More info about this movie on IMDb.com
FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY
UNIVERSE - EIGHT BILLION LIGHT YEARS FROM EARTH
The cosmos on the grandest scale we know. Clusters of
galaxies strewn like sea froth; whorls and smudges of
light representing hundreds of billions of stars each.
MILKY WAY GALAXY
A view from the edge. We DRIFT ABOVE the majestic,
spiraling disk, tens of thousands of light years across.
RING NEBULA (M57) - CONSTELLATION LYRA
A local group of stars, the brightest of which is a point
of hot, blue-white light...
VEGA
Rings of glowing gas and debris surround the giant, blue-
white star... and then we notice something ahead of us in
polar orbit.
CLOSER
An immense, world-sized construct gleams in Vega's blue
light. Far too big to be artificial, by human standards
-- but this wasn't built to human standards.
Bowl-shaped transmitters cover the quicksilver gel-like
surface of the polyhedron, forming then vanishing again.
We DESCEND INTO one vast bowl as it deepens --
-- then silently convulses. A lost chord. We SWING
AROUND, assuming a breathtaking, MOVING POV --
A message begins its journey.
DISSOLVE TO:
SUBTERRANEAN DARKNESS
Shadows appear, dark and murky. Slowly we become aware of
a MUFFLED, PULSING sound; like a DISTANT, BOOMING
HEARTBEAT.
Suddenly a bright light unzips the amniotic darkness; two
great hands reach in to assist what we now realize is a
Caesarean birth.
ELLIE ARROWAY
age five seconds, opens her eyes wide. In the b.g., we
can see a nurse methodically giving CPR to the unseen
mother; the decor beyond tells us we are in a small-town
doctor's office. The DOCTOR holds Ellie as he calls
softly to the nurse.
DOCTOR
You can call it, Nan. Mark time of
birth as... 12:04 A.M.
(looking down at the
baby)
Happy New Year, little lady.
(to the nurse)
Tell Ted he has a girl.
TED ARROWAY stands watching through the window in the
office door. Numb.
BABY'S TINY HAND
clasps its mother's finger.
CUT TO:
WIDE TABLEAU
Ted, holding his newborn daughter, sitting quietly next to
the bed where his sheet-covered wife still lies.
EXT. MAIN STREET (NEHALEM, OREGON) - DAWN
Ted, carefully holding little Ellie, walks down the empty
street, his FOOTSTEPS ECHOING...
DEEP SPACE - MESSAGE
rockets through a black dust cloud where young stars are
just beginning to glow. An icy worldlet evaporates,
releasing gasses which blow away in spectral bursts of
iridescent color...
SURFACE OF ALIEN WORLD
We are MOVING OVER an exotic, technological landscape;
strange ALIEN SQUELCHES and SQUEALS become audible --
-- and then a child's hand reaches in and twists a giant
dial on what we now see is an old shortwave RADIO.
ELLIE (V.O.)
CQ CQ WR2 GFO... WR2 GFO, come back.
INT. ARROWAY HOUSE - NIGHT
SIX-YEAR OLD ELLIE leans in towards a large microphone.
ELLIE
CQ WR2 GFO, do you copy?
(calls)
I'm not getting anything.
Ted joins his daughter at the workbench where she sits in
front of the short-wave, her feet dangling from the stool.
He puts his hands on her shoulders.
TED
Small moves, Captain, small moves.
ELLIE
I can't move any smaller.
TED
Try again between the static and
'Hey Jude'; that's where they're
hiding.
Ellie bites her lip, tries again. Her little hand slowly
turns the dial -- suddenly --
RADIO VOICE (V.O.)
(filtered)
Copy... WRS GFO...
(off STATIC)
W2P KLD talking... what's your
handle, WR2 GFO?
ELLIE
What do I do?
TED
Talk to him.
ELLIE
But what do I say?
TED
Just be yourself, Captain. Find out
where he is.
Ellie tentatively reaches out and grasps the microphone.
ELLIE
Where are you calling from, W2P KLD,
come back.
RADIO VOICE (V.O.)
(filtered)
Pensacola, over.
ELLIE
Pensacola -- !
(beat)
Where's Pensacola?
TED
Give you a hint: orange juice.
MAP OF WORLD
above the work area is dotted with colored pins; Ellie's
finger traces the Gulf of Mexico, stopping at Pensacola.
Ellie, breathless with wonder. Contact.
EXT. ARROWAY BEDROOM - NIGHT
The house in the woods dwarfed under the immense dome of
night.
INT. ELLIE'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
Now in her pajamas, Ellie sits hunched over in bed,
working intently on her latest masterpiece. A crayon
behind her ear.
ELLIE
Could we hear to China?
TED
On that old shortwave? Maybe on a
clear night. Come on now, under the
covers.
ELLIE
Could we hear to the moon?
TED
Big enough radio, I don't see why
not.
ELLIE
Could we hear God?
TED
Mmm, that's a good one. Maybe his
echo...
(then)
Okay, no more stalling.
ELLIE
(coloring frantically)
Okay, okay... there.
She hands Ted the drawing. As he holds it up to the lamp
we see it shows an idealized beach, palm trees. It glows
in the light.
ELLIE
Pensacola.
TED
That's a beauty, Captain.
(kisses her on the
forehead)
Now get some sleep.
He carefully pins the drawing on the wall, turns out the
light. As he starts out she says softly --
ELLIE
Do you think there're people on
other planets?
Ted pauses, smiles at his daughter's inexhaustible
curiosity. He returns, sits on the edge of her bed, now
lit by starlight.
TED
Well let's see... the Universe is a
pretty big place... And the one
thing I know about nature is it
hates to waste anything. So I guess
I'd say if it is just us, an awful
lot of space is going to waste.
He tenderly brushes a stray lock of her hair behind her
ear.
TED
Time to sleep now, Captain. But you
can ask more questions in the
morning, okay?
ELLIE
(sighs)
Okay.
He kisses her again, rises, goes to leave, stopping at the
door to watch her. Ellie looks out the window at the
stars...
DEEP SPACE - MESSAGE
A comet blows by. We chase it, riding its luminous tail
of evaporating ice...
TED'S CALLUSED HAND
careful as a safecracker, slowly TURNS the DIAL on an
ancient A.M. RADIO -- finally landing on an old HANK
WILLIAMS TUNE.
INT. TED'S TRUCK - MOVING - DAY
Ted sits up, smiles in satisfaction.
EXT. TRUCK - DAY
The old red Ford trundles through the pines along a
mountain road.
INT. ARROWAY KITCHEN - DAY
NINE-YEAR OLD ELLIE throws her schoolbooks on the table
and goes to the refrigerator. As she starts to take out
items we see her hand-drawn chart taped to the side of the
fridge; Mondays and Thursdays say "Ellie Cooks!"
EXT. MOUNTAINS - DAY
A fawn is feeding. CUT WIDE to reveal it standing in the
middle of an empty road, nibbling at the grass growing out
of the old blacktop. The TWITTER of a BIRD; the wind in
the trees... and then, far in the distance, we hear an
ENGINE STRAINING.
LOGGING TRUCK
heads up the mountain road, its driver humming along to
the same HANK WILLIAMS TUNE.
INT. ARROWAY KITCHEN - DAY
A stew of some sort bubbles on the stove. Ellie hums as
she experiments with every spice on the rack.
SERIES OF SHOTS
A) Ted sings to the RADIO as he eases off the gas to
take a bend in the road --
B) The fawn continues to graze, oblivious. We can now
hear the RADIO in the DISTANCE.
C) Ted look up as he rounds the bend -- sees the deer --
D) The logging TRUCK ROARS around a blind curve --
E) Ted swerves onto the wrong side of the road, misses
the deer, sighs in relief --
F) The truck driver looks up, sees the Ford coming at
him, Ted still looking over his shoulder at --
FAWN
who suddenly looks up at the O.S. sound of a HORRIBLE
CRASH --
-- then bounds off into the woods.
INT. ARROWAY KITCHEN - DUSK
The table is set. A stubby candle and some wildflowers in
a peanut-butter jar.
Ellie sits at her place, frowning. She glances up at the
wall clock -- and then slowly stands as she sees something
else THROUGH the kitchen window:
A sheriffs' car is pulling up, lights going, siren silent.
The sheriff looks up -- their eyes meet -- PUSH IN ON
Ellie --
CUT TO:
EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - NIGHT
Little cones of light illuminate the darkness as NEIGHBORS
search with their flashlights, calling:
NEIGHBORS
Ellie... Ellie...?
EXT. ARROWAY HOUSE - NIGHT
The sheriff stands in front of the house, shaking his head
as he talks to a MINISTER. VOICES continue to CALL.
We start to CRANE UP, HIGHER and HIGHER until we clear the
house -- REVEALING Ellie lying on the roof, staring up at
the stars. Her fingers grip the shingles...
EXT. COUNTRY CEMETERY - DAY
The Minister kneels next to Ellie, watching her knead
another piece of bread into a ball before tossing it into
a small fish pond. In the b.g. we see the sheriff and
several relatives watching.
MINISTER
I'm so sorry, Ellie. More than I
can ever say.
Ellie keeps watching the pond. The clouds overhead are
reflected in the patches of water between the lily pads.
ELLIE
Those lily pads must look like
clouds to that carp, don't you
think?
The Minister frowns. Gently:
MINISTER
Ellie... this life doesn't last
forever. Some day you and your Dad
are going to be together again, in
heaven.
ELLIE
(turns to him;
equally gentle)
He isn't in heaven; he's in the
ground. We just put him there,
remember?
OFF the astonished Minister --
INT. ARROWAY HOUSE - NIGHT
Relatives, townspeople, the Minister and sheriff mingle
quietly. The kitchen table and counters are covered with
a sea of casseroles.
Ellie watches the gathered from a doorway, then slips
away.
INT. ARROWAY HOUSE - WORKSHOP AREA - NIGHT
Ellie slowly approaches the darkened bench area where the
SHORTWAVE is set up; the pin-dotted map above it. She
TURNS it ON; the dial glows.
She reaches out for the microphone, holding it tightly in
both hands. Pushes the button.
ELLIE
CQ WR2, this is GFO, do you copy?
(looking up)
Dad, this is Ellie, come back.
EXT. HOUSE - HIGH ANGLE - NIGHT
Tiny Ellie is visible THROUGH the window, and as we begin
to PULL UP and AWAY her emotion-choked voice continues,
small and faraway...
ELLIE (V.O.)
This is Eleanor Arroway broadcasting
on 9.2 megahertz. Dad, are you
there? Come back. Come back. Come
back...
CUT TO:
DEEP SPACE - MESSAGE
-- rockets through the Rosette Nebula, a vast cloud of
glowing red hydrogen illuminated by young hot stars a
hundred times brighter than the sun. Their solar wind is
blowing out an immense cavity in the interstellar gas and
dust.
PALM LEAF
lies on the streetlamp-lit sidewalk.
We hear the sound of a BUS PULLING UP, its door opening.
After a moment a pair of sneakered feet tentatively step
INTO FRAME. A suitcase is set down next to them as we
hear the BUS WHEEZE OFF into the night. A hand reaches
down, picks up the palm leaf.
22-YEAR-OLD ELLIE examines it, then looks up in
apprehension at the old prewar Spanish structure of Cal
Tech.
INT. CAMPUS BUILDING - CORRIDOR - NIGHT
Ellie's FOOTSTEPS ECHO as she walks down a corridor, its
walls hung with portraits of Galileo, Copernicus, Hubble.
She pauses at a photograph of Einstein standing outside
the entrance we just saw. Sound up cut: THE RAMONES' "I
Wanna Be Sedated" --
INT. DORM CORRIDOR - NIGHT
An altogether different sort of hallway, reflecting the
imagination and individuality of its occupants. The walls
are covered with whimsical graffiti ("anthropocentrism is
a 17 letter word;" "WATCH FOR FLYING POTATOES") and 3
A.M. paintings of alien sunsets; the MUSIC is coming from
behind a door covered in Tolkien and comic book art.
As Ellie enters this strange new world she begins to hear
animated voices coming from a room at the end of the hall.
VOICE #1 (V.O.)
... radio luminosity?
VOICE #2 (V.O.)
I dunno, maybe a post-spectral
starburst or something.
EVERYBODY (V.O.)
Right, right --
VOICE #3 (V.O.)
E+A is an elliptical? How can you
tell it's being lensed? Pass me the
Fruity Pebbles.
VOICE #4 (V.O.)
Well I guess you'd have to check
other elliptical galaxies, Mr.
Wizard --
INT. DORM ROOM - NIGHT
As Ellie peers around the corner we see six or seven
STUDENTS, mostly male, of mixed nationality and race,
passing around cereal which they eat from the box. A
primitive (circa 1980) home-built personal computer glows
in the b.g.; a door opens onto a terrace and the
California night beyond. They stop, look up at Ellie --
ELLIE
I -- uh --
(clears her throat)
I was looking for Koestler Hall?
GUY (STUDENT)
This is it. Hey, do you know the
average radio-luminosity of an E+A
elliptical galaxy?
ELLIE
Um... I'm not sure.
(hesitates)
Maybe you could deduce it from
lensing a post-spectral
starburst...?
GUY
(beat, then to his
friend)
See, I told you!
(to Ellie)
Want some Fruity Pebbles?
Carcinogenic, but totally worth it.
Ellie takes the box, and as she tentatively enters the
room -- nibbles on the cereal -- she slowly sits. Smiles.
The argument rages on. She's home.
DEEP SPACE - MESSAGE
We ROAR by a rapidly rotating, flashing pulsar. Cosmic
dust filters the light into the shifting spectrum of
colors...
EXT. MOJAVE DESERT - DAY
DAVID DRUMLIN, 42, fit, sardonic -- and the world's
foremost radio astronomer -- leads a group of grad
students past the first Jet Propulsion Lab radio
telescopes at Goldstone. Ellie lags behind talking to
PETER VALERIAN, who is about as good-looking as an
astronomer should be allowed to be.
ELLIE
... Drumlin said you're been down at
Arecibo for the last year.
PETER
It's beautiful but it does get a
little lonely. Sometimes I think
the reason we build these things in
such godforsaken places isn't to
avoid excess radio traffic but
because we're all such pathetic
antisocial misfits... Speaking of
which: How're you getting on with
the old man?
ELLIE
He's an incredible prick but I never
learned so much in my life.
PETER
(smiles)
That's what they all say.
In the b.g. we can see the majestic twin dishes tilted up
toward the hard blue sky. An awkward moment, which Ellie
fills by extending her hand.
