Interstellar Page #7

EXT. GULF COAST -- DAY

Below, a combine harvester fights its way up the dunes, trying

to reach the beach, its wheels struggling for traction in

the soft sand.

A MAN waves up at Cooper's plane as it circles overhead.

Cooper lands the plane on a deserted roadway. Jumps down.

He intercepts one of the combines as it trundles past, trying

to reach the dunes. He pops open the cabin.

Inside is a mess of wires hooked into an auto-pilot not unlike

the one he ripped out of the drone. He checks the fault

code and resets the computer.

The man jogs over to meet him.

RIGGS:

Thanks for coming down. Half of 'em

took off last night, looking for

something.

(points to dunes)

Looks like they found it, too. I

thought you were the man to see it.

Riggs starts walking up the dune. Cooper follows.

Below, on the beach, a dozen more combines and other farming

vehicles are lined up at the tideline, warm gulf water lapping

at their metal flanks. They are circling a deep crater.

20.

As they watch, an ancient autonomous SUB BEACHES itself,

trying to reach the crater.

EXT. CRATER'S EDGE, BEACH -- DAY

Cooper steps between the waiting machines and peers down

into the crater.

At the very bottom is a ROUND BLACK BALL, about a foot across --

the same object we saw punch a hole in the side of a

satellite. Every few seconds, it emits a distinctive CHIRP.

Cooper checks his rad meter. A tiny reading -- non-lethal.

He takes off his watch and hands it to Riggs. Then he slides

down into the hole.

The probe CHIRPS as Cooper slides down on top of it. He

rubs a hand across its smooth composite bulk.

RIGGS:

(FROM ABOVE)

You think it's an alien?

Cooper wipes sand off of the object, revealing the faint,

familiar outline etched into the side of the probe:

The stars and stripes of the old federal government.

COOPER:

Not exactly.

EXT. CRATER'S EDGE, BEACH -- DAY

Using a rope and a winch, Cooper hauls the blackened probe

out of the crater and onto the beach.

Cooper hefts it up and carries it to the back of his plane.

COOPER:

Space probe. Never seen one like

it, though. Looks like it's been to

hell and back.

The probe CHIRPS as Cooper belts it into the back.

RIGGS:

How do you think it wound up here?

COOPER:

Lost, I guess. Guidance satellites

would have been shot down by the

Chinese twenty years ago.

Cooper looks at the probe for a second, admiring its form.

21.

INT. KITCHEN, COOPER'S HOUSE -- NIGHT

Donald is pouring a bottle of corn beer into a bubbling vat

of chowder. He turns to watch Cooper work, amused.

The probe has been clamped to the kitchen table. Cooper

works at the blackened case with a BLOWTORCH. Cooper gives

up -- the torch hasn't made a scratch. The probe CHIRPS.

COOPER:

Well I don't know what the hell it's

made of, but I can't crack it open.

DONALD:

Good. Clear it off the table so I

can serve dinner.

Tom and Murph walk in. Murph's got another black eye.

DONALD (CONT'D)

What happened this time?

MURPH:

I got suspended. Paul said anyone

who believed we went to the moon was

an idiot. So I hit him.

COOPER:

Good boy. Hand me the scanner.

Murph hands his dad a defibrillator he's modified for the

purpose. He attaches the shock pads to the sides of the

probe and turns on the power.

Numbers flash across the screen. Cooper hits a button on

the controls and it PULSES.

COOPER (CONT'D)

Here we go. Standard NASA encryption.

Memory's been damaged. Just noise.

Hold on. I've got something.

Cooper unplugs a monitor from his computer and plugs it into

the defibrillator. After a moment, an image fills the screen:

An ICE-COVERED PLANET nestled in the center of a system

impossibly dense with stars. Murph stares, transfixed.

MURPH:

Where is that, dad?

COOPER:

I don't know.

Cooper looks at the probe.

22.

COOPER (CONT'D)

Where the hell did you come from?

Cooper shrugs. Turns off the monitor.

COOPER (CONT'D)

We'll take it down to Tyson's tomorrow

and have it melted down. Might be

some copper inside.

MURPH:

But what about its mission? What

about the information onboard?

COOPER:

There's no one for it to report to.

NASA is all gone. I'm sorry, son.

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