Gravity Page #5

There is only the silence, complete and absolute.

RYAN (CONT’D)

Do you copy?

Nothing. She watches the earth slip from view yet again.

When next she speaks, the words are as delicate as snowflakes,

tripping off her tongue like a prayer...

RYAN (CONT’D)

Anybody...? Anyone...? Please copy.

A soothing light hits Ryan’s face.

THE MOON is rising over the Pacific Ocean.

It’s almost full and its soft cool light pours over the globe,

brightening the deep blue waters and-

IN THE DISTANCE A

LIGHT, not bigger than a star, is FLICKERING.

Ryan’s eyes focus on the light. Her PUPILS DILATE. Something

like tears glistens as she stares at the flickering light,

afraid to blink as she watches the...

...star draw closer, smiling as the faintest thread of a radio

transmission stitches its way through the silence, listening as

STATIC SINGS through her helmet, stinging her ears with the

sound of...

Her name.

MATT:

(on radio)

... Stone. Do you copy?

RYAN:

(almost to herself)

Lieutenant Kowalsky?...

The flickering star begins to thicken...

MATT:

(on radio)

Repeat. Do you copy?

RYAN:

YES! YES! I copy! I’m here!

As she watches the figure of an astronaut takes shape.

MATT:

(on radio)

Flash your light.

RYAN:

My light?

MATT:

(on radio)

So I can see you.

RYAN:

Here! Here!

Ryan opens a pouch in her suit, fishes out a FLASHLIGHT. Hands

trembling she shines it toward the approaching dot.

MATT:

(on radio)

There you are. Hang tight. Report

your status.

RYAN:

I’m... I’m alright... I’m fine.

MATT:

(on radio)

Your status! Give me your readings?

RYAN:

3.6 psi, I think.

MATT:

Your O2. Give me your O2.

RYAN:

Steady at eight percent...no seven...

MATT:

(on radio)

You’re breathing too fast. You’re

burning oxygen. We don’t want to do

that. We want to relax. Copy.

RYAN:

Copy.

MATT:

Nearly there.

RYAN:

Please hurry.

Ryan can see Matt quickly growing in size. She continues to

FLASH HER LIGHT.

MATT:

(on radio)

You can holster that torch, Dr. Stone.

RYAN:

Oh. Sorry.

She slips the light back into her side pouch just as Matt

appears as if from nowhere and GRABS HER.

MATT:

Gotcha.

RYAN:

Arghh!

Ryan holds on to Matt. Instantly, they begin to spin together.

Matt takes out a tether.

MATT:

Now, I’m going to tether you to me.

Ryan is paralyzed, holding onto Matt tightly and looking at him

in fright. He stares back.

MATT (CONT’D)

I know. You never realized how

devastatingly good-looking I am.

Matt grins.

MATT (CONT’D)

But I need you to stop staring and

help me with the tether. Okay?

RYAN:

Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay, Ohh I got it.

He runs the other end of the tether to the harness on Ryan’s

suit and attaches it.

MATT:

Ok. So far so good. Now listen. I'm

going to give you a little push, just

so you’re clear of the jets-

RYAN:

No-

MATT:

Sorry. Not a push, more like a nudge.

RYAN:

No... No... No... Wait... Don’t.

Matt places his hand on her breastplate and gives her a gentle

nudge. Drifting again she begins to freak.

RYAN (CONT’D)

Nooooooo!!!! Dammit!!!

The tether tenses and she stops nine feet away from Matt.

Matt ignites the thrusters, tugging Ryan behind him. But this

proves a difficult endeavor as her momentum drags him, changing

his direction.

MATT:

See? Where you go, I go.

Matt ignites a new thrust to re-direct his position. As he does

so Ryan’s change of momentum makes him swing again.

MATT (CONT'D)

Better. Let's get out of here.

Using his thrusters, Matt negotiates a new position and,

igniting a long thrust, he jets away.

Ryan cannot repress the anger boiling up, and SHE SCREAMS

RYAN:

Ahh Dammit!

MATT:

I know what you mean.

RYAN:

Ahhh Dammit.

MATT:

You're burning oxygen, we're going to

go back to the shuttle. How's that for

a plan. Copy?

RYAN:

F***

MATT:

Right copy that.

As Matt accelerates toward a lower orbit, his momentum takes

over, steadying Ryan’s swing.

MATT (CONT"D) (CONT’D)

Houston in the blind, this is

Kowalsky. Dr Stone and I are making

our way to base, please prepare

Airlock for arrival. Copy?

They descend, gliding through pieces of debris. Among the space

junk, a Solar Panel from the Hubble is distinguished.

Matt eyes a small dot in the distance: the Shuttle.

MATT (CONT’D)

Houston this is Kowalsky. How do you

copy?

RYAN:

Why aren't they answering?

MATT:

It seems like communications are lost.

RYAN:

Can they hear us on an alternate

frequency?

MATT:

We don't know. That's why we keep

talking. If someone is listening they

might just save your life. Set your

watch for ninety minutes.

Matt reaches for a digital watch strapped to his wrist and sets

up the timer for- 90 MINUTES.

RYAN:

Why ninety?

MATT:

Houston clocked that debris at fifty

thousand miles per hour. Factoring in

our current orbit, I reckon we’ve got

90 minutes before we play duck and

cover again.

Ryan sets her watch, studies the counter as it begins to count

down.

RYAN:

02 down to six percent.

As they travel, the Shuttle begins to take form.

MATT:

Okay. Pretty scary sh*t being

untethered up here, isn’t it?

RYAN:

Yeah. Pretty scary sh*t.

MATT:

(after a beat)

You did all right.

Silence.

MATT (CONT’D)

(to the Shuttle)

Houston, in the blind. This is

Kowalsky. Our current location is

approximately 900 meters out from the

Explorer. Dr. Stone and I would like

to retrieve the body of Mission

Specialist Shariff and return it to

Shuttle. Am I a go to retrieve?

Silence.

MATT (CONT’D)

Roger that.

Matt changes direction and approaches Shariff. He has to ignite

several small thrusts to try and steady his direction, fighting

against Ryan’s momentum.

RYAN:

Where is he? Where is he?

Shariff’s body is tethered to a PANEL that was ripped away from

the Explorer. Matt approaches the panel and ignites the

thrusters to slow down his course, and-

He grabs onto it. Ryan, continuing her momentum, crashes against

Shariff’s body. The contact slows her trajectory, but it throws

Shariff away, his tether tensing, pulling the panel with him.

RYAN (CONT’D)

Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

Matt, holding on to the metal, spins with it. He detaches

Shariff’s tether from the panel and attaches it to himself.

He lets the panel go and immediately ignites his thruster,

pulling the two tethers behind him which, as they tense, bring

Ryan and Shariff closer together.

MATT:

Grab him!

RYAN:

I’m trying. I’m trying.

MATT:

Quick. You’re pulling me away.

RYAN:

I got him. I got him.

Matt tries to ignite a very long thrust in the direction of the

Shuttle, but this is difficult as the momentum of the other two

bodies pulls him in all directions.

MATT:

Clutch him like he’s your Valentine. I

can’t gauge my thrust with you two yoyoing

around.

Tentatively Ryan extends her right hand to grab onto Shariff’s

body harness. And she sees

Shariff’s broken helmet. A hole the size of a soft ball pierces

through it and has left a tunnel of frozen dried bloody mess.

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