Interstellar Page #10

Suddenly, the robot SPRINGS into action, picking up the boy

and hoisting him up to eye level.

Cooper, stunned, points the rifle at the robot.

The robot turns, dropping the boy, RIPS the rifle from

Cooper's hands, BENDS it, then SLAMS him up against the side

of the water tank. Cooper punches him, then winces in agony.

Murph picks up the rifle and begins HITTING the robot as

hard as he can. The robot opens his mouth and addresses

Cooper calmly in the clipped tones of a US marine.

ROBOT:

Tell the boy to stop hitting me.

COOPER:

(IGNORING HIM)

Hit him in the back of the neck.

Murph raises the rifle butt. A voice stops him.

VOICE (O.S.)

I wouldn't do that.

A woman, 30s, step out from the trees. This is AMELIA BRAND --

tough, bright, and a decent shot with the large rifle that

she's pointing at Cooper.

COOPER:

We were just looking for salvage.

BRAND:

Is that what they call stealing these

days?

COOPER:

I didn't know it belonged to anyone.

29.

BRAND:

It doesn't.

(TO ROBOT)

You want to let them go, Tars, or do

you want some help with your work?

The robot, evidently named Tars, looks at Cooper closely.

Then lets him go.

COOPER:

You've got me wrong, lady.

BRAND:

Really? You're not the kind of guy

who turns a combat marine with a

supercomputer for a brain into a

riding lawn mower?

Cooper says nothing -- she's not that far off the mark.

BRAND (CONT'D)

Get back in your little plane, go

back to your farming commune. And

don't come back.

Cooper backs up. Tars holds up his mangled rifle. Smiles.

TARS:

Don't forget your gun.

COOPER:

(points at Tars)

Word of advice -- careful with that

thing. When the war was over, they

didn't know when to stop fighting.

BRAND:

I'd trust him a lot more than I'd

trust you. Keep moving.

Cooper backs up to his plane. Tars follows him.

Suddenly, in the plane, the probe emits a high-pitch SQUEAL.

Tars responds instantly, striding past Cooper to the plane.

He sees the probe. Tries to open the door. It's locked.

COOPER:

Wait a second--

Tars TEARS the door off the plane. Reaches inside and pulls

out the probe. The woman looks at it, stunned.

BRAND:

Get it inside.

(MORE)

30.

BRAND (CONT'D)

(points rifle at Cooper)

You too. We'll figure out what to

do with you later.

Tars stops, and two panels open in the ground, revealing a

huge, reinforced service elevator.

INT. SERVICE ELEVATOR, UNDERGROUND BUNKER -- DAY

Brand waves at a security camera and the lift begins to glide

diagonally down a tunnel that cuts hundreds of feet below

the island's surface. She keeps her weapon shouldered.

COOPER:

Now who's stealing from who?

BRAND:

This doesn't belong to you.

COOPER:

You're right. It belongs to NASA,

which shut down thirty years ago

when the federal government ran out

of money.

Brand says nothing. The elevator slows to a stop at the

bottom of the tunnel. Heavy BLAST DOORS grind open and Brand

motions for Cooper to step forward.

INT. UNDERGROUND BUNKER -- DAY

They step into a vast underground facility. Standing in the

center, braced by a launch tower, is a ten story tall rocket.

Dozens of ROBOTS are working on in, maintaining it.

Cooper, stunned, looks at Brand.

COOPER:

Who are you people?

BRAND:

(WRY)

The government gave us plenty of

practice looking for our own funding.

(gestures with rifle)

Keep moving.

Tars carries the probe over to an area of the hangar filled

with electronic equipment. A group of ENGINEERS and ROBOTS

converge around Tars.

An OLDER ENGINEER looks familiar -- 70s, white-haired, this

is Ansen's assistant at Caltech who we met fifty years

earlier.

31.

BRAND (CONT'D)

I found them outside with it. It

looks like six. Maybe seven. I

can't tell from the radiation damage.

The older engineer looks at the probe, astonished.

OLD ENGINEER:

Where did you find it?

COOPER:

Galveston.

BRAND'S FATHER

(thinking it over)

Of course. It must have been looking

for Canaveral.

Tars bolts the probe down into a purpose built rig. DOYLE,

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