Starman Page #27

When he turns back to the car, he sees something that

frightens him more than the approaching patrol cars. A

helicopter has joined the chase. He looks for a place to

hide. A stand of cottonwood and elm fifty yards on the other

side of the gate offers the only protection.

The STAR MAN opens the passenger door. Jenny is soaked in

her own blood. He hooks the strap of her purse over his

shoulder, lifts her tenderly and, cradling her in his arms,

wiggles between a fence post and the gate and jogs into the

trees.

EXT. PASTURE - NIGHT

The helicopter sets down behind the Mustang. Shermin leads

Bell, Lyman and the technicians to the car.

LYMAN:

(seeing the blood on

the passenger seat)

One of them must be pretty badly

hurt.

Shermin pushes the seat forward. The STAR MAN's life-support

suit is stuffed in the space behind it. The patrol cars skid

around the curve.

SHERMIN:

(to Bell, indicating

the suit)

Get this back to the copter.

Shermin takes a bullhorn from Lyman and goes around to the

front of the Mustang. The highway patrolmen get out of their

cars behind him.

SHERMIN:

(bullhorn to woods)

Mrs. Haydn, please come out. We don't

want to hurt you or your friend.

Please put down your weapon and come

out.

EXT. TREES - NIGHT

Jenny's limp weight is beginning to slow the STAR MAN. He

hears the bullhorn but doesn't stop.

EXT. PASTURE - NIGHT

Shermin lowers the bullhorn and speaks to the patrolmen.

SHERMIN:

Okay, fan out. These people have a

gun but we want them alive.

Understand?

EXT. TREES - NIGHT

A deep shadow on the other side of an elm offers a likely

hiding place. He moves through the underbrush toward it.

Without warning, his feet begin to slip out from under him.

He struggles to regain his balance.

When he does he looks down to find himself staring at a RAGING

RIVER 150 feet below. The bank on the other side is just a

few feet above the water and in the moonlight he can see a

flat plain cut by a highway that stretches into the distance.

Slowly, he backs away from the edge of the cliff.

From under the elm he watches the helicopter sweep out over

the ravine. Its searchlight darts toward him bleaching the

treeline. The overhanging branches cloak him and Jenny and

the light passes without picking them up. The STAR MAN adjusts

his grip on Jenny and starts off in the opposite direction

from the helicopter to look for a way down the cliff.

EXT. TREES - NIGHT

Shermin, his people and the patrolmen are combing the woods

with flashlights in a picketline search. The Third Driver

stops at the mouth of a clearing that runs between the

cottonwood and elm to the cliff. He takes a bite off a block

of chewing tobacco.

As he replaces it in his pocket, he sees a shadow flit across

the far end of the clearing. He swings his flashlight in

that direction. The beam catches a piece of Jenny and the

STAR MAN.

THIRD DRIVER:

Over here! They're over here!

EXT. TREES - NIGHT

Standing on the rim of the gorge, the STAR MAN sees the rays

of his pursuers' flashlights choking off any possible escape.

He eases Jenny to the ground behind a boulder. She whimpers

with the pain.

STAR MAN:

(strokes her cheek)

You will be all right.

He stretches over the top of the boulder and scatters FOUR

SHOTS at the lights.

EXT. TREES - NIGHT

The patrolmen, the technicians and Shermin all hit the ground

and kill their lights.

SHERMIN:

Mrs. Haydn, we don't want to hurt

you. Put down your gun and come out.

We just want to talk to your friend.

THE STAR MAN AND JENNY

The STAR MAN peers around the boulder. At that instant the

searchlight from the helicopter happens to splash across the

men in the field. He sees that their guns are drawn and

pointed in his direction. The STAR MAN pulls back and takes

a marble from his pouch. It grows and glows gold as the STAR

MAN rolls it between his palms. When it reaches the size of

a baseball, he clutches it firmly in his right hand and

EMPTIES the .45 toward Shermin and the police. This time,

there is a BARRAGE OF ANSWERING FIRE.

With the BULLETS RICOCHETING around him, the STAR MAN lifts

Jenny to his shoulder. He massages the golden orb until it

becomes the size of a soccer ball, then takes two quick steps

to the edge of the cliff and leaps into the abyss.

EXT. ABYSS - NIGHT

The upward thrust of the ball supports their fall and under

its glow they begin a slow descent to the other side of the

river. Above them, the helicopter dips back and locks its

searchlight on the shelf of boulders they just left.

EXT. PLAIN - NIGHT

The STAR MAN sets down with the smoothness of a man stepping

off an escalator. He looks over his shoulder. The helicopter

is still concentrating its spotlight on the ridge. He speaks

to the ball in his language.

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