.

RYAN:

I engaged manual control- R O A K and

RYD are activated.

She grabs the joysticks with her hand, and-

OUTER SPACE. 500 KM ABOVE THE EARTH.

The lateral thrusters give a small thrust, and as the spacecraft

moves away from the Station it drags its parachute, which floats

lifelessly in space.

ANOTHER BIGGER THRUST, and as the Soyuz pulls away from the

Station, the parachute’s ropes tense, and-

A BIG JOLT.

SOYUZ. CONTROL CABIN.

Her seat belts prevent her from being projected forward as the

Soyuz is pulled to a sudden stop.

Ryan is very confused, unaware of the reason for the sudden

stop. She looks at-

THE PERISCOPE-

The Station is drifting out of the scope’s sight.

She turns to-

THE PORTHOLE-

And through the glass she sees that-

The Station is coming straight at her and it looks as thoughTHEY’RE

ABOUT TO COLLIDE.

RYAN:

Oh, no. No, no, no.

She presses the joystick.

OUTER SPACE. 500 KM ABOVE THE EARTH.

The Soyuz is two meters away from the Station, about to crash,

when-

The SOFT JETS ignite, launching the vessel upwards.

The Soyuz skims just over the Docking Module and passes three

inches away from the solar panels, barely avoiding a collision

with the metal giant.

And as the Soyuz drifts upwards, the Station passes under it.

SOYUZ. CONTROL CABIN.

Now Ryan can see through-

THE PORTHOLE:

The parachute is tangled with a solar panel and the ropes are

tensing up, and

SHE’S SHAKEN BY A NEW PULL.

OUTER SPACE. 500 KM ABOVE THE EARTH.

The Soyuz stabilizes over the Station, the parachute entwined

with the solar panel.

SOYUZ. CONTROL CABIN.

She looks out at-

THE PORTHOLE-

The rope extends from the cabin to the parachute tangled with

the Station.

RYAN:

Great. Fantastic. Perfect.

OUTER SPACE. 500 KM ABOVE THE EARTH.

SILENCE:

The Station hovers below the Soyuz like a large whale swimming

beneath a tiny lifeboat.

The HATCH of the Soyuz OPENS.

Ryan comes out of the craft into space. She’s wearing the space

suit she packed and she carries a large bag.

She holds onto handles as she floats, SAFELY TETHERED to the

inside of the cabin.

She LOOKS around-

The International Space Station is a looming presence floating

ten meters below. It is pulling the Soyuz by its parachute.

An ALARM on her STOPWATCH RINGS. It’s been 85 MINUTES.

She turns the alarm off and looks around.

RYAN:

Clear skies but with a chance of

satellite debris.

SHE HUMS A SONG, the tune is reminiscent of the Hank Williams

Melody that Matt had played earlier.

She begins to climb around the vessel. With plenty of oxygen in

her pressurized suit, this is not a difficult task.

She pulls herself from handle to handle, making her way around

the Soyuz and reaching-

THE PARACHUTE CONTAINER-

An impact has blown open the cover. Three ropes float out of the

container into space. Three meters away from the vessel each

rope branches into dozens of parachute strings. Next to it-

A second cover is also badly damaged.

Harnessing herself to a handle, she inspects the ropes. The

three ropes are bolted to the container’s frame.

RYAN (CONT’D)

Okay. We detach this and we go home.

Piece of cake.

She harnesses the bag and RESUMES her HUMMING, louder this time.

She unzips the bag and takes out the PISTOL GRIP tool, without

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