Total Recall Page #8

AN IMMENSE ORANGE GLOBE -- so close it looks like it's going to fall on

us. It dwarfs the spaceliner.

CAPTAIN'S VOICE (V.O.) Those long gorges you see, clearly are the

legendary canals of Mars....

The liner drops toward the surface of Mars. Below: a NETWORK OF

INTERSECTING LINES crisscross the planet.

CAPTAIN'S VOICE (V.O.) (continuing) Of course, they are not manmade

canals, but vast natural chasms ...many deeper and larger than the

Grand Canyon. Though utterly without moisture now, scientists have

determined that they were formed by massive flooding millions of years

ago.

47INT. SPACELINER

Quail stares, his brow furrowing as if with some deep hidden memory he

can't quite recall.

CAPTAIN'S VOICE (V.O.) (continuing) Surface temperatures at the Martian

equator is minus one-hundred and twenty degrees Centigrade -- in

winter. Fortunately, this time of year it's slightly more seasonable:

Sixty degrees, Fahrenheit, outside the domes. (beat) Please remember,

folks, that outside the domes you'll need to carry your own personal

oxygen supply at all times. The atmosphere of Mars is almost a vacuum.

Thank you for flying with Interstellar and we hope your stay will be a

pleasant one.

48EXT. MARS - OUTER SPACE

CAMERA follows the spaceliner until the ENTIRE FRAME is filled with the

RED-ORANGE sands of MARS.

49EXT. MARTIAN DESERT - DAY

An endless expanse of boulder-studded red sand, under a red-orange sky.

The desert is cut by a ROAD, which snakes across the rocky terrain.

Some surface TRAFFIC moves along the road (all pressurized vehicles

since the atmosphere of Mars is almost a pure vacuum) - including the

MARSPORT BUS.

PAN WITH THE BUS - TO REVEAL

A CITY UNDER A DOME.

In the midst of the stark, trackless landscape -- it's midday,

scorching -- rises a huge weatherbeaten GEODESIC STRUCTURE, its glass

surface scarred by sandstorm damage. Its feeling is like an old

Western, when Clint Eastwood rides into Tombstone -- the raw,

forbidding vistas, with a tough town carved out of the wilderness.

50INT. MARSPORT - DAY

Quail is looking out at the desolate landscape. The TOUR ORGANISER, an

amiable middle-aged man sits beside him. It is possible he is not a

married man.

QUAIL It's no Garden of Eden.

TOUR ORGANISER No. Quite a bit to see, though. The canyons, the old

Sphinx...

QUAIL What do you know about that?

TOUR ORANISER Not much, really. Millions of years old. Bit like the one

that used to be in Egypt, you know...

QUAIL Yeah. Got destroyed in the Arab wars... What about this

independence movement?

TOUR ORGANISER (dismissive) Not worth worrying about. Mostly

descendants of the original colonists from Earth. Now they want self-

rule so they can sell us all the minerals... I don't think we've met.

You with our group? Takes me a while to know everyone.

QUAIL Sure. Douglas Quail.

TOUR ORGANISER Richard Toltz. (they shake hands) Well, Doug, I hope

we'll see a lot more of each other.

55EXT. CITY (UNDER THE DOOM) - DAY

The bus pulls up outside a modern tourist hotel. The buildings

surrounding it have a much more improvised, temporary look. Most are

pre-fabricated structures. The streets are crowded and there is a

"frontier-town" atmosphere. Stalls sell fruit and vegetables, also

water and air containers.

A lot of greenery is evident - this is to absorb CO2 and emit oxygen,

thus helping with the air supply under the dome.

Some small, ragged boys look at QUAIL as he looks around before going

inside the hotel. Suddenly, one of them throws a small sack at him. It

hits his chest and leaves a yellow stain. The hotel DOORMAN chases the

boys away....

BOY Smogpsucker!

From the other side of the street, a gang of URCHINS with a harmonica

start singing some kind of defiant PATRIOTIC SONG.

DOORMAN You know how it is, sir. Some of these red-asses are a bit

prejudiced.

QUAIL Prejudiced? Against what?

DOORMAN Earthmen.

The street song has swelled, adult MINERS and CITIZENS joining the

belligerent chorus.

QUAIL What are they singing?

DOORMAN The Martian National Anthem.

Quail tips the doorman, enter the hotel.

57INT. MARS HILTON LOBBY - DAY

Quail passes several kiosks -- a magazine stand, currency exchange,

clothing store, shoeshine stand. A SHOESHINE BOY looks up at Quail.

Quail walks past, enters the main lobby. The atrium entryway is

absolutely fabulous; a complete contrast to the dirty, Casbah-like

streets. AFFLUENT-LOOKING PEOPLE in spotless linen fill the lobby.

Quail stops to examine a large ROTATING DISPLAY sitting on a table in

the middle of the lobby. It is a stand-up model of a SPHINX. Across

the top is written "THE FIRST WONDER OF MARS". A recorded VOICE

repeats a canned speech --

CANNED VOICE "...the Martian Sphinx... only evidence of non-human

civilization ever discovered ...age estimated at over eighteen million

years...

CLOSE - SHOESHINE BOY

He stares at Quail.

BACK TO SCENE:

Quail approaches the Registration Desk.

CLERK Nice to have you back with us, Mr. Hauser.

Quail is startled to be recognized -- particularly by this name. He

tries to stay casual.

QUAIL Nice to be back. (pick up pen) I'm flattered you remember me.

CLERK Part of my job, sir.

QUAIL (starts to sign; hesitates) Do you remember my first name, too?

CLERK Charles. Charles Hauser, right?

QUAIL I'm impressed. (now he signs) Listen. I need transportation to

the... uh... the Sphinx. Can you arrange it for me?

CLERK I'm sorry, sir. But Earth government has sealed off the

excavation site completely. No one but survey teams and archaeologists

are allowed closer than twenty miles.

The Clerk taps a few keys on a computer.

CLERK Oh... (spots something on the computer) Do you want the item you

left with us?

QUAIL What item? Oh... yes, please.

The Clerk turns to the safe, retrieves an envelope. He hands it -- and

an

ELECTRONIC ROOM KEY -- to Quail.

58P.O.V. - THROUGH BINOCULARS - THE SPHINX

Far in the distance, a dusty red structure squats amid barren dunes. We

see vehicles, scaffolding, a fortified perimeter.

59INT. QUAIL'S HOTEL ROOM - DAY

Quail stands at the window, looking through binoculars. He lowers them

irritably, tosses them on the bed.

Quail tugs the envelope from his pocket, tears it open. Inside is a

single slip of paper, on which is written in longhand:

"MELINA NOEL Last Chance Air Station Kilometer 61 Gird Square T9"

60EXT. MARS HILTON - SUNSET

It is now sunset on Mars and it's literally of inearthlybeauty. The sun

is bold and blood red; the foggy, drip- ping glass of the Dome tints

the light into strange colors.

Quail emerges from the hotel, properly attired now in a white tropical

suit, and starts for the taxi stand.

Behind him, also emerging from the hotel, is the Shoeshine Boy. He

keeps out of sight -- but is definitely tailing Quail.

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