ELLIE
Ellie. Arroway.
PETER
Peter Valerian.
ELLIE
Sounds like a Russian general.
PETER
Yavol.
DRUMLIN
(calling back)
You're out of shape, Valerian.
What's the matter, eat too many
tacos down there in Puerto Rico?
He pronounces it "tackos" in his distinctive Montana
twang.
ELLIE
I read your paper on ETI's. It's
brilliant.
PETER
(embarrassed but
pleased)
Keep it down, okay? Drumlin thinks
I'm enough of a flake as it is.
(then)
Look -- everyone here has their
little fetishes. Caven goes to
topless bars, Vernon's got his
carnivorous plants... mine just
happens to be extraterrestrial
intelligence.
ELLIE
What a coincidence. It happens to
be my fetish too.
A brief but electric moment between them. They both feel
it. Drumlin calls back from the head of the group:
DRUMLIN
You two coming along or you just
gonna do it right here in the sand?
The other students laugh good-naturedly. Ellie and Peter,
rather than being embarrassed, seem to be considering the
idea.
EXT. MOJAVE CLIFFS - LATE AFTERNOON
A dusky orange sun hangs over the mountains, the Goldstone
telescopes visible in the distance. Ellie and Peter walk
along a windswept cliff overlooking a vast desert lake.
ELLIE
... I'm just so sick of feeling
defensive about the things I care
about! Or being lumped in with the
lunatic fringe by people like
Drumlin, when if they'd just put
aside their preconceptions for two
seconds and look at the facts...
PETER
They can't. I think it's against
human nature to admit to that level
of... insignificance; to not see
yourself as basically the center of
the universe.
ELLIE
It's like the pre-Copernicans who
swore the sun revolved around the
Earth, or the Victorians at the end
of the last century who concluded
that all major discoveries had now
been made. I mean... try to imagine
civilization a thousand years ahead
of us -- then imagine trying to
explain... I dunno, a microwave oven
-- to someone even a hundred years
ago -- I mean the basic concepts
didn't exist...
PETER
(murmurs)
'Any sufficiently advanced
technology...'
ELLIE
(finishing it with
him)
'... is indistinguishable from
magic.'
A moment... and then Peter takes her hand like it's the
most natural thing in the world.
PETER
I dunno. I know I should be
objective, ice-cold hard-assed
scientific about it, but just on an
intuitive level -- what's the point
of a universe so vast if we're the
only ones it it? It'd just be such
a... waste of space.
Ellie stops, looks at him -- and then slowly, carefully
leans in and kisses him. A pleasantly awkward beat.
ELLIE
Sorry.
Peter laughs.
EXT. DESERT - NIGHT
A million stares blaze overhead as Peter and Ellie make
love on an Indian blanket in the middle of the desert.
Ellie looks searchingly up into Peter's face... and then
her gaze drifts upwards to the canopy above...
SQUIRREL
gnaws on a beechnut as two enormous pair of feet walk by.
ELLIE (V.O.)
-- but I've already submitted my
proposal!
EXT. CAL TECH CAMPUS - DAY
Ellie and Drumlin walk briskly, in heated discussion.
DRUMLIN
I'm sorry, Miss Arroway, not only is
it too Speculative a subject for a
doctoral dissertation, at this point
in your career it'd be tantamount to
suicide.
ELLIE
I'm willing to take that risk.
DRUMLIN
I'm not. You're far too promising a
scientist to waste your considerable
gifts on this nonsense --
ELLIE
Dr. Drumlin, we are talking about
what could potentially be the most
important discovery in the history
of humanity. There are over four
hundred billion stars out there --
DRUMLIN
And only two probabilities: One:
there is intelligent life in the
universe but they're so far away
you'll never contact it in your
lifetime --
ELLIE
You're --
DRUMLIN
Two: There's nothing out there but
noble gasses and carbon compounds
and you'd be wasting your time.
ELLIE
What if you're wrong?
(as he starts to
speak)
No -- I'll grant you probabilities
but as a scientist without all the
evidence -- you can't deny the
possibility -- and I believe even
the remotest possibility of
something this profoundly...
profound is worth investigation --
and worth taking a few risks.
DRUMLIN
I disagree.
ELLIE
Then disagree but don't stand in my
way!
By this point they've gathered a small crowd. Drumlin
regards her for for a moment; then, softly:
DRUMLIN
What is it that makes you so lonely,
Miss Arroway? What is it that
compels you to search the heavens
for life when there's so much of it
being neglected right here at home?
Body blow. Ellie just stares, stunned. Finally:
DRUMLIN
I will approve a general thesis on
the detection of radio signals from
space but that's all. No E.T.I.s.
Enough?
Flushed, overwhelmed... Ellie nods. Enough.
DEEP SPACE - MESSAGE
Approaching a backwater area of the galaxy. A small,
unspectacular yellow star comes INTO VIEW.
PAIR OF HEADLIGHTS
cuts through the night. A Jeep negotiates an overgrown
mountain road.
EXT. ARECIBO, PUERTO RICO - AERIAL SHOT - PRE-DAWN
The two tiny beams from high above as we DESCEND OVER a
mountainous jungle range, a hot-house of life that drops
away to reveal an enormous white thousand-foot radio
telescope, cradled in the natural bowl of the mountain
valley.
SUPERIMPOSE: ARECIBO, PUERTO RICO - 1992
EXT. ARECIBO - DAWN
The mud-spattered Jeep pulls up in front of the living
quarters of the primitive installation. Peter Valerian
climbs out, looks up at the crude facilities in dismay.
ELLIE
lies asleep in bed. Peter sits quietly next to her,
gently touches her face. Her eyes slowly open. She
smiles.
SAME - FEW MINUTES LATER
Ellie is in the shower. Peter looks around her quarters;
peeling paint, a few steps down from your average dorm
room.
ELLIE (O.S.)
(calls from the
shower)
... I keep telling myself okay,
that's just the price, you have to
do your time doing shitwork before
you're allowed to get to the good
stuff... but if I have to catalog
one more quasar...
(sticks her head
out)
God, I've missed you.
PETER
Any luck on the grant money?
ELLIE
Please. Any chance of that died the
day David Drumlin was appointed head
of the N.S.F. I have been in
contact with a few other SETI
people; we've been trying to find
backing from private investors.
I've even managed to scrounge a
couple of hours of telescope time
here and there...
PETER
And?
ELLIE
I've examined over forty stars of
roughly solar spectral type but so
far nothing. Still, we've barely
started...
Peter is silent.
EXT. MT. ARECIBO (PUERTO RICO) - DAY
Ellie and Peter walk along the periphery of the vast
concave dish. A gentle breeze blows.
ELLIE
... We've been going after some of
the big multi-nationals but without
much luck; got a donation from a New
York dowager... We've even been
thinking about selling T-shirts.
PETER
Ellie... even if you do manage to
raise the money, have you thought
about what it would really mean to
follow through on this? I mean a
college fetish is one thing, but
we're talking about your career.
You won't be publishing. You won't
be taken seriously... and you could
spend your entire life looking and
never find anything at all.
Ellie pauses; looks out at the endless ocean of green.
Quietly:
ELLIE
If we lived at any previous time in
human history we wouldn't even have
the option of failing -- we'd have
to wonder our whole lives, unable to
do anything about it. This time,
right now, is unique in our history,
in any civilization's history -- the
moment of the acquisition of
technology. The moment when contact
becomes possible. We've already
beaten incredible odds by being
lucky enough to be alive now.
PETER
(pausing)
How close are you to getting this
funding put together?
ELLIE
It's almost there. The hardest part
is getting someone to sell us the
telescope time.
PETER
What if I said I could get Drumlin
to agree to sell you time in New
Mexico?
ELLIE
(stunned)
The V.L.A.?
PETER
Thirty-one linked dishes. You could
search more sky there in a day than
you could in a year here.
ELLIE
Peter -- if you can get him to do
that for me he'd obviously do the
same for you -- we could -- !
PETER
Actually --
ELLIE
We could be together again --
PETER
-- I'm moving to Washington.
ELLIE
(confused)
Greenbank?
PETER
I'm going on staff at the N.S.F. To
work for Drumlin.
ELLIE
But what about your research -- ?
PETER
This is a chance to be of enormous
help to other people's research --
to have the power to be a real
advocate where David's got blind
spots --
ELLIE
But the work --
PETER
'The work,' Jesus, Ellie, can't
there just once be more to life than
the work? Okay, maybe that's the
only way to get the recognition, win
the prizes --
ELLIE
Please, you're just as ambitious as
I am, more --
PETER
Maybe that's the problem. I want...
a family, Ellie. I want kids. A
townhouse on L street instead of
still living like a college kid. A
real life. Maybe that makes me a
sellout but I don't care anymore.
It's what I want.
ELLIE
And you think I don't want those
things? You think I don't stay up
half the night wondering if I've
made the right choice living half a
world away from you, wondering if
any of this is worth what I'm giving
up for it everyday?
(as Peter is silent;
suddenly)
Let's get married.
PETER
Jesus --
ELLIE
Right now -- we'll drive down to
Ramey and get the base chaplain to
marry us.
PETER
Ellie --
ELLIE
I'm serious about this, Peter --
PETER
Ellie -- I'm getting married.
(off a stunned
silence)
Her name's Laura. She came up to
Owens Valley to do her post-doc
about six months after you left.
ELLIE
(stares)
You sonofabitch.
PETER
That is true. But it's also true
that if I really thought we wanted
the same things, I'd follow you
anywhere... but the truth is I don't
think you want the company.
(softly)
Be honest, El. There's nowhere
you'd rather be than sitting out at
some remote corner of the world
searching for the answers to the
mysteries of the universe. And call
me crazy, but I just can't compete
with that... I'm sorry.
There's nothing left to say. He rises, starts to make his
way down. OFF Ellie, stunned --
DEEP SPACE - MESSAGE
The yellow star is now definitely brighter than the rest.
EXT. NEW MEXICO DESERT - AERIAL SHOT - NIGHT
A 1967 T-Bird travels swiftly along a dirt road through
the moonlit desert. The VIEW CLIMBS, WIDENS to include a
huge radio telescope, and as we come around we see an even
more stunning sight: 30 more of them.
SUPERIMPOSE: SAPPORO, NEW MEXICO - 1993
EXT. VLA MAIN BUILDING - NIGHT
The T-Bird pulls up in front of a bland, institutional
building. Ellie climbs out, stretches, then pulls a
single small suitcase from the back seat.
INT. CAFETERIA/LOUNGE - NIGHT
Over an ancient Mr. Coffee machine some hysteric has
scribbled: "Someone has been drinking the coffee without
leaving the .10c in the cup and WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE."
Ellie drops her dime in. As she pours she hears a strange
sound: a steady repetitive SSSHHH... SSSHHH... She
follows the noise down the hall.
INT. CONTROL ROOM - NIGHT
The lights are off; the large room is illuminated solely
by the night sky and glowing banks of electronic
equipment. Through the large panorama window we can see
the silhouettes of the enormous radio telescopes in the
moonlight. We make out a shape sitting in the darkness
listening to the sounds, louder now: SSSHHH... SSSHHH...
And then a voice calls out:
VOICE (O.S.)
Light's behind you, to the left.
Ellie finds the switch, flips on the lights, revealing
KENT CULLERS, 30's, wearing Raybans.
ELLIE
Dr. Cullers?
KENT
Kent, Kent for Chrissakes. You must
be Eleanor.
ELLIE
(moving to the
control panel)
Ellie. Pulsar?
KENT
1919+21. Found a glitch in the
timing; probably a starquake.
ELLIE
Nice. Where?
Kent types in a few commands and the computer screen
lights up. It reads "Radio Sky" and it looks nothing like
the ordinary optical sky; more like an elaborate oriental
rug. Pointing:
KENT
Here, right around Centaurus A.
ELLIE
This is how you see the sky?
KENT
It's how I hear it. The display's
just a little something I programmed
for astronomers with the misfortune
of sight.
ELLIE
It's beautiful.
KENT
Never seen the optical sky myself,
but I hear it's nice too.
MILLINGTON (O.S.)
Yo, Ray Charles, time's up. Oh --
sorry --
KENT
Doctors Millington, Curtain, Dr.
Arroway.
Ellie raises a hand in greeting to the two men in the
doorway, they wave awkwardly back.
KENT
Rick's doing black holes at the
center of galaxies; Tom's studying
globular clusters in the e-band.
(to the guys)
And Dr. Arroway here will be
spending her precious time listening
for little green men. All yours,
guys.
As he rises MILLINGTON and CURTAIN move to take his place
at the controls. They maneuver shyly around Ellie.
ELLIE
Um... should I...
MILLINGTON/CURTAIN
(way too fast)
No, no, no -- have a seat.
Kent smiles, exits. Ellie sits, looks over the control
console, rubs her hands...
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. VLA CONTROL ROOM - DAY
In the daylight we see the sad truth of the place: a
character-free cinderblock box filled with a mishmash of
equipment, aging and jerry-rigged alongside the spoils
of the odd successful grant application. Through a wall
of windows we can see the cafeteria/lounge area; an
ancient Ping-Pong table.
ELLIE (O.S.)
Hey, Fish, has that pointing error
in twenty-nine been fixed yet?
FISHER
It's a worm gear; still a little
sluggish but it'll have to do.
Ellie again sits at the main console, but time has clearly
dissipated some of her initial enthusiasm. She frowns as
she peers at the telescope THROUGH the windows...
ELLIE
J39 Z186...?
WILLIE
Been there, done that, got the
T-shirt.
ELLIE
VB10's an M dwarf; Signa Draconis...
too old.
KENT
(at the coffee
machine)
You've only searched -- what is it,
sixteen hundred stars without a
peep? Try not to take it too
personally.
ELLIE
Thank you, Mr. Sensitive.
(frowns)
I'm coming at this wrong... missing
something... something...
DISSOLVE TO:
PAIR OF HANDS
pick up a think coil of cable.
DUSTY PAIR OF SNEAKERS
trek through the moonlit scrub desert, trailing cable
behind them...
EXT. DESERT - NIGHT
Ellie sits cross-legged on the hard earth, hunched over
with her fingers barely touching the pair of headphones
she wears. We hear the faint arhythmic pulsing of
STATIC... Ellie's eyes are closed; she leans forward, an
expression of peculiar intensity on her face...
CUT TO:
EXT. DESERT - WIDE
Ellie's tiny hunched-over figure is sitting about a
thousand yards away from the main building, rocking slowly
back and forth under the vast desert sky, back and
forth,listening...
