Pale Blue Dot Page #2

---

takes off---

SCREEEETCH---

the side of the car scraping along the concrete wall as

Erin drives like a (blind) bat out of hell.

Laura’s still crying, standing in the same spot, in a trance

until, finally---

she runs.

INT. PARKING GARAGE STAIRCASE - MOMENTS LATER

Laura takes the stairs two at a time. She’s wild-eyed and

moving as fast as she can.

She pulls at the dish washing gloves, trying to get them off.

She tosses one in a trash can, drops the other, and keeps

running.

But, Laura isn’t going down the stairs. She’s going up. She’s

not trying to make her escape, she’s trying to get to-

EXT. PARKING GARAGE ROOF - CONTINUOUS

Laura bursts out onto the roof. She has nowhere else to go.

Above her, it is a cloudless Orlando morning with stars

spread out as far as the eye can see.

It’s our first real look at the night’s sky. The expanse of

stars is breath-taking.

In the distance the screech of police sirens grows louder.

But Laura no longer seems concerned. Instead, she looks up at

the stars and, for the first time we’ve seen, she smiles.

CUT TO:

A 2-POUND DRILLING HAMMER---

FLASH-

7.

INT. ORLANDO POLICE DEPARTMENT - DAY

-- the hammer sits on a metal table, where a beefy man,

DETECTIVE JORGE LOPEZ, takes a series of pictures,

documenting evidence.

Lopez replaces the hammer with Laura’s wig. He snaps a new

picture. He repeats the process with a long list of items---

the dish washing gloves---

FLASH---

a Venom action figure---

FLASH---

$585 in cash---

FLASH---

plastic garbage bags, rubber tubing, rope of varying

lengths, the mace, a potted African violet, another pair of

gloves-

--FLASH---

an 8-inch Gerber folding knife. Another detective enters,

DETECTIVE CASH CAIN. She picks up the knife, whistling in

amazement.

DETECTIVE CAIN:

She just wanted to talk, huh?

DETECTIVE LOPEZ:

Oh, that’s not even the best part.

Detective Lopez takes the knife and hands Detective Cain a

large, open package of ADULT DIAPERS.

DETECTIVE CAIN:

No.

DETECTIVE LOPEZ:

Yes.

DETECTIVE CAIN:

She was wearing one of these?

INT. ORLANDO POLICE DEPARTMENT - CONTINUOUS

Laura is turned to the left, posing for a series of mug

shots.

8.

DETECTIVE LOPEZ (O.S.)

Said every second counted. No time

for bathroom breaks.

Laura turns towards the camera, brow furrowed in

embarrassment. She looks terrible.

Laura’s hair is a stringy mess, tear-smeared make-up streaks

her cheeks but, even that, can’t cover the dark, tired

circles under her eyes-

--FLASH-

This is the picture everyone will remember.

DETECTIVE CAIN (O.S.)

Who the hell is this lady?

CUT TO:

TITLE CARD:
12 MONTHS EARLIER

EXT. OUTER SPACE - DAY

Silence.

Darkness.

And then-

LAURA (O.S.)

Ah ha!

Laura, attached to the Canadarm of the Space Shuttle

Discovery, is maneuvered into place over a communications

satellite.

LAURA (CONT’D)

There you are.

Below her is the enveloping brightness of planet Earth, a

swirling mass of blue and white and green anLauraown.

Laura latches onto the satellite as a replacement solar panel

is lifted up to her.

A voice crackles into her headset, payload specialist ARIK

AVRHAHAM, 43.

ARIK:

Be careful there. Those solar

panels aren’t cheap.

9.

LAURA:

You just keep the arm working. I’ll

worry about the panel.

ARIK:

Yes ma’am.

Laura inspects the panel. She frowns.

LAURA:

This one’s gonna take a while.

She sets to work, but she can’t help but look down-

ARIK:

Some view, huh?

LAURA:

It sure is.

Laura floats on, two hundred miles above a thunderstorm

covering a third of South America.

She watches as miles-long arcs of lightning jump from cloud

to cloud below her.

LAURA (CONT’D)

I could stay here forever.

INT. SPACE SHUTTLE DISCOVERY - “EVENING”

Laura and other crew members are strapped into special

sleeping bags attached to the shuttle walls. In the micro-

gravity of low Earth orbit, the unconscious astronauts seem

frozen-- arms slightly bent, unmoving hair standing on end.

A voice crackles through one of the cabin speakers:

MISSION CONTROL (O.S.)

Good morning, Discovery! And a

special good morning to you, Laura.

Here’s a little something to get

your day started from Drew and the

kids.

After a brief hiccup, a tinny-sounding recording of the song

“All Star” by Smash Mouth infects the speakers. (Since the

Gemini program, NASA’s been sending musical wake-up calls to

astronauts at the start of each new mission day.)

The song does its work, spreading throughout the Discovery

cabin and waking up the crew.

10.

Among them is CHITHRA GILL, a sardonic biochemist in her late

thirties and decidedly NOT a morning person.

Picking the sleep-gunk from her eyes, Chithra manages to yawn

her displeasure at Laura:

CHITHRA:

I’m pretty sure I came up here to

get away from this song.

LAURA:

Be nice. My kids picked it.

CHITHRA:

Well, your kids have shitty taste

in music.

Laura flashes a smile at Chithra.

LAURA:

Oh, I dunno. I think it’s pretty

good.

Laura floats over to the nearest shuttle intercom, depressing

the button that connects to Mission Control.

LAURA (CONT’D)

Thanks for the wake up call,

Houston. I love this song. Don’t

you?

She shoots a wink toward Chithra, who promptly responds with

a thorough eye-roll.

MISSION CONTROL (O.S.)

We think it’s great. Have a good

day up there, guys.

Laura switches off the communicator and tries out some micro-

gravity dance moves. It’s the space equivalent of mom-

dancing, but her enthusiasm is infectious.

Pretty soon the whole crew-- even Chithra-- is dancing.

The music continues to play as we see-

INT. DISCOVERY CABIN - “DAY”

Laura floats over to Discovery’s computer terminal. She logs

into NASA’s email client and starts typing:

11.

LAURA (V.O.)

Dear Drew, I hope this email finds

you well...

INT. DISCOVERY CABIN - LATER

Laura sits for a live interview with GRETCHEN CARLSON of FOX

NEWS. GARY SHALIMAR, the burly, gregarious Mission Commander

floats next to her, trying out zero-g backflips.

LAURA (V.O.)

That’s still weird, isn’t it? An

email from outer space. We’re doing

our best to make it feel like

home...

GRETCHEN CARLSON

So Laura, I’ve gotta ask you the

big question:
How do you wash your

hair up there?

Commander Shalimar CRACKS UP.

LAURA:

Well, it’s not pretty. But we’ve

found a way-

Laura produces a packet of NASA-issue shampoo and a box of

baby wipes.

Carefully she demonstrates how, using the two, she can “wash

her hair”

The cast of Fox and Friends can’t stop laughing.

GRETCHEN CARLSON

And to think people say that

nothing good comes from the space

program.

GARY:

Hey now-

INT. DISCOVERY CREW CABIN - LATER

The crew is busy eating their freeze-dried dinner. There’s a

lot of goofing off-- tossing food in the air, doing

somersaults, playing catch.

12.

LAURA (V.O.)

The food is better than you’d

imagine. At least if you don’t

think too hard.

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