The Abyss Page #13

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BUD:

The storm's gonna last longer than 12 hours.

LINDSEY:

I can extend that. There's some storage tanks

outboard on the wrecked module. I'll have to go

outside to tie onto them.

She goes back to her task, working efficiently with a socket wrench.

BUD:

Hey, Lins...

(she looks up)

I'm glad your here.

LINDSEY:

Yeah? Well I'm not.

OMITTED121

OMITTED122

The sub bay is still a mess. Dark. A few battery-operated lamps. Flatbed

is back, floating in the moonpool.

One Night and Hippy are in deep concentration, piloting the two ROVs in a

damage survey of the rig. Bud comes up behind them, check her screen first.

BIG GEEK'S MONITOR shows a view of the aft section of the rig. The drilling

derrick had collapsed across Cab Three, totaling it. A girder is jammed

through its acrylic front dome.

ONE NIGHT:

Right through the brainpan. Deader'n dogshit,

boss.

BUD:

(to Hippy)

Where're you?

HIPPY:

Quarters. Level two.

INT. TRIMODULE A/QUARTERS A123

Little Geek rises up through the open central hatch, pivoting in a circle to

scan the flooded interior.

INT. SUB BAY/R.O.V. STATIONB123

TIGHT ON VIDEO SCREEN, LITTLE GEEK'S POV. The interior of the structure is a

shambles. The lights of the little robot fall upon a figure... Perry.

Lying on the deck, almost looking like he's asleep.

HIPPY:

That's Perry.

BUD:

(lets his breath out slowly)

That's it then. Finler, McWhirter, Dietz, and

Perry. Jesus.

HIPPY:

(gestured at the screen)

Do we just leave him there?

BUD:

Yeah, for now. Our first priority's to get

something to breathe.

CUT TO:

EXT. DEEPCORE 124

Catfish and Lindsey, in suits and helmets, drop down from the glare of the

moonpool onto the dark sea floor under the rig. Walking, they pull their

umbilicals behind them and head out through the twisted wreckage. Little

Geek follows along like a dog at their heels. They settle beside a valve

assembly at the base of the wrecked module.

LINDSEY:

Cat, you tie onto this manifold. There's some

tanks on the other side; I'm gonna go check

them out.

CATFISH:

You watch yourself.

He begins to attach one end of a coiled-up high-pressure hose to a manifold.

She takes the other end of the hose and moves off into the darkness. Little

Geek goes with her faithfully.

INT. SUB BAY125

Cab One is hanging from the overhead crane while One Nigh works to repair it.

Bud is nearby, tending hose for the divers and handing her tools. Talking

while they work. Hippy is across the moonpool running Little Geek.

ONE NIGHT:

Gimme a three-eighths socket on a long extension.

(he hands it to her)

So there you were--

BUD:

There we were, side by side, on the same ship,

for two months. I'm tool-pusher and we're

testing this automated derrick of hers. So, we

get back on the beach and... we're living

together.

ONE NIGHT:

Doesn't mean you had to marry her.

BUD:

We were due to go back out on the same ship.

Six months of tests. If you were married you

got a state-room. Otherwise it was bunks.

ONE NIGHT:

Okay, good reason. Then what?

BUD:

It was alright for a while, you know. But then

she got promoted to project engineer on this

thing, couple years ago.

ONE NIGHT:

She went front-office on you. Tighten that for

me, right there. That's it.

BUD:

Well, you know Lindsey, too damn aggressive--

Son of a--!!

He's jammed his fingers with a wrench torquing down a bolt. Whips his hand

out.

BUD:

She didn't leave me... she just left me behind.

She puts her arm around his shoulders, somehow managing to be fraternal,

maternal and suggestive all at the same time.

ONE NIGHT:

Bud, let me tell you something. She ain't half

as smart as she thinks she is.

She smiles and pretends to kink Lindsey's air-hose.

ACROSS THE CHAMBER, Hippy scowls as Little Geek's screen starts to go haywire

with interference.

HIPPY:

Hey, Lindsey, you reading me? Over.

OMITTED126

EXT. DEEPCORE/TRIMODULE A 127

Catfish is working on one side of the wrecked module while Lindsey is on the

other, out of sight. She is standing on the bottom at the base of the

wreckage, checking valves on a rack of oxygen bottles amongst the wreckage.

Right at the edge of the canyon wall. Behind her is a sheer drop to

nothingness

LINDSEY:

Yeah, Hippy, I read you. What's the matter?

The reply is GARBLED by a wash of static. Then, for no apparent reason,

Lindsey's helmet light begins to dim out. Little Geek's lights fade. His

motors whine to a stop.

ON CATFISH, as his lights drop to candleglows.

INT. SUB BAYA127

The emergency lights are dimming, like a brownout. Bud grabs the diver

intercom mike.

BUD:

Lins, how're you doing? Lindsey?

EXT. TRIMODULE A 128

ON LINDSEY, as she fiddles with her lights and transceiver pack.

LINDSEY:

Catfish... I got a problem here. You there?

Catfish?

Behind her, SOMETHING rises from the depths.

It is the little vehicle she almost collided with at the Montana wreck.

It comes right up behind her. She doesn't know it's there. It hovers

sideways like a hummingbird, as if curious, trying to get a better look. She

becomes aware of the pulsing glow on the ground around her. She turns

slowly. We see her react as the glowing, pulsing apparition is reflected in

her faceplate.

A more powerful glow washes up onto her from below.

Her eyes go down. She gasps, absolutely stunned...

Above the edge of the wall, AN ENORMOUS SHAPE RISES SILENTLY OUT OF THE

DEPTHS. Over sixty feet across. It looks like a blown glass manta ray, its

transparent outer hull housing interior structures of great delicacy and

complexity, pulsing with a blue-violet glow.

Lindsey stand before it, unable to move. Absolutely rapt.

Captivated by its ethereal beauty. It begins to turn, majestically, one

rounded wing passing only a few feet above her. She reaches up. Touches it

as it passes over her.

Lindsey is without fear, completely mesmerized.

The thing completes its turn and dives gracefully down along the wall. She

is gently lifted by a backwash of turbulent water.

About that time, Lindsey remembers she has a still camera, a little Nikonos.

She fumbles to set focus and exposure with her bulky gloves as the beautiful

machine glides into the depths. Gets all set for a shot and...

WOOSH! The little 'scoutschip' whizzes past her from behind, startling her.

She completely misses the shot of the 'manta ship'. She pivots, trying to

get a shot of the little one as it zig-zags down along the wall, fast as a

meteor. CLICK. She get a shot a second before it disappears.

From around the flank of the rig module, Catfish appears. Their com-sets

come backs to life, along with their lights.

LINDSEY:

You better not say you missed that.

CATFISH:

Missed what?

CUT TO:

INT. DEEPCORE/MESS HALL 129

TIGHT ON SLIDE STRIP. Lindsey's fingertip in for scale. The shot is black

with a little squiggle of light in the center. Pathetic.

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