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. NEW MEXICO DESERT - AERIAL SHOT - DAY
A government sedan travels the dusty road to the VLA.
EXT. VLA MAIN BUILDING - LATER AFTERNOON
The sedan pulls up. WILLIE climbs out of the driver's
side and comes around to get the bags as David Drumlin
emerges, formidable and patrician as ever. Kent, Fisher,
Millington, Curtain and a number of other scientists are
there to greet him.
DRUMLIN
(hand at his back)
Now I remember why I went into
theoretical work. Kent.
KENT
Glad to have you, David. How's the
new office?
DRUMLIN
Still settling in, really.
(looking over the
group)
Where's Dr. Arroway?
INT. VLA CONTROL ROOM - AFTERNOON
Kent and Fisher lead Drumlin through the complex; his
conservative suit out of place among the jeans and
T-shirts; other scientists either smile obsequiously or
avert their gaze.
FISHER
... not that there's a whole lot in
the way of entertainment around here
but I guess it beats communing with
washing machines.
DRUMLIN
What's that?
KENT
Nothing.
(looking at Fisher;
hesitates a long
beat)
Okay. Some of us have been a
little... not concerned, exactly,
but...
DRUMLIN
(almost gently)
Tell me.
KENT
(hesitates again;
finally)
Last week, about 3 A.M., Fish -- Dr.
Fisher -- was on a late shift, and
he found her doing laundry.
DRUMLIN
So?
KENT
So... there wasn't any clothes in
the machine. She was just sitting
there on the floor with her ear
pressed up against the Maytag.
Listening.
EXT. VLA LIVING QUARTERS - ESTABLISHING - DUSK
Across a barren patch of desert lies a weathered
residential outbuilding, something between a dormitory and
a Motel Six.
INT. ELLIE'S QUARTERS - DUSK
Home. Painted cinderblock, a single star map up on the
wall. An old lumpy couch, several monitors along a shelf
on one wall that connects her to the control room.
Headphones, listening equipment. Ellie is at the fridge.
ELLIE
Pepsi? Tequila?
DRUMLIN
No, thanks.
He sits on the corner of the unmade bed. Ellie pops open
a soda, unselfconscious.
DRUMLIN
Peter sends his regards.
ELLIE
(a little too
nonchalant)
Oh? How's he doing?
DRUMLIN
Very well; since my appointment he's
been made interim director.
ELLIE
Really? Congratulations, by the
way.
DRUMLIN
I'm surprised you even knew it was
an election year.
ELLIE
'President's Science Advisor' -- so
what, you just spend all your time
jetting around on Air Force One
now...?
DRUMLIN
Now exactly. It's... complicated.
ELLIE
No doubt.
DRUMLIN
(a beat, then)
Ellie...
ELLIE
(avoiding the
inevitable)
Did I tell you we've expanded the
search spectrum? We're including
several other possible magic
frequencies -- not just the hydrogen
line anymore. I was trying to get
inside their heads, y'know? And I
started thinking, what other
constants are there in the Universe
besides hydrogen, and then suddenly
it was so obvious -- transcendantals,
right? So we've been trying
variations of pi...
DRUMLIN
You know why I'm here.
ELLIE
It's not enough having my search
time systematically cut down -- you
know I'm down to three hours a week
now.
DRUMLIN
Ellie, I should have done this a
long time ago, certainly before I
left the N.S.F., but I wanted to
give you every benefit of the
doubt --
ELLIE
You can't just pull the plug, David.
DRUMLIN
It's not like you've given me much
choice.
ELLIE
Meaning...
DRUMLIN
Meaning I have to go defend a budget
to the President and to Congress and
you're out here listening to washing
machines.
ELLIE
(quietly)
I'm searching for patterns in the
noise, that's all. Order in the
chaos. I'm practicing listening --
DRUMLIN
The point is, this isn't just
scientific inquiry anymore -- it's
turned into some kind of personal
obsession.
ELLIE
The difference being what -- that I
refuse to adopt the standard line,
that I don't care about the results
of my work? Well, I do care. Of
course any discovery has to be
verifiable, of course it must be
subject to all rigors of scientific
method, but I refuse to go around
pretending I'm some kind of
dispassionate automaton when it's
obvious to anyone with a brain I'm
just not.
DRUMLIN
No... You're not. But the price has
just gotten too high.
ELLIE
Goddamnit, they are out there,
David --
DRUMLIN
Then why haven't you detected any
signals? If, as you claim, there
have been thousands, millions of
advanced civilizations out there for
millions of years then why hasn't
one signal gotten through?
(rising)
It'll take a month or two for the
paperwork to go through; you're
welcome to stay until then.
ELLIE
David --
DRUMLIN
It was a worthy experiment -- worthy
of you; I was wrong about that part.
But it's over now.
He leaves. Ellie just stands there in the window,
fighting back the emotion, watching the telescopes in the
falling light...
EXT. SPACE - MESSAGE
approaches the out regions of our solar system; Neptune --
an austere, deep blue gas world with swirling clouds of
methane.
The message shoots by more worlds at the speed of light.
Saturn. Jupiter. Closer.
MESSAGE - TO EARTH - DESCENDING VIEWS
Approaching the big blue and white marble, breathtaking
against a backdrop of stars.
We PLUNGE PAST the outer satellites, the Hubble telescope
-- Space Station Mir. We ENTER the atmosphere, DESCENDING
THROUGH layers of clouds, DOWN farther and farther, FASTER
AND FASTER --
We RUSH DOWN TOWARD North America, the Southwest U.S.,
SMASHING DOWN TOWARD the tiny dot of the VLA, TOWARD the
westernmost dish and INTO the antenna at its center --
INSERT - TV - LARRY KING LIVE
The famous host's familiar features, pixilated in EXTREME
CLOSEUP.
LARRY KING (V.O.)
(TV)
My guest tonight is author and
theologian Palmer Joss, 'God's
diplomat' according to the New York
Times. His new book -- Losing Faith
-- is currently number one on that
publication's bestseller list.
Thanks for being with us, Reverend.
Okay -- who's losing faith -- and
why?
Our first glimpse of Palmer Joss. He has a rumpled,
rugged charm that has become just the slightest bit
polished. No bullshit, agreeably ironic, he's ridden the
wave of the New Spiritualism farther than even he ever
imagined.
JOSS (V.O.)
Well, let me start this way, Larry.
What has science done for you
lately?
LARRY KING (V.O.)
Besides letting me broadcast this
program all over the world?
JOSS (V.O.)
(smiles)
Besides that. Or better, I'll give
you that, but tell me this: Are
you happier? Are we happier? Is
our would fundamentally a better
place?
WIDEN SLOWLY to reveal:
INT. VLA CONTROL ROOM - NIGHT
Willie and Fisher sit at the command console, battling the
ennui of their watch. BOB MARLEY plays on a battered
BOOMBOX; Fisher watches Joss on a Watchman.
JOSS (V.O.)
(TV)
Don't get me wrong -- we're smart,
Larry. We shop at home, we surf the
net... and we feel emptier and
lonelier and more cut off from each
other than at any other time in
human history...
Fisher eats a Baby Ruth and sips a Coke as he watches.
Willie, heavy into his Gameboy, has a sudden epiphany.
WILLIE
Y'know who'd make great astronomers?
Vampires. Think about it; the
perfect synthesis of career and
lifestyle.
FISHER
(engrossed in TV)
Shut up, Willie.
INT. ELLIE'S ROOM - NIGHT
Ellie lies crashed out on the couch, headphones on. All
we hear is STATIC...
... and then, beneath the static, we begin to hear another
sound, barely audible but definitely there...
A faint irregular PULSING, FADING IN AND OUT of reception.
Ellie slowly swims up to consciousness. After a moment
her eyes open. She sits up --
TIGHT ON BOOMBOX
still playing REGGAE. A hand reaches in and turns it OFF.
INT. VLA CONTROL - ROOM
Willie and Fisher look up in surprise as Ellie goes to the
main console, starts checking instrument readings.
WILLIE
Got a bogey, boss?
ELLIE
I'm not sure. You mind checking
right ascension 18 hours, 34
minutes; declination plus 38 degrees
41 minutes?
FISHER
What's the frequency?
ELLIE
4458.8 gigahertz.
Fisher and Willie look at each other significantly.
ELLIE
It's probably nothing.
They start typing in coordinates.
THROUGH WINDOW - GIANT RADIO TELESCOPES
turn one by one, fixing on the same point in the sky.
INT. VLA CONTROL - CONTINUOUS ACTION
Willie puts on headsets, flips a switch, twists a dial.
WILLIE
(in wonder)
Hydrogen times pi...
(calling to Ellie)
Got it. Strong sucker.
ELLIE
Put it on speakers.
He punches a button. An eerie, PULSING METALLIC SOUND.
Willie and Fisher run their routine checks with a
practiced calm --
WILLIE FISHER
Could be AWACS from Glitch in number
Kirtland; verifying seventeen.
intensity. Wasn't Monochromatic, strong
seventeen where we found too. That was twenty-
that owl's nest last three, besides I got
month? signal across the
board.
Around the room a few night owls are watching with growing
interest. Ellie types rapidly on a keyboard, watching a
monitor above her: SEARCH)STAR FIELD ORIGIN OF SIGNAL)
FISHER
Checking interferometric position.
Somewhere in Lyra, I think...
ELLIE
Vega...?
WILLIE
That can't be right; it's only
twenty-six light years away.
ELLIE
I scanned it at Arecibo; negative
results, always.
FISHER
Linearly polarized; a set of moving
pulses restricted to two different
amplitudes --
WILLIE
Air Force isn't supposed to be on
this frequency.
ELLIE
That's what they always say; punch
up the darks.
Another display shows all satellites and major debris in
orbit; "darks" glow in red.
ELLIE
(murmurs)
How's the spying tonight, guys?
WILLIE
NORAD's not tracking any spacecraft
in our vector including snoops;
shuttle Endeavor's in sleep mode.
FISHER
Interferometry now rules out a
Molniya-type orbit.
WILLIE
Confirming sidereal motion; whatever
it is, it ain't local.
Ellie fights to stay calm -- but the excitement rippling
through the gathered is palpable --
ELLIE
Display absolute intensity.
On another monitor a sound spike leaps with each pulse.
WILLIE
Reading over a hundred janskys --
Ellie puts on headsets, shuts her eyes in fierce
concentration as she listens -- for a moment only a signal
echoes through the control room --
ELLIE
Numbers. Those are numbers, each
pulse is a set -- break it down --
Now with each pulse, long strings of zeros and ones
appear. On the monitor: PROMPT: CONVERTING TO BASE 10)
OPERATION COMPLETED
MAIN DISPLAY
With each pulse a number appears: 59 61 67 71 79 83
89 91 --
ELLIE
79 -- 83 -- 91 -- they're all
primes, no way that's a natural
phenomenon -- !
The room ignites. Ellie shouts over the din --
ELLIE
Okay, let's just slow down. Pull up
the starfield signal origin.
KENT (O.S.)
It can't be coming from Vega, the
system's too young.
Kent stands sleepily in the doorway, wearing Kermit the
Frog pajamas and an old robe. Willie punches up a screen:
ELLIE WILLIE
Maybe they didn't grow up Constellation Lyra,
there, maybe they're just brightest star Vega,
visiting. A-zero main sequence
dwarf, estimate several
KENT million years old.
The system's full of debris Distance 26 light years
-- any spacecraft that accretion disk, no
stayed for long would get known planets.
clobbered.
NEARBY SKEPTIC
Not if they took evasive action and
used their photon torpedoes.
ELLIE
Or if they're in polar orbit -- but
no, you're right. If we go public
and we're wrong, that's it -- it is
over for us.
(the room grows
quiet)
Vega will set in a couple of hours;
it's probably already risen in
Australia. Let's call Ian and see
if we can get some verification on
this.
Willie picks up the phone and dials. All eyes on Ellie.
ELLIE
Okay. We have an intense, not very
monochromatic signal, linearly
polarized as if coming from an
antenna, source moving with the
stars so it can't be an airplane or
spacecraft; on and only on a
frequency whose only significance
would be to an intelligence that
wanted to be directed. If anyone
can come up with any plausible or
even implausible explanation besides
ETI I want to hear it, now.
Silence. Willie on the phone --
WILLIE
Yeah -- yeah, just a sec --
He looks up at Ellie. She looks back --
EXT. CSCIRO RADIO TELESCOPE (AUSTRALIA) - DAY
IAN (V.O.)
(phone)
... We put it smack in the middle --
INT. CSCIRO CONTROL ROOM - CONTINUOUS ACTION
IAN BRODERICK, head of SETI down under, reaches across a
star map surrounded by other excited technicians --
IAN
Vega.
As his finger hits the map --
INT. VLA CONTROL ROOM - SAME TIME
ELLIE
(pausing)
Thanks, Ian. Can you just keep
tracking it as long as you can and
we'll get back to you.
(slowly puts down
the phone, then)
Get this out to every observatory
and radio array on the planet.
Um... and get me the President's
Science Advisor.
Outside the sun is coming up. They all look to the
windows. The telescopes are silhouetted against the pale
light.
Ellie goes. They watch her -- then turn to look out at
the rows of mechanical flowers pointing up at the new
dawn.
INT. ELLIE'S ROOM
Ellie shuts the door behind her. She sinks to the
floor, looks up, breathless --
ELLIE
Hello, Pensacola...
ELLIE'S E-MAIL
as it types out on various screens at radio telescopes in
exotic locations around the world; various teams gather
round --
ANOMALOUS INTERMITTENT RADIO SOURCE AT RIGHT
ASCENSION 18 34m, DECLINATION PLUS 38 DEGREES 41
MINUTES, DISCOVERED BY VLA SYSTEMATIC SKY SURVEY.
FREQUENCY 4458.8 GIGAHERTZ, LYRA/VEGA SYSTEM.
174 AND 179 JANSKYS. EVIDENCE AMPLITUDES
ENCODE SEQUENCE OF PRIME NUMBERS. FULL
LONGITUDE COVERAGE URGENTLY NEEDED. E. ARROWAY,
DIRECTOR, PROJECT ARGUS, SOCORRO, NEW MEXICO, U.S.A.
Sound upcut: a JET ENGINE ROARS --
EXT. WHITE SANDS AFB - DAY
AIR FORCE 2 lands with a SCREECH as Government Motor Pool
cars speed toward it across the tarmac.
National Security Advisor MICHAEL KITZ -- very sharp and
serious as death -- steps out of the plane... followed
momentarily by David Drumlin. He doesn't look happy.
EXT. VLA - MAIN ENTRANCE - DAY
Security guards stonewall two mobile TV news trucks. A
handful of protesters picket the entrance carrying signs;
"JUSTICE," "STOP THE COVERUP," "ROSWELL."
PROTESTERS
(chanting)
U-F-O-s -- We want to know --
As Kitz, Drumlin and a small VIP delegation make their way
in, Local News Reporters thrust microphones in their faces
-- "Mr. Kitz, Dr. Drumlin --"
KITZ
The President will be making a
statement in due time; until then we
have no comment.
INT. CONTROL CENTER - DAY
Fisher leads Kitz, Drumlin and the rest of the delegation
around the room. Coffee cups and cigarettes abound.
Drumlin crosses over to Willie's console, studies the
display. In the b.g. we hear the constant BEEPING of the
MESSAGE.
DRUMLIN
What's the latest?
WILLIE
Forty-four stations worldwide now
confirming the signal, sir.
DRUMLIN
(to an aide)
Let's get some decryption people
here, now. Dr. Lunacharsky's
visiting at the University of New
Mexico --
Kitz and others look at the main display as the primes
continue to scroll.
KITZ
I don't get it. If this
civilization is so advanced why the
remedial math?
SENATE DELEGATE
Why don't they just speak English?
ELLIE (O.S.)
Maybe because seventy percent of the
planet speaks other languages.
All eyes turn to Ellie; she hasn't slept but you'd hardly
notice.
ELLIE
Mathematics is the only truly
universal language, Senator. We
think this may be a beacon -- an
announcement to get our attention.
DRUMLIN
If it's attention you want I'd say
you've got it.
(as Ellie turns to
him)
Just one thing: Why Vega?
Everyone's looked at Vega for years
with no results, and now, yesterday,
they start broadcasting primes.
Why?
ELLIE
It's hardly yesterday; the signal's
been traveling for over twenty-six
years. As for why...
(meeting his gaze)
I'm hoping your own expertise in
decryption algorithms will help us
find out -- to see if there's
another message buried deeper in the
signal.
Drumlin frowns, effectively neutralized for the moment.
KITZ
Dr. Arroway --
DRUMLIN
Michael Kitz, National Security
Advisor.
KITZ
Dr. Arroway, let me first say --
ELLIE
Before you do could you please ask
the gentlemen with the firearms to
wait outside? This is a civilian
facility.
Kitz pauses -- then gives a signal to dismiss the Berets.
ELLIE
Oh, and if you could ask them not to
use their radios -- interference.
Thanks so much.
Drumlin warns her with a look, which she conveniently
avoids.
KITZ
I'll come right to the point,
Doctor. Your sending this message
all over the world may well be a
breach of National Security.
ELLIE
This isn't a person to person call,
Mr. Kitz. I don't really think the
civilization sending the message
intended it just for Americans.
KITZ
I'm saying you might have consulted
us; the contents of this message
could be extremely sensitive...
ELLIE
You want to classify prime numbers?
DRUMLIN
Mike, because of the Earth's
rotation we're only in line with
Vega so many hours a day; the only
way to get the whole message is to
cooperate with other stations. If
Dr. Arroway hadn't moved quickly we
could have lost key elements.
KITZ
Okay, fine, they've got the primes
-- but if you're right about there
being another more significant
transmission still to come --
ELLIE
-- which we'll also need the
network's help to receive and
decode!
KITZ
You don't seem to understand that
it's your interests I'm trying to
protect -- !
Suddenly the steady BEEPING of the MESSAGE STOPS, replaced
by terrible STATIC. On the various displays the prime
numbers start to scramble.
FISHER
Oh shit.
ELLIE
Interference -- we're losing the
signal.
EXT. VLA CONTINUOUS ACTION - DAY
Media choppers circle like buzzards: CNN, ABC, WGH Santa
Fe, freelance weather choppers on the lookout for "Hard
Copy" --
INT. VLA - CONTINUOUS ACTION - DAY
The DRONE of the CHOPPERS continues in the b.g.
KENT
Can't we get rid of them?
ELLIE
(looks up at Kitz;
slowly)
It's a civilian facility.
Kitz allows himself the barest hint of a smile -- then
switches on his radio and speaks calmly into it.
KITZ
Colonel Jarrod, I'd like a twenty
mile radio-silent perimeter put
around this installation
immediately.
ELLIE
And a hundred mile airspace.
KITZ
And a hundred mile airspace.
EXT. VLA PERIMETER - DUSK
In the extreme f.g. a heavy-duty aluminum post is thrust
into the earth -- a fence is being erected.
INT. VLA ROOM - DUSK
Kitz stands in the former lounge/cafeteria; an improvised
command center has been set up on the ping-pong table.
Aides continue to hook up equipment as he talks on a red
phone:
KITZ
... under control for the moment but
the longer we wait the more unstable
the situation could become. I think
you should consider coming here...
INT. CONTROL ROOM - DUSK
STEPHEN LUNACHARSKY, a high-strung Russian scientist,
chain smokes as he types. Ellie and Drumlin stand over
him, Kent next to him, others nearby.
ELLIE
... could it be a nested code of
some sort?
DRUMLIN
You must have checked the signal for
polarization modulation already...
Ellie hesitates. Drumlin looks at her. Whoops.
ELLIE
Dr. Lunacharsky...?
LUNACHARSKY
(takes a drag)
Analyzing signal polarization
shifts.
He type in a series of commands. Something begins to
happen on the main display --
LUNACHARSKY
Bingo.
POV - THROUGH WINDOW
Kitz, on the phone, sees the activity around the console.
BACK TO SCENE
Lunacharsky types in commands as he talks.
LUNACHARSKY
A second layer, nested within the
main signal; possibly... a picture?
Product of three primes...
KITZ
(joining them)
What.
LUNACHARSKY
... definitely three dimensions,
either a hologram or a two-
dimensional picture that moves in
time; a movie.
DRUMLIN
(dryly)
Hope there's a cartoon.
KITZ
How is that possible? How could all
that information be encoded in --
KENT
Well, sir, some bits of the signal
are bits that tell us how to
interpret the other bits.
Technically speaking.
JURYRIGGED 35-INCH MONITOR
Strings of zeros and ones fill the screen as the group
assembles around it.
ELLIE
Enlarge.
Willie types. Ellie moves closer, studying it.
Intuitively:
ELLIE
Try plotting values in a three
dimensional coordinate system.
A pattern begins to emerge.
DRUMLIN
Throw a gray scale on it; standard
interpolation.
ELLIE
Rotate 90 degrees counterclock wise.
Willie enters commands. All are mesmerized by the shadows
taking form on the screen.
ELLIE
It has to be an image. Stack it up,
string-breaks every 60th character.
On the screen a distinct black and white moving image
forms; grays define it even further. The group is
transfixed. Kitz whispers to an aide who makes a call in
a hand radio.
KENT
Um... I've got an auxiliary sideband
channel here. I think it's audio.
An otherworldly RUMBLING GLISSANDO of sounds joins the
image, sliding up and down the spectrum... and then the
faint SWELLING MUSIC is heard. Ellie reaches over Willie
and type more commands. The picture rotates, rectifies,
focuses --
KITZ
What in the hell...?
DRUMLIN
It's a hoax. I knew it!
KENT
Um, excuse me, but would someone
mind telling me what the hell is
going on?
Other reactions range from astonishment to nervous
laughter. Ellie and Peter stare in utter amazement.
ON SCREEN
A grainy black and white image of a massive reviewing
stand adorned with an immense Art Deco eagle.
Clutched in the eagle's concrete talons is a swastika.
Adolph Hitler salutes a rhythmically chanting crowd.
The deep baritone voice of an ANNOUNCER, scratchy but
unmistakably GERMAN, BOOMS through the room. The dark
absurdity of the moment plays over Ellie's face; helpless:
ELLIE
Anybody know German?
Kent tilts his head, closes his eyes.
KENT
The Fuhrer... welcomes the world to
the German Fatherland... for the
opening of the 1936 Olympic Games.
Hitler's face fills the screen. The crowd roars its
approval.
CUT TO:
TELEVISED RIOT
in Berlin. Police with hoses try to keep a mob of
skinheads under control.
GERMAN ANNOUNCER (V.O.)
(in German)
... the signal from the American
observatory depicting Adolph Hitler
has brought about chaos in the
streets of Berlin, where hundreds of
neo-Nazis gathered to swear eternal
fealty...
Slowly WIDEN to reveal a monitor wall.
A kaleidoscopic display of global news coverage of the
event. Demonstrations in a dozen cities, commentary from
pundits, Aryan leaders and Auschwitz survivors. A single
figure sits before the monitors, taking in the cacophony.
INT. VLA CORRIDOR - DAY
A huddle of figures sweeps down a dark corridor, charged
with power and purpose.
FEMALE VOICE (O.S.)
Forty million people die defeating
that sonofabitch and he becomes our
first ambassador to another
civilization? It makes me sick.
DRUMLIN (O.S.)
With all due respect, the Hitler
broadcast from the '36 Olympics was
the first television transmission of
any power that went into space.
That they recorded it and sent it
back is simply a way of saying
'Hello, we heard you --'
KITZ (O.S.)
-- Or 'you're our kind of people --'
DRUMLIN (O.S.)
-- It's extremely unlikely that they
had any idea what they were looking
at.
FEMALE VOICE (O.S.)
I can't believe that everything on
TV is automatically broadcast all
over the universe. 'Hard Copy'...
Rickie Lake'...
(paling)
Oh God, the '60 Minutes' interview.
The huddle bursts through a door and out into the dazzling
New Mexico morning, revealing the PRESIDENT and her
entourage: Drumlin, Kitz, Secret Service, and fighting to
keep up, Ellie.
A sea of press awaits them as they move toward the podium,
which has been set up with the 31 enormous radio antennas
in the b.g. As the CHIEF OF STAFF takes the podium Ellie
looks over her note cards, then nervously out at the
crowd.
CHIEF OF STAFF
Ladies and gentlemen, the President
of the United States.
President Helen Lasker addresses the crowd. She's an
American version of Margaret Thatcher.
PRESIDENT LASKER (FEMALE VOICE)
My fellow Americans, citizens of the
world, ladies and gentlemen of the
press. At 7:09 A.M. Eastern
Standard Time yesterday morning,
American scientists detected a radio
signal from space. This message was
largely mathematical, and in spite
of some of the headlines I've seen
today, so far seems to be completely
benign in nature. To better explain
the extraordinary events of the last
24 hours, I'm turning you over to...
Doctor David Drumlin.
Ellie looks up in surprise. Drumlin doesn't miss a beat
as he strides to the podium.
DRUMLIN
Good morning. In 1936 a very faint
television signal transmitted the
opening ceremonies of the Olympic
games as a show of German superior
technology. That signal left Earth
at the speed of light and twenty-six
years later arrived on Vega, which
they then sent back to us hugely
amplified. As evidence of
intelligence this is indisputable --
As Drumlin continues we see Fisher ease onto the dais from
behind, approach Ellie and surreptitiously hand her a
note.
DRUMLIN
Whoever or whatever they are,
they're clearly move advanced than
we...
Ellie reads it, looks up at Fisher in surprise -- then
quietly slips away. A murmur among the press as they
notice; the President and then Drumlin as well --
DRUMLIN
... maybe only decades or centuries,
maybe much further along than
that...
INT. VLA CONTROL ROOM - DAY
Ellie hurries into the control room -- then stops dead.
POV - MAIN MONITOR
The incredibly complex geometric pattern we see flashing
on the screen will be referred to as hieroglyphics -- but
they are like no hieroglyphics ever seen before;
chillingly otherworldly, they are the first visual
artifact of an alien civilization. The scientists stand
stunned and silent.
BACK TO SCENE
ELLIE
What...
LUNACHARSKY
(softly)
In ancient times when parchment was
in short supply people would write
over old writing... it was called a
palimpsest.
ELLIE
A third layer.
A phalanx of officials led by Drumlin, Kitz and the
President hurry in... and also stop at the sight of the
hieroglyphs.
PRESIDENT LASKER
Oh my God...
KITZ
What is it?
ELLIE
I think we just hit the cosmic
jackpot.
KENT
It's incredibly rich. We've been
cataloging it in frames or 'pages';
right now we're on 10,413.
PRESIDENT LASKER
What does it say?
ELLIE
It could be anything. The first
volume of some Encyclopedia
Galactica...
KITZ
... instructions to acquaint us with
their colonization procedures.
KENT
Moses with a few billion new
commandments...
KITZ
Ms. President, in the interest of
national security, I strongly
recommend we militarize this project
immediately --
ELLIE
Pardon me, but you can't do -- !
KITZ
If at some later date the message
proves harmless, we can discuss
sharing it with the rest of the
world, but until then --
ELLIE
That's terrific, but there's one
problem: we don't have the means to
receive all the data on our own.
PRESIDENT LASKER
Is that true?
DRUMLIN
The only way would be if we had a
radio telescope in orbit.
PRESIDENT LASKER
We don't? Why don't we?
ELLIE
Because you cut it from the budget
three years running.
PRESIDENT LASKER
How soon will you be able to decode
it?
LUNACHARSKY
There's no way of knowing. Without
a key -- a primer, to help us, maybe
never.
ELLIE
Maybe it'll be at the end of the
data when the message recycles.
PRESIDENT LASKER
Well. That would seem to decide it.
Like it or not, for the moment,
anyway, it looks like we're all in
this together.
KITZ
But --
PRESIDENT LASKER
That's it, Mike. Last time I
checked, I was still running the
country. Although it seems that for
the moment, Dr. Arroway is running
the planet.
The President looks up at the screen and involuntarily
shivers.
PRESIDENT LASKER
Let's get out of here.
CUT TO:
MONITOR WALL (LOCATION UNKNOWN) - DAY
More global news coverage, private surveillance camera
feeds; also some disturbing pornographic images.
On one monitor, a moment from the President's VLA press
conference plays over and over -- the moment when Drumlin
stepped up to the podium in front of Ellie. A gnarled
hand pushes a button on a console and the image enlarges
-- we see Ellie's expression of shock and hurt, over and
over. Over and over.
On the next monitor over is live CNN coverage of the scene
outside the VLA -- we begin to PUSH IN ON it --
WOLF BLITZER (V.O.)
... There had been speculation on
the part of psychologists that the
proliferation of depictions of
aliens in movies and on television
in recent years might make for an
almost blase acceptance of the news.
MATCH CUT TO:
EXT. DESERT (NEW MEXICO) - DAY
The road leading to the VLA is jammed with vehicles, RVs,
vans, busses, as far as the eye can see. More people walk
on the side of the road.
WOLF BLITZER (V.O.)
But the truth is, it turns out, is
far stranger than anything Hollywood
might have dreamed up -- and here,
today, the prospect of
extraterrestrial intelligence if no
longer science fiction -- it's the
best show in town.
The VIEW CLIMBS, REVEALING campfires, BBQs, tents of all
shapes and sizes littering the plains surrounding the
telescope array. Signs and banners reading "Watch the
Skies" and "There are Aliens Among Us." Woodstock 1998.
VOICE (O.S.)
... I know you're angry -- we're all
angry. About the lies. The
corruption. About the cancer of
despair spreading through every
aspect of our lives. But Rome will
fall, my friends; everywhere now are
the signs of closure. Even now the
end begins.
EXT. VLA ENTRANCE - CONTINUOUS ACTION
Various preachers and new age gurus speak to gatherings
all along the new cyclone fence surrounding the VLA. We
become aware of a crowd concentrated around a young man
speaking on a small stage: JOSEPH. He has the appeal of
a rock star, albeit a compelling well-spoken one. His
AMPLIFIED VOICE RINGS OUT:
JOSEPH
The millennium is upon us. God has
fulfilled his promise, sending us
this herald to warn the faithless --
the scientists who tell us He
doesn't even exist -- and to promise
us, the faithful, we will be saved.
Beyond Joseph we can see through the shiny new cyclone
fence to the VLA building, now surrounded by tents and
temporary structures.
JOSEPH (O.S.)
I don't know what this voice from
the sky says -- but I do know that
if history has taught us anything,
it's that the politicians and the
scientists are lying to us, right
now, for their own good! Are these
the kind of people you want talking
to your God for you -- ?
INT. VLA CONTROL ROOM - DAY
Outside, the panorama window searchlights fan, CROWDS
CHANT frightening rhythms. Inside, the numbing, never-
ending pulses of the signal and scrolling numbers.
The former lounge/cafeteria has been turned into
decryption central: dozens of personal workstations,
populated with Silicon Valley's finest assortment of
techno-wizards, crashed out on cots in a 'round-the-clock
effort to break the code.
Ellie sips her coffee as she walks briskly through the
chaos; Drumlin matches her stride for stride.
DRUMLIN
... Arrangements also have to be
made for the V.I.P.s coming in,
mostly religious leaders...
ELLIE
What? Why?
DRUMLIN
The theological ramifications of all
this are obvious; the President
feels we need to include religious
interests rather than alienate them.
She's also named Palmer Joss as
their liaison; he's requested a
meeting with you.
ELLIE
With me.
DRUMLIN
Apparently he's genuinely interested
in science. This could be a chance
to win him over.
ELLIE
I'm going to convert Mr. Science-is-
the-root-of-all-evil? This is
absurd, David. We have work to do
here, I don't have time to play
babysitter to the God Squad.
DRUMLIN
(low and dangerous)
Ellie --
Ellie looks at him in surprise as he grabs her by the
elbow.
DRUMLIN
I want you to listen to me,
carefully. The minute the
implications of this message became
clear, this stopped being simply a
scientific matter and became a
political one -- an extremely
complex, extremely volatile one.
There are forces at work here you
don't understand; I can help you up
to a point, but only up to a point.
ELLIE
(in innocent wonder)
Are you threatening me?
DRUMLIN
It's not a threat, Ellie, it's a
fact -- if you're not careful, you
may find yourself out in the cold
very quickly. Play ball. Really.
It's good advice.
Ellie stops as she notices through the windows,
Lunacharsky stepping out of the decryption area. He's
looking right at her.
ELLIE
Excuse me.
ANGLE
As Ellie approaches Lunacharsky, something in his eyes
tells her there's more to his weary look than just
fatigue.
ELLIE
What?
LUNACHARSKY
We've repeated. A few minutes ago
the message cycled back to page one.
ELLIE
And?
LUNACHARSKY
No primer.
ELLIE
(incredulous)
How can that be?
LUNACHARSKY
I don't know. Maybe there is a
fourth layer in there somewhere, but
if there is, I sure as hell can't
find it.
Ellie stares at him -- turns to look at Drumlin -- then
walks out of the room.
INT. ELLIE'S ROOM - NIGHT
Bleary-eyed, three days with no sleep, Ellie sits at her
terminal, staring at the hieroglyphics, more impenetrable
then ever. In the corner, the TV DRONES.
BERNIE SHAW (V.O.)
... And with church attendance at
record highs, a coalition of
religious leaders are using their
increased political capital to
challenge the very legality of radio
astronomy itself, claiming the
message and its contents subvert the
moral climate of their
constituencies. More after this...
A CNN special report logo -- "The Message," dazzlingly
vulgar with its own graphics and there.
A COMMERCIAL CONTINUES in the b.g.:
COMMERCIAL ANNOUNCER (V.O.)
In the air, under the sea, in the
depths of D.N.A. itself, Hadden
Industries is at the frontier...
Ellie, chin on forearms, stares at her screen, willing
herself to find a pattern.
Suddenly she blinks -- something is changing. A dot
appears in the middle of the screen. It begins to grow,
revealing a complex fractal shape. It splits, enlarges,
splits again, the shapes finally revealing themselves
as... English letters. Which read:
"TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER"
Ellie stares --
ELLIE
Someone's broken into the system,
someone's compromised the
fucking -- !
She quickly type in: "Who are you?"
The fractals reform" "I'VE GOT A SECRET."
Ellie types again: "WHO ARE YOU?"
The fractals reform: "YOUR PLACE OR MINE?"
Ellie stares -- more fractals form as she grabs a pen and
paper --
EXT. VLA - NIGHT
National Guardsmen have established a perimeter around the
compound; soldiers are posted on the main road as well.
As Ellie ROARS through the gate in her 1967 T-BIRD, our
VIEW RISES: the new Woodstock nation is, for the moment,
asleep.
EXT. HIGHWAY (NEW MEXICO) - NIGHT
Ellie's tense face lit by the dash. She picks up a piece
of paper with scribbled directions on it. Turns onto a
dirt road.
EXT. HIGHWAY (NEW MEXICO) - LOW ANGLE POV - NIGHT
of Ellie's CAR ROARING by SWINGS to reveal a jackrabbit
sitting at the side of the road, its nose twitching.
EXT. DESERT - NIGHT
Ellie's car approaches a small, private airstrip; a black,
unmarked helicopter is waiting.
HIGH ABOVE UTAH - DAWN
The strange rock formations of southeastern Utah almost
resemble another planet.
EXT. LARGER AIRSTRIP (UTAH)
As the helicopter sets down, we see two Lear jets and
another Helicopter... service vehicles for the enormous
Russian transport plane that sits beyond them.
A dark-suited Japanese MAJOR DOMO helps Ellie out of the
helicopter.
MAJOR DOMO
You should be flattered. He hardly
lands for anyone.
INT. TRANSPORT PLANE
The Major Domo leads Ellie down a corridor of the plane's
custom interior. Through one door we can see into a room
where several very beautiful, very young women sit
watching TV with vacant eyes. Ellie only catches a
glimpse before the Major Domo nods for her to enter the
main room and takes his post outside.
Ellie cautiously enters the interior of what appears to be
a flying Dascha; dark, heavy on the chintz. Bookshelves,
an exercise machine... and a wall of monitors, filled top
to bottom with scrolling hieroglyphics. Ellie reaches out
to them --
HADDEN (O.S.)
Dr. Arroway, I presume.
Ellie turns to see S.R. HADDEN. Thick glasses, wearing a
cardigan, he stands by a silver samovar.
ELLIE
S.R. Hadden...
(beat)
You compromised our security codes.
HADDEN
Once upon a time I was a hell of an
engineer. Please, sit, Doctor. I
have guests so rarely, it's
important to me they feel welcome in
my home.
(turns to the
samovar)
Did you know this was once Yeltsin's
flying dascha? That dent is where
he threw a bottle of vodka at the
pilot. At least that's what the
people who sold me the plane said...
As he speaks, he slowly and with great effort raises a
glass to the samovar, fills it with tea.
ELLIE
You live here.
HADDEN
I find it convenient to keep my
interests... mobile. Anyway, I've
had my fill of life on the ground.
After spending much of this century
pursuing the evils and pleasures the
world has to offer -- after
outliving three wives and two
children...
(a bare flicker of
emotion)
I find I've had quite enough of
planet Earth.
ELLIE
Why am I here, Mr. Hadden?
HADDEN
(smiles)
The infamous, unfashionable
bluntness.
(turning)
You're here so we can do business.
I want to make a deal.
ELLIE
What kind of deal?
HADDEN
The powers that be have been quite
busy lately, falling over each other
to position themselves for the game
of the century, if not the
millennium. Perhaps you've noticed.
(as Ellie reacts,
Hadden smiles)
Perhaps I could help deal you back
in.
ELLIE
I didn't realize I was out.
HADDEN
Oh, maybe not out -- but definitely
looking for you coat.
(beat)
I understand you've had some
difficulty locating the -- what are
you calling it? The 'primer' that
will make decryption possible...
(he turns to her,
simply)
I've found it.
ELLIE
You've... found it.
(catching her breath)
What could I possibly have that you
would want, Mr. Hadden?
HADDEN
I've had a long time to make
enemies, Dr. Arroway. There are
many governments, business
interests, even religious leaders
who would like to see me disappear.
And I will grant them their wish
soon enough... But before I do, I
wish to make a small contribution --
a final gesture of goodwill toward
the people of this little planet
who've given -- from whom I've taken
so much.
ELLIE
If I knew you any better I'd say
that doesn't sound like you.
HADDEN
(a dazzling smile)
That's my girl...
(then)
Lights.
The lights dim. The wall monitors take center stage.
HADDEN
Forgive the theatrics, it's a
weakness.
Hadden pulls on a pair of gloves for an imaginary VR
keyboard. He gestures for Ellie to sit beside him, facing
the monitors. He begins to type as the monitors scroll
hieroglyphics --
HADDEN
Page after page of data -- over
sixty-three thousand in all, if I'm
not mistaken... and at the end of
each...
ELLIE
A page-break signal. A period.
HADDEN
Not if you think like a Vegan.
ELLIE
You're saying... there is no
separate primer in the message --
because it's on every page so the
recipient can decipher it wherever
he is --
HADDEN
-- even if he doesn't receive the
entire transmission. Heaven is the
mustard seed.
Hadden ghost-types a series of commands. The monitor wall
syncs into a giant vidscreen --
The hieroglyphics begin to enlarge. An almost invisible
dot in the lower right corner of the screen -- the page-
break signal -- grows larger and larger, until it reveals
a level of complexity and detail greater than that of the
hieroglyphics themselves.
ELLIE
(breathless)
Holy shit...
These new symbols begin to mutate change... something is
happening, Hadden leans in to Ellie.
HADDEN
You'll like this part. A little
flashy...
ON SCREEN
The symbols metamorphose into strange, fractal shapes;
like crystals, they begin to grow and shift, interacting
in a stunningly beautiful and intricate ballet --
ELLIE
Some kind of circuitry...?
HADDEN
Very good, Doctor. I've also
detected structural elements, back
references, a general movement from
the simple to the complex -- all of
which would seem to indicate
instructions -- an enormously
complicated set of instructions --
for building something.
ELLIE
A machine.
(off Hadden's nod)
But a machine that does what?
HADDEN
(smiles)
That would seem to be the question
of the hour.
(turning to her)
I want to build it, Doctor. Of
course I'm already lobbying through
the usual channels of influence and
corruption -- but as I said, my
colorful past has made many of those
channels... difficult to navigate.
I need someone on the inside.
ELLIE
And in return?
HADDEN
In return... you get the primer --
and with it the power to stay in the
game. Do we have a deal?
Ellie pulls herself away from the hypnotic display.
ELLIE
Mr. Hadden, I'm a scientist; I don't
make deals... But. If you wish to
give me, in good faith, access to
your information, I can assure you
that I will exert all reasonable
efforts to promote your cause
wherever it doesn't conflict with
the best interests of science... or
my better judgment.
HADDEN
(delighted)
That's my girl. Done.
Ellie turns to watch the screens as the fractals continue
to coalesce. Dazzled --
CUT TO:
EXT. CAMP DAVID - AERIAL SHOT - DAY
The snow-covered Presidential retreat in its forest
setting.
INT. CAMP DAVID - BRIEFING ROOM - DAY
Charts display a decoded periodic table, the slice of
circuitry; monitors scroll through hundreds of decoded
pages.
ELLIE
... And while its function remains,
for the moment, a mystery, my best
guess is that it represents a
transport of some kind.
PRESIDENT LASKER
A transport. So are they coming or
are we going?
KITZ
(interrupting)
The transport theory is only one
hypothesis, Ms. President, and in my
view a rather naive one. It could
just as easily be some kind of
Trojan Horse. We build it and out
pours the entire Vegan army.
CHAIRMAN OF JOINT CHIEFS
Why even bother to risk personnel?
Why not send some kind of doomsday
machine? Every time an emerging
technological civilization announces
itself by broadcasting radio waves
into space they reply with a
message. The civilization builds it
and blows itself up. No
expeditionary force needed.
ELLIE
Ms. President, this is communist
paranoia right out of War of the
Worlds. There is no reason
whatsoever to believe the ETIs
intentions are hostile. We pose no
threat to them -- it would be like
us going out of our way to destroy
microbes on a beach in Africa.
DRUMLIN
Interesting analogy. And how guilty
would we feel if we happened to
destroy some microbes on a beach in
Africa?
KITZ
(turning to Ellie)
I hope you're right, Doctor. But
right now my job is to protect
American lives from any plausible
threat, and in that regard I have to
assume the worst.
RICHARD RANK
From a non-secular perspective, I'm
forced to agree.
All heads turn to RICHARD RANK, a surprisingly young and
well-spoken spokesman for the religious right.
RANK
My coalition's phone lines have been
flooded with calls from concerned
families, wondering if this message
signifies the end of the world or
the advent of the rapture.
(smiles)
We feel that U.S. policy in this
matter wants to be extremely
conservative -- if there's any
chance of danger or threat to our
way of life perhaps the message and
its contents should simply be
disregarded.
ELLIE
This is absurd.
Drumlin shoots her a warning look; Rank ignores her.
RANK
The Bible states that God made man
in His own image. From everything
I've been told it's highly unlikely
the creatures who sent this message
resemble human beings in any way,
shape or form, ergo, they are not of
God; and therefore by definition
evil. My constituents simply want
to know what their government plans
to do to protect them --
ELLIE
Ms. President, forgive me but I
thought this was to be a serious
discussion of policy and technical
issues, not a war council against
Satan's minions --
PRESIDENT LASKER
Mr. Rank's organization represents
the point of view of tens of
millions of families, Dr. Arroway.
Feel free to disagree, but there
won't be any suppressing of opinions
here today.
ELLIE
Yes -- of course -- all I'm saying
is, this message was written in the
language of science -- mathematics
-- and was clearly intended to be
received by scientists. If it had
been religious in nature it should
have taken the form of a burning
bush, or a booming voice from the
sky...
JOSS (O.S.)
But a voice from the sky is just
what you say you've found.
Palmer Joss sits forward in his chair.
JOSS
I agree with Mr. Rank that there are
unavoidable religious implications
here -- but I don't think it
justifies taking an alarmist
position. Dr. Arroway is right --
their chosen means of communication
was a scientific one, and a
scientific approach is probably
appropriate, at least until the
theological dimensions of the
problem become more apparent.
ELLIE
And where exactly does that put your
position...?
JOSS
I'd have to say I don't know enough
to have one yet. For the moment I
don't believe the two approaches
have to be mutually exclusive.
Ellie looks at him, impressed in spite of herself.
PRESIDENT LASKER
What's the status of the decryption
effort?
ELLIE
Well --
DRUMLIN
We're continuing around the clock,
but the amount of data is enormous.
It's difficult to tell when we'll
find the key that will tell us the
machine's purpose -- maybe tomorrow,
maybe next year, maybe never.
PRESIDENT LASKER
I want to know the minute you find
anything.
DRUMLIN
Of course, Ms. President. We'll
keep you fully informed.
That's the cue; most of the gathered begin to rise, make
their way to the door. As Ellie collects her things
Drumlin accompanies her out -- then starts to shut the
door behind her --
DRUMLIN
The President wants to discuss a few
matters in private.
As Ellie looks beyond she sees that Kitz, the Chairman of
the Joint Chiefs and Joss still remain.
ELLIE
But --
But it's too late. The door closes on the inner circle.
INT. NATIONAL SCIENCE MUSEUM - RECEPTION - NIGHT
Captains of industry, social editors, minority leaders.
At least for tonight, scientists are the hottest show in
town.
Ellie stands with a group of dignitaries, straining to
make small talk. As she glances up a familiar face
catches her eye: Peter Valerian.
He looks up, sees her too. A beat... he whispers
something to the young woman he's standing with; she looks
up too. They excuse themselves to Drumlin, make their way
over.
PETER
Ellie.
ELLIE
Peter.
Peter extends his hand. They shake.
PETER
My wife Laura...
ELLIE/LAURA
Nice to meet you.
PETER
(an awkward pause,
then)
You look wonderful.
ELLIE
You dress up pretty good yourself.
(another awkward
silence)
How's... the baby?
LAURA
Wonderful. She's almost four now.
ELLIE
Really. Well. That's wonderful...
(a really horrible
silence)
Well. If you'll excuse me -- I'm
paid to mingle... I don't believe I
just said that.
Peter and Laura laugh. Some of the tension is diffused.
Some.
PETER
It's good to see you, Ellie.
ELLIE
You too.
She manages a smile, quickly hurries away.
AT THE BAR
Ellie has never needed a drink more in her life.
ELLIE
Champagne please.
JOSS (O.S.)
Make that two.
Ellie turns to find Joss, looking terrific in his tux.
JOSS
Want to fight some more?
A long, extremely complex pause, then --
ELLIE
Yes.
INT. ANOTHER PART OF MUSEUM - NIGHT
Their voices and FOOTSTEPS ECHO as they walk past old
spacecraft. They sip their champagne.
JOSS
... What I'm curious about are the
wilderness years. You're out there
all alone, no money, mocked by the
skeptics. It must have taken
tremendous faith.
ELLIE
I'd say logic more than faith. The
odds were on my side.
JOSS
And what would you have done if the
odds had gone against you?
ELLIE
I guess I would've felt sorry for
the universe.
JOSS
Spoken like a true believer.
ELLIE
What about you? Doesn't all of this
shake your faith at all?
JOSS
How do you mean?
ELLIE
Well it's been a while, but I don't
recall the Bible saying too much
about alien civilizations.
JOSS
(thinks, then)
'My father's house has many
mansions.'
ELLIE
Very smooth. It's Palmer, right?
Where I came from a palmer was a
person who cheated at cards.
(as Joss laughs)
Really though... the Bible describes
a God who watches over one tiny
world a few thousand years old. I
look out there and see a universe of
hundreds of billions of galaxies,
each with hundreds of billions of
stars... I mean burn me for a
heretic, but your God seems awfully
small.
Joss looks at her -- challenged, intrigued. Slowly:
JOSS
Who was it who said -- it was a
scientist I think -- that one's
sophistication is determined by the
ability to tolerate paradox -- to
hold contradictory ideas at the same
time...
They approach a circular brass railing surrounding a
circular mosaic below; at its center is a Foucault
pendulum; a basketball-sized iron sphere suspended from
the ceiling. They lean on the railing.
JOSS
... which I suppose is as good a
definition of faith as any.
(getting an idea;
smiles)
Care to test yours?
He takes her champagne glass, sets it down on the floor
alongside his, then climbs under the rail. At her
surprise --
JOSS
It's okay. I'm a preacher.
He offers her his hand. She takes it, climbs under the
railing. Joss helps her down into the circular space
below.
JOSS
Your 'faith' tells you that the
distance a pendulum swings from the
vertical can never get bigger, only
smaller.
ELLIE
That's not faith, it's physics. The
second law of thermodynamics.
Joss places his arms around the metal ball and walks it
over to the outer rim of the circle, right in front of
Ellie's nose.
JOSS
And you believe this law with all
your heart and soul.
ELLIE
And mind, yes. What are you --
JOSS
So if I let the pendulum go, when it
swings back you wouldn't flinch.
Ellie pauses. Then, almost curiously.
ELLIE
No.
Joss lets go. We see the ball fall away and reach the
opposite railing. As it slows and then reverses direction
it appears to approach much faster than we expected.
JOSS
Don't lean forward. Not even a
hair.
As it careens towards her, the ball grows alarmingly in
size. We understand completely when the pendulum almost
reaches her and she instinctively moves. But Ellie can't
believe it.
ELLIE
I flinched.
JOSS
Only a tiny bit. Even the most
devout believer is allowed a little
doubt.
ELLIE
That's not doubt. That's four
hundred years of science fighting a
billion years of instinct.
(studying him)
I always wondered what you religious
types did with your free time.
JOSS
Now you know.
EXT. NATIONAL SCIENCE MUSEUM - NIGHT
Stars shine down as Ellie and Joss walk along the portico.
The party continues inside. The mood is subdued,
intimate.
JOSS
... It's an old story. I grew up in
South Boston, more or less on the
streets. By the time I was thirteen
I'd tried my first hit of heroin, by
fifteen I'd stopped using but I was
dealing full-time. By the time I
was nineteen I decided I didn't want
to live any more, at least not in a
world like that. One day I got on a
bus; I got as far as Ohio before my
money ran out, and after that I just
kept walking. Didn't eat, didn't
sleep... just walked. I ended up
collapsing in a wheat field. There
was a storm... I woke up...
(beat)
And that's about as far as words'll
go.
ELLIE
Can you try?
JOSS
I had... an experience. Of
belonging. Of unconditional love.
And for the first time in my life I
wasn't terrified, and I wasn't
alone.
ELLIE
(delicately)
And there's no chance you had this
experience simply because some part
of you needed to have it?
JOSS
Look, I'm a reasonable person, and
reasonably intelligent. But this
experience went beyond both. For
the first time I had to consider the
possibility that intellect, as
wonderful as it is, is not the only
way of comprehending the universe.
That it was too small and inadequate
a tool to deal with what it was
faced with.
ELLIE
(a beat, then
softly)
You may not believe this... but
there's a part of me that wants more
than anything to believe in your
God. To believe that we're all here
for a purpose, that all this...
means something. But it's because
that part of me wants it so badly
that I'm so stubborn about making
sure it isn't just self-delusion.
Of course I want to know God if
there is one... but it has to be
real. Unless I have proof how can I
be sure?
JOSS
Do you love your parents?
ELLIE
(startled)
I never knew my mother. My father
died when I was nine.
JOSS
Did you love him?
ELLIE
(softly)
Yes. Very much.
JOSS
Prove it.
Ellie stops and looks at him, truly disarmed.
And then, inside, a COMMOTION is heard.
INT. NATIONAL SCIENCE MUSEUM - NIGHT
The party is suddenly and dramatically breaking up;
Senators on cell-phones, getting their coats. Something
has happened. Ellie finds Drumlin in the chaos, also on a
cell-phone; he hangs up as she approaches.
ELLIE
What is it? What's happened?
DRUMLIN
We've cracked it. Lunacharsky found
it.
ELLIE
You mean --
DRUMLIN
You were right, Ellie. You were
right all along.
As Ellie stares at him --
CUT TO:
EXT. U.N. PLAZA - DAY
Media, onlookers, crowd control -- and delegates from over
100 countries swarm as the World Machine Consortium is
called to session. TV lights and demonstrations. Huge
banners read "DON'T BUILD SATAN'S CHARIOT!" and "WHO WILL
SPEAK FOR EARTH?"
INT. U.N. GENERAL ASSEMBLY HALL
Full house. From various HEADSETS and MONITORS we hear
the POLYPHONY of a hundred simultaneous TRANSLATIONS. On
a large screen behind the SECRETARY GENERAL'S podium and
on monitors all over the darkened room we see a single,
striking image: A human figure inside a rotating
dodecahedron.
SECRETARY GENERAL
A human has been summoned.
In the darkened hall we FIND the U.S. delegation: Kitz,
Joss, Drumlin -- and Ellie. We begin to PUSH IN ON her --
SECRETARY GENERAL
Who will that person be? How will
this ambassador be chosen?
We see it in her eyes -- she wants to go, more than
anything.
INT. U.N. - LATER
An INDIAN DELEGATE concludes her remarks. In the audience
Ellie, deep in thought, isn't paying attention.
INDIAN DELEGATE
... of course none of us would be
here if it weren't for the scientist
who first discovered the history-
making message and who has led this
effort from the very beginning --
Dr. Eleanor Arroway --
ELLIE
looks up in surprise. The applause grows, becoming
deafening. People motion for her to stand. Dazed, she
does so. The ovation continues. Ellie leans over to
speak into her mike.
ELLIE
Um... thanks... Thanks very much.
I'm not sure what I did to earn that
response; I just happened to pick up
the phone when they called.
A big laugh, more applause. Ellie squints into the
lights.
EXT. U.N. PLAZA - DUSK
Floodlights illuminate the building; if anything, there
are now more onlookers and media. The woman BBC Reporter
and her camera crew try to shoot their report amid the
noise and chaos.
BBC REPORTER
... and as the curtain falls on the
first day of the symposium the
question remains: who will build
this machine, if it indeed will be
built -- and if it is, who will be
selected as the Earth's first
ambassador to another world. This
is Marjorie Blake, B.B.C.3, at the
U.N.
She holds --
VOICE (O.S.)
We're clear.
And the Reporter instantly sags.
INT. U.N. LOBBY - SAME TIME
The event is breaking up; people making their way out.
Ellie waits for Drumlin to come out; goes after him --
ELLIE
David --
DRUMLIN
Ellie.
ELLIE
Do you have a minute -- ?
DRUMLIN
Actually I'm running late --
ELLIE
It'll just take a moment.
Drumlin reluctantly stops; Ellie takes a deep breath.
ELLIE
David... I know we've had our
differences... but I've always
thought of you as a fair man, even
when we've disagreed -- and It's in
that light I'm hoping you'll
consider my request...
DRUMLIN
I don't understand.
ELLIE
I'm asking for your help, David. I
want to go.
(quickly)
They'll need someone relatively
young, unattached -- and probably a
scientist. As the President's
Science Advisor you have enormous
weight... I'm asking if you'll
support my candidacy.
DRUMLIN
(slowly)
Ellie... you should know that I'm no
longer the President's Science
Advisor.
ELLIE
What?
DRUMLIN
As of three o'clock this afternoon.
I submitted my resignation.
Ellie's eyes open wide as the depth of his betrayal dawns.
ELLIE
You...
DRUMLIN
(hesitates, then)
Excuse me, I'm late for a meeting.
He turns and walks away, leaving Ellie to stare after him.
PRESIDENT LASKER (V.O.)
... And as our parents did a
generation before us...
INT. U.N. GENERAL ASSEMBLY HALL
Packed to the rafters. President Lasker makes the speech
of her lifetime, her booming, amplified voice going out to
the world.
PRESIDENT LASKER
... I believe we should dedicate
ourselves, by the end of this decade
-- to build this machine that our
brothers from across the vastness of
time and space have asked us to
build -- !
In the darkened hall the American delegation sits
watching. PUSH IN ON Ellie. Drumlin. The crowd roars.
THREE APACHE HELICOPTERS
fly low over the endless Texas landscape, blue-gray in the
light of pre-dawn. Below a convoy of military vehicles
moves down an empty road.
PRESIDENT LASKER (V.O.)
To meet with courage and
determination the challenges of this
new day -- !
The CROWD ROARS LOUDER in VOICE OVER.
MOVING WITH the convoy...
AFS Berets sit stone-faced, barely visible. UP ahead the
twinkling lights of an installation becomes visible.
The convoy passes through a security gate in the first
perimeter. AFS officers check I.D. and cargo. As the
convoy continues our VIEW begins to RISE, REVEALING three
more checkpoints beyond --
PRESIDENT LASKER (V.O.)
To greet with hope the dawn of this
new Century!
Out VIEW continues to CLIMB, REVEALING an immense sprawl
of lights and buildings. Concentric electric fences
surround the rambling facility; new roads are still being
added to old ones. Encircling the installation is a vast
graveyard of discarded aircraft -- the detritus of
Twentieth Century war-making. And in the center of it all
lies an enormous open area, its very emptiness full of
danger and promise. Orange surveying FLAGS RUFFLE in the
BREEZE.
PRESIDENT LASKER (V.O.)
And to raise our voices to the
heavens as one world, one people, in
one ringing, defiant declaration --
bring on the millennium!
The ROAR of the CROWD is deafening.
The sun begins to rise over the new Los Alamos.
HARD CUT TO:
INT. OBSERVATION FACILITY (MACHINE, TEXAS) - DAY
An enormous multi-tiered room bustling with activity. The
main floor consists of tables devoted to various
constituents of the international selection committee;
each area devoted to a different discipline: medical,
psychological, philosophical, religious,
diplomatic/political, and military/communications.
The room is dominated by ten enormous overhead
viewscreens, each monitoring the activity of one of the
ten machine candidates while also displaying telemetry
readouts of their vital signs. One candidate is
undergoing a psychological evaluation, another is visible
via infrared camera in a sensory deprivation tank; another
on a treadmill, another sleeping (EEG displayed); we also
catch brief glimpses of Ellie and Drumlin. All are
watched with great interest by the committee members
swarming on the floor.
A level above the floor and looking out over it THROUGH
large floor to ceiling windows is the pool media area; a
group of REPORTERS and camera crews allowed limited
access, with blue-badged MACHINE SECURITY carefully
monitoring their every word. As we MOVE THROUGH the
maelstrom we COME ACROSS a familiar face...
REPORTER
I'm here with Peter Valerian,
recently named David Drumlin's
replacement as Science Advisor to
the President. Doctor, there were
loud complaints from the
international community last week
when it was announced that three of
the ten candidates -- were to be
Americans. How do you defend that
decision?
PETER
(a bit nervous)
I believe the response was somewhat
disingenuous; when it was determined
that national interests would be
represented on a pay for play basis
it was understood that the U.S., by
shouldering close to one third of
the financial burden, would be
entitled to commensurate
representation.
INSERT - TV MONITOR
REPORTER (V.O.)
You've addressed the political side
of the coin but what about the
larger issues? On what basis do you
choose a human being to represent
humanity?
We begin to WIDEN REVEALING our location in the back of a
news van, crammed with broadcasting equipment. An
engineer monitors the signal.
PETER (V.O.)
It's a good question. Who do you
send? An athlete? A religious
leader? A philosopher? A soldier?
If you don't know what the Olympic
event will be, you send a decathlon
champion --
REPORTER (V.O.)
And if the event turns out to be
chess?
PETER (V.O.)
Yes... well, ultimately it was
decided that the representative
should be somebody fluent in the
language the message was sent in --
science. If you'll excuse me --
We have continued to WIDEN, finally PULLING OUT the back
of the van and CRANING UP to reveal --
EXT. MEDIA CITY (MACHINE, TEXAS) - DAY
A vast encampment of vans, tents, reporters and satellite
dishes; print and video journalists from every nation.
Competing twenty-foot high skyboxes from various networks
overlook the action. Our VIEW continues to CLIMB until
finally in the distance, wavy and hard to make out THROUGH
the LONG LENS, we can see a structure beginning to rise.
Our first glimpse of the machine.
CNN REPORTER
... and if you look closely you can
just see the superstructure
beginning to take shape.
Construction on this trillion dollar
plus effort has been complicated by
the nearly unprecedented scale...
INT. OVAL OFFICE - CONTINUOUS ACTION - DAY
President Lasker leans back, watching the same wavy image
on the television. Also visible are a number of closed-
circuit monitors showing candidates. Kitz standing behind
her, also watching.
CUT TO:
EXT. MACHINE, TEXAS - SERIES OF SHOTS - DAWN
Bulldozers break earth as the human-designed support
structure continues to rise.
Trucks emerge from huge transport planes, carrying
enormous curved reflectors.
INT. LAB (MACHINE, TEXAS)
Two robotic arms holding flasks of liquid are maneuvered
over a petri dish. Scientists watch THROUGH the safe-
chamber window as a drop from each flask is carefully
placed in the dish. Another robot arm takes the dish and
slides it under an electron microscope.
ELECTRON MICROSCOPE VIEW
Tiny crystals are forming in familiar, unearthly fractal
patterns. Something is growing.
EXT. MACHINE SITE - DAY
An enormous high-tech crucible has been erected; gantries
and support structures rise above it.
From behind a series of protective plastic veils we see
the same chemicals we saw in the lab again being carefully
mixed together, this time in much larger proportions.
WIDE SHOT - MACHINE SUPERSTRUCTURE - DAY
PULL BACK to reveal Ellie standing at the window of her
quarters, wearing a white jumpsuit. She slowly folds her
street clothes as she looks out at the machine.
INT. CENTRIFUGE ROOM - DAY
One by one the candidates are whipped around the
centrifuge, subjected to higher and higher G-forces. A
hard-eyed NASA COMMANDER watches carefully, checks the
control panel.
INT. OBSERVATION FACILITY - DAY
The two hundred members of the ISC watch each of the
candidates' reactions. FEATURE Joss, studying the screens
intently --
For CAPTAIN JOHN RUSSELL, a classic chiseled Astronaut
type, this is as easy as breathing.
For Drumlin it's not quite that, but he takes it,
stoically.
A flaxen-haired male candidate -- the French semioticist
(JEAN-CLAUDE) -- looks like he's about to throw up.
Ellie seems to be enjoying her self tremendously.
INT. CORRIDOR - DAY
Ellie, Drumlin and the eight other candidates, several
still a bit wobbly, follow the Commander down a corridor.
Jean-Claude wipes his face with a towel as he sounds off.
JEAN-CLAUDE
You realize how absurd this is.
There are no precedents here; all
training models are useless. Trying
to turn us all into astronauts is a
pathetic waste of time.
The Commander turns to him.
COMMANDER
You know what, sir? You're right.
We have no idea whatsoever what one
of you may encounter. That leaves
us with two options: we can sit
around and do nothing and hope for
the best, even if that includes a
few things that feel a little silly.
And if one of these 'silly'
exercises ends up saving your life
I'll have done my job.
Jean-Claude raises an amused eyebrow, smokes his Gauloise.
HUGE MULTI-TENTACLED BEING
flashes on the screen, followed immediately by another and
another -- a rapid series of images of creatures waving
grotesque stalked appendages, horrific and bizarre.
ANGLE ON ELLIE
sitting alone in a single chair, watching the images flash
on an enormous screen. Hardened.
INT. OBSERVATION FACILITY - CONTINUOUS ACTION - DAY
A panel of PSYCHOLOGISTS closely monitor Ellie's reaction
on the monitors. A PROJECT OFFICIAL approaches, watches
the monitors as he sips from a Styrofoam cup.
PROJECT OFFICIAL
How long now?
PSYCHOLOGIST
Going on five hours.
PROJECT OFFICIAL
Ugly little suckers.
PSYCHOLOGIST
Yeah. And those are only the ones
that live on the human body.
We MOVE AWAY FROM them to find another figure, standing
silently watching the screens. Joss.
INT. CONFERENCE ROOM - SERIES OF DISSOLVES - DAY/NIGHT
as we CIRCLE the table, CONDENSING MONTHS of arguments and
discussions. Trays of uneated food pile up, whiteboards
become colored with scribbled questions --
NIGERIAN CANDIDATE
... but even if somehow it has
faster than light capacity it is
still twenty-six years to get to
Vega --
ELLIE
That's from the point of view of
someone on Earth -- from the
traveler's point of view it'll only
seem like two years...
RUSSELL
... the fact is, nobody here knows
what's gonna happen when one of us
enters that thing. We can guess all
we want, but in the end... we just
don't know...
INTERCUT WITH:
INT. OBSERVATION FACILITY - SERIES OF DISSOLVES
The members of the philosophical committee watch, make
notes, argue passionately. The discussion continue on
screen:
DRUMLIN (V.O.)
(on screen)
... Two years is still a hell of a
long time -- and as far as we can
tell there aren't any provisions in
the machine design for storing food,
water, even air...
ELLIE
... I can't believe they wouldn't
take something as basic as our
biological needs into account...
RUSSIAN CANDIDATE
Based on what evidence? As far as
we know all they know about us is
what they've learned from watching
three minutes of German
television... even if they do not
mean to do damage they may do so
inadvertently. Look at the impact
they've had on the world by simply
sending the message...
ELLIE (V.O.)
(on screen)
... we're not looking at this from
their point of view. It's the first
time this has happened to us but
it's highly unlikely that's true for
them as well. Chances are they've
been doing this for thousands if not
millions of years...
CUT TO:
SAME - REAL TIME
DRUMLIN
They knew our level of development.
If, as you say, they've done this
many times they'd be well aware of
the implications.
ELLIE
Maybe they are. Maybe this is all
part of the package. The building
of the machine has demanded
international cooperation on an
unprecedented scale. Maybe
requiring us to come together in
this way was, in effect, part of the
plan.
JEAN-CLAUDE
Very well. Assume this is true.
Assume they have only the best of
intentions. Suppose they decide to
just step in and solve all our
problems for us. You have no
objection to them so flagrantly
intervening in human affairs?
ELLIE
We've just lived through a century
of incredible violence and self-
destruction. Do you call it
'interventionist' when you stop a
toddler from walking in front of a
truck?
Before anyone can reply an out-of-breath ASSISTANT enters.
ASSISTANT
Sorry to bother you but they just
got some tape in from Japan -- I
think you're gonna want to see this.
INT. MAIN TESTING HANGER (MACHINE, TEXAS) - DAY
The vast hanger serves as home for a series of new labs
and testing areas -- state of the art, gleaming and high-
tech. Engineers, scientists, security, and technicians
wearing blue jumpsuits and security badges are everywhere.
FEMALE P.A. VOICE (V.O.)
Component test C-4-90 commencing in
T-minus three minutes. All
personnel clear bay twelve; repeat,
clear bay twelve --
We FIND Ellie. Drumlin and the rest huddled around a
large monitor. Also present is TEAM LEADER -- cool,
level-headed, solid. The ultimate line producer.
TEAM LEADER
This just came in from systems
integrations in Hokkaido.
He presses play. The monitor shows a large, apparently
empty lucite chamber. A clock showing tenths and
hundredths of a second is inset into the screen.
TEAM LEADER
The chamber contains an exotic
substance manufactured according to
message specifications. In its
normal state it appears as you see
it, a transparent gas which is
apparently breathable. As you'll
see, it also has some other...
unusual properties.
A Japanese technician places his hand inside a waldo,
picks up a REVOLVER. He aims it into the chamber,
FIRES --
-- as then we see the bullet slow, coming to a dead stop
in mid-air. We see the same thing again, this time in
slow motion. As we watch, the air in the chamber seems to
thicken around the bullet, changing from a gas to liquid,
from gel-like colloidal to diamond-hard solid in a tenth
of a second.
TEAM LEADER
The substance appears to have
intelligent multiphasic properties;
able to shift states at will. We
believe it may function as some sort
of transport medium.
DRUMLIN
Now I know why the Japanese gave up
having a candidate in exchange for
licensing rights...
ELLIE
How does it work?
TEAM LEADER
We have no idea. According to all
known physical laws it shouldn't.
ELLIE
(murmurs)
Magic...
TEAM LEADER
(looks at her, then)
What you haven't seen is what
occurred when a technician went into
the chamber to retrieve the
bullet... As I said, the substance
had already been deemed breathable
after extensive tests on laboratory
animals.
DRUMLIN
What happened?
The Team Leader pushes play. We see the action as he
describes it:
TEAM LEADER
There was apparently an aqueous
residue covering part of the chamber
floor. The technician slips. As he
falls the substance hardens around
him, breaking his fall...
We see the technician as his fall slows -- and then he
suddenly convulses -- and then stops, suspended at an odd
angle slightly above the ground. He doesn't move. Ellie,
Drumlin and the other candidates watch in horror.
TEAM LEADER
... and solidifying in his lungs and
bloodstream, killing him instantly.
ELLIE
(shaken)
Maybe... maybe it was an anomalous
reaction. Maybe when it's correctly
integrated with other components of
the machine...
She looks again to the eerie sight of the suspended dead
technician. Team Leader snaps off the monitor.
TEAM LEADER
Maybe. Unfortunately that's all we
have is maybes, increasing
exponentially every day. This
machine is now building itself as
much as we're building it. Almost
as if it's growing, evolving...
They all take this in... then instinctively look out the
hanger doors at the structure taking shape in the field
beyond, now rising to a height of twelve stories. We PUSH
IN ON it...
TEAM LEADER (O.S.)
It's scary, folks. We're like
cavemen building a nuclear warhead.
We are constructing the most
advanced, dangerously powerful...
whateveritis in the history of the
planet and we don't have a fucking
clue how we're doing it.
CLOSE ON WHITE TABLETOP
A very sleek, low profile helmet is set down; four tiny
lenses visible near the temples.
PROJECT LEADER (V.O.)
Personal recording unit.
INT. CLEAN ROOM - DAY
Ellie, Drumlin sit around a table with other candidates.
PROJECT LEADER
Normal, infrared, ultraviolet,
stereoscopic lenses, digital
microchip good for thousands of
hours of recording, state of the
art, very tough, casting good to
15,000 degrees plus or minus.
DRUMLIN
15,000 degrees... isn't that a
little excessive?
PROJECT LEADER
(hesitates)
Well, sir... the thinking was...
A Project Official at the back of the room steps forward.
PROJECT LEADER
The thinking was that even if the
passenger were to encounter
conditions that were... extreme...
there still might be a chance to
retrieve the helmet.
INT. OBSERVATION FACILITY
The members of the committee intently study the
candidate's reaction on the monitors; Drumlin, Ellie.
Captain Russell frowns.
EXT. AMMUNITION RANGE - DAY
A hand holds a small, unassuming object. It looks a
little like a car alarm beeper you'd find on a key chain.
PROJECT LEADER
Lightweight, easily concealable...
Project Leader points the DEVICE at a six-inch thick steel
target five hundred yards away. FIRES.
The target is instantly and efficiently vaporized.
Project Leader turns to the assembled candidates.
PROJECT LEADER
... and good for approximately one
thousand uses.
ELLIE
Does it dice and make julienne
fries?
PROJECT OFFICIAL
You have a question, Dr. Arroway?
ELLIE
I question the thinking behind
sending the first ambassador to
another civilization in armed --
basically announcing our intentions
are hostile.
PROJECT OFFICIAL
It's designed purely as a defensive
device. Call it a reasonable
precaution.
ELLIE
Call it xenophobic paranoia. Don't
you see the absolute absurdity of
this? This isn't about them, it's
about us -- our violence, our fear
and mistrust --
PROJECT OFFICIAL
Dr. Arroway, you are entitled to
your opinion. But we feel quite
strongly that it would by both
irresponsible and naive to send a
human being into a completely
unknown, completely uncontrollable
situation absolutely defenseless.
ELLIE
Y'know what? Fine. I guess if we
want them to know the truth about
who we are there's no quicker way to
show them.
INT. ELLIE'S QUARTERS - PRE-DAWN
Ellie walks out of the bathroom in her robe, brushing her
teeth. She sees an envelope slipped under the door. She
picks it up and opens it, glances over the typed agenda.
Her eye comes to something that stops her.
INT. SMALL BRIEFING ROOM
Dark, windowless, a single lamp on. Ellie waits at a
small table, not sure what to expect.
After a moment the door opens as a PHYSICIAN enters, 50's,
paternal.
PHYSICIAN
Good morning, Dr. Arroway.
ELLIE
Good morning.
He sits down opposite her. Looks her over for a moment...
then carefully removes a small pillbox from his jacket
pocket. He opens it, removes a small red pill and sets it
down on the table. Ellie looks up at him.
PHYSICIAN
We've been giving them to the
astronauts since the first days of
the Mercury program; of course it's
never been made public. It's fast
and painless. As soon as it hits
the oral mucosa it starts to work --
a matter of seconds, really.
INT. MONITORING ROOM - DAY
Joss and the other members of the committee all study
Ellie's reaction intently on the monitor. The same scene
is playing out simultaneously with the other nine
candidates on other monitors.
ELLIE (V.O.)
(on monitor, dryly)
You want me to travel all the way to
Vega to commit suicide?
PHYSICIAN (V.O.)
(on monitor)
Doctor, despite your enduring faith
that the civilization in question
has only our best interests at
heart, even you have to admit
there's a possibility they might
turn out to be... less than benign.
BACK TO ROOM
PHYSICIAN
And even if they aren't, something
else may go wrong. There may be an
unforeseen mechanical failure. You
may be marooned, unable to return.
There are a thousand reasons we can
think of for the occupant of the
machine to have this with them --
but mostly it's for the reasons we
can't think of.
BACK TO MONITORS
Joss. Watching. We LEAVE him and onscreen Ellie and MOVE
TO Captain Russell's monitor. He is also looking at the
pill --
EXT. HOUSTON SUBURBAN HOME - BACK YARD - DAY
Scores of REPORTERS around a back yard swingset where
Russell holds his LITTLE GIRL.
REPORTER
(mike in her face)
Say it again? What did you tell
your daddy?
RUSSELL'S LITTLE GIRL
I don't want you to go.
RUSSELL
Nothing would give me more pride
than to represent my country and my
world. But what do you say to that?
INT. ELLIE'S QUARTERS - NIGHT
Ellie sits on her bed watching the replay of the Russell
interview on TV. Studies the Little Girl's smiling face
as she hugs her dad.
EXT. MACHINE - RESIDENTIAL AREA - DAY
Ellie pulls out in her T-Bird. As she drives toward the
perimeter she sees a figure walking toward her. Joss. He
sticks out a thumb.
EXT. TEXAS COUNTRYSIDE - DAY
Ellie tears down the highway, wind whipping her hair.
Joss is pushed back in his seat, enjoying himself
immensely. He yells over the WIND'S ROAR:
JOSS
You like to drive fast.
Ellie nods. Floors it.
EXT. MOUNTAINS - DAY
A beautiful meadow, a trickling stream. Ellie and Joss
walk.
ELLIE
So. Is this kosher fraternizing
with the enemy like this?
JOSS
Some of my best friends are
scientists.
ELLIE
I was referring to the selectees
mingling with the selectors.
JOSS
(pausing)
Some of my best friends are
scientists.
(as Ellie smiles)
They're saying the machine is alive.
ELLIE
Not exactly. It has organic
qualities, but we don't really
understand how they're integrated
with the mechanical systems.
JOSS
Maybe you're creating a monster.
ELLIE
I don't think so.
JOSS
Why?
ELLIE
It's too... elegant. The degree of
economy is extraordinary; it's
really the next logical step... Even
on Earth technology has always
aspired to a condition of nature.
D.N.A. outclasses any computer we
can come up with; the human body is
the most exquisitely designed
machine imaginable.
JOSS
In other words, God is one hell of
an engineer.
ELLIE
(sideways smile)
In other words.
They sit under a tree, pick at the grass.
JOSS
Relativity. Explain this to me one
more time... even if you traveled
near the speed of light, when you
came back --
ELLIE
If you came back.
JOSS
(after a beat)
If you came back... you'd only be
four years older -- but over 50
years would have passed on Earth.
ELLIE
Something like that.
JOSS
And everybody you care about would
be dead and buried.
Ellie looks up at him.
ELLIE
If you came back. If you survived
at all. Which it's pretty certain
you wouldn't.
JOSS
You're willing to die for this.
ELLIE
It's what my whole life's been...
aimed at; the only thing that's
given it a sense of purpose.
She looks away. A beat, then:
ELLIE
I read your book.
JOSS
Really.
ELLIE
Losing Faith: The Search For
Meaning In the Age of Reason.
Catchy.
JOSS
What'd you think?
ELLIE
I'm more interested in the story
behind the story... How a young man
goes from living on the streets of
South Boston to being the best-
selling media figure rubbing elbows
with the President.
JOSS
(after a pause)
I won't deny I was ambitious. When
I had my... experience... I wanted
to tell my story to as many people
as possible. I'm the first to admit
that process included making some
compromises.
(still seems
troubled; then)
You didn't answer my question.
ELLIE
I thought it was well-written.
Heart-felt. And a little bit
naive... But that's just the enemy's
perspective.
JOSS
I don't consider you the enemy,
Ellie. I'm not 'out to get'
technology. I only ask the
question: Does it have to have all
the answers? I look out there and I
see so much emptiness... People are
so starved for meaning, and it's
something they just don't seem to be
getting from science.
ELLIE
Did you ever stop to think that
maybe that isn't science's fault,
but meaning's?
JOSS
I don't follow.
ELLIE
(quietly)
Maybe the reason people are having
trouble finding meaning isn't
because science has obscured it...
maybe it's just revealed it isn't
there.
Now it's Joss' turn to be disarmed. He looks at her;
softly:
JOSS
Do you really believe your life is
meaningless?
ELLIE
(looking away)
I don't know. But as a scientist I
have to consider that possibility.
JOSS
And yet you're willing to die for
this cause, the one thing that's
given your life a sense of purpose.
Don't you see the contradiction
here -- ?
ELLIE
It's getting late...
JOSS
What are you so afraid of, Ellie?
JOSS
You're shaking.
(fascinated)
You're the paradox here, Ellie. So
incredibly brilliant, and yet...
(softly)
What does it feel like to understand
everything in the universe except
yourself?
She stares at him -- Joss, instantly regretting his
words --
JOSS
Ellie --
ELLIE
It's late. We should go back.
She stands and starts walking briskly down the hill.
EXT. MEDIA CITY - NIGHT
The skyboxes lit up, the satellite dishes aimed at the
stars. Grips smoke, play cards. Up in a skybox a
reporter vamps.
REPORTER (V.O.)
... With the machine nearing
completion and final testing
beginning next week, tomorrow's
round of closed-door I.S.C.
candidate interviews would bring to
a close this long chapter of the
machine drama...
INT. MAIN AUDITORIUM (MACHINE, TEXAS) - DAY
Ellie is seated alone at a long table, opposite the entire
ISC. The atmosphere is formal and tense.
ELLIE
(reading from her
notes)
... Another question I would ask
would be a very simple one. How did
you do it? How did you evolve as
far as you have and not destroy
yourselves?
JOSS
An excellent question, Doctor. But
what if we don't like the answer?
ELLIE
How do you mean?
JOSS
What if their answer is, 'Oh, that's
easy. A thousand years ago our
world was in terrible shape, our
population out of control, violent
crime, no food... so we called a
general council and decided to
eliminate the anit-social. The
weak. The sick. The unwanted. And
ever since we've been doing great.'
PROJECT OFFICIAL
I think Reverend Joss raises an
excellent point. I believe we
should discuss the formation of a
panel to review any potentially
delicate communications before... am
I amusing you, Dr. Arroway?
Ellie is smiling grimly to herself, shaking her head.
ELLIE
You kill me, you really do. The
first truly global, a-political
event in history and you can't wait
to spin it.
PROJECT OFFICIAL
How would you propose we handle it,
Doctor?
ELLIE
I guess I'd say I trust us enough to
believe our response would be
something to the effect of, thanks
for the advice, but no thanks. But
to dilute or censor the truth, for
whatever reason --
PROJECT OFFICIAL
Nobody is proposing we censor the
truth here, Doctor. We're simply
talking about putting a mechanism in
place --
ELLIE
For managing the truth. But the
truth won't be managed, sir. It
stops being the truth the moment you
try.
OFF Joss --
SAME SCENE - LATER
Ellie is making her final, prepared remarks to the
committee.
ELLIE
I don't claim to be a perfect
example of the human species... far
from it. But I think, paradoxically,
that's my strength as a candidate.
Because I think we need to share the
truth of who we are with them -- our
strengths --
Her eyes suddenly fall on Joss, looking at her from his
seat on the panel. A timeless beat --
ELLIE
-- and our weaknesses. To go to
them openly, nakedly, and say these
are our dreams, these are our fears.
What I'm saying, ladies and
gentlemen, is that I believe we
should make this journey with
honesty and integrity or not at all.
The words are spoken with passion and conviction, but
something tells us this isn't playing in Peoria. Ellie
looks uncertain.
SAME SCENE - LATER
Drumlin in the chair. Reassuring, smooth -- statesman-
like.
DRUMLIN
Ladies and gentlemen, I come to you
today not only as a scientist, but
as a politician -- an occupation
for which I make no apologies.
With all due respect to Doctor
Arroway's talk of naked honesty and
integrity -- high ideals, to be
sure -- I believe it would be
foolish and, in fact, dangerous to
ignore the fact that what we are
dealing with here is a political
situation -- the most political of
situations -- and one that must be
examined in that context.
INT. AIR FORCE ONE (40,000 FEET) - DAY
The President, watching Drumlin on closed circuit. An
aide hands her a cup of coffee. She sips it, her eyes
never leaving the screen.
DRUMLIN (V.O.)
(on screen)
The image we put forth, the
impressions we give may determine
precedent for decades if not
millennia to come.
BACK TO AUDITORIUM - TIGHT ON DRUMLIN
DRUMLIN
We must be optimistic enough to hope
for the best -- and wise and
experienced enough to prepare for
the worst.
A murmur of assent from the ISC. Drumlin continues.
DRUMLIN
Ladies and gentlemen. I'm proud of
what we've achieved as a species and
a civilization. I would hate to see
all that we stand for, all that
we've fought for for a thousand
generations, slighted, taken
advantage of, or God forbid, done in
by the fact that at the final hour
we chose to send a representative
who didn't put our best interests
first.
EXT. MACHINE, TEXAS - DUSK
Ellie walks out. She stands looking at the machine in the
distance. It is almost complete; the enormous gantries
partly obscuring the gigantic sphere that is the machine's
outer benzel. Another figure stands nearby, smoking in
the shadows.
JEAN-CLAUDE
I am become death; the destroyer of
worlds.
(takes a puff)
I wonder if this is how Oppenheimer
felt on the eve of the first A-bomb
test.
Ellie steps closer. The Frenchman smiles at Ellie, offers
her a cigarette. She shakes her head.
ELLIE
I'd say this is slightly different.
JEAN-CLAUDE
Perhaps. But on the off-chance that
it is a 'doomsday device' of some
kind, I plan to be very far away
from your lovely Texas when it is
activated.
ELLIE
I thought you were here because you
want to go.
JEAN-CLAUDE
I do. More than anything. But I am
also a realist. Soon this... what
is your charming term -- ? Dog and
pony show will finally be over, and
I will go home.
ELLIE
You're implying that the whole
selection process is a sham?
JEAN-CLAUDE
(smiles)
I think it is your naivete I like
best about you, Eleanor. Oh,
there'll be a worldwide protest, but
we all knew it from the very
beginning. You Americans discovered
the signal, you led the decryption
effort. The machine is being built
on your home soil... Of course the
passenger will be an American,
chosen by Americans.
(expansively)
Anyway, it is what the whole world
wants, no? This is the big show.
The sort you put on better than
anyone. It's good marketing. It's
good casting. It's the American way.
EXT. LANDING STRIP (MACHINE, TEXAS) - NIGHT
Air Force One sits on the tarmac. The lights inside are
burning.
INT. AIR FORCE ONE - NIGHT
President Lasker, Kitz, Joss and Valerian sit around a
table.
KITZ
It's not even close. Arroway may be
a good, even great scientist, but
she's politically tone-deaf and a
loose cannon. She leaked the
message without so much as a nod to
the D.O.D. or N.S.C., and I don't
think anybody here would say
diplomacy's her strong suit.
Drumlin may not be as glamorous a
choice, but he's reliable,
patriotic, sound. He has impeccable
scientific credentials. And I think
he'd be perceived by the public as
the safer choice.
The President taps her cigarette, turns to Peter.
PETER
It's her discovery, Ms. President.
She deserves to go.
The President frowns. Turns to Joss. Slowly.
JOSS
I've been watching and getting to
know Eleanor Arroway for some time
now... and I can say unequivocally,
that I have never before met a human
being with such extraordinary faith.
In humanity... and in our right to a
place of importance in the cosmos.
Peter watches Joss as he speaks, and as he listens, we
hear too: There's more than simple admiration for Ellie
in Joss' voice.
JOSS
I believe that the person we're
selecting will play a crucial role
in humanity's future. I believe
that when this person comes back --
if they come back -- they will be
seen as being anointed by a higher
intelligence, and may well emerge as
one of the most important people on
Earth. It may be true that Eleanor
Arroway is not a perfect human being
-- but I believe her honesty, her
purity, and her integrity to be
unimpeachable. Ms. President --
aren't those qualities that this
representative should embody? Are
we seriously considering choosing a
man who openly claims that he stands
for nothing more than political
self-interest to be the one person
to represent the human race?
The President. Unreadable.
INT. MAIN AUDITORIUM (MACHINE, TEXAS)
The SRO press conference/media event -- the Superbowl,
Olympics and Oscar night all rolled into one. Government
officials, diplomats, ISC. The seven remaining candidates
(the Frenchman conspicuously absent) sit in the front row.
Ellie. Drumlin.
The SECRETARY GENERAL of the U.N. at the podium.
SECRETARY GENERAL
The International Selection
Committee has come to a decision,
ladies and gentlemen, and may I say,
I think it has been a great
oversight on the part of the Vegans
not to build a few more seats on the
boat...
(off polite laughter)
But only one human being can go, and
that person, the person we feel best
represents the world, is the
candidate from the United States of
America, Doctor David Drumlin.
Drumlin closes his eyes in triumph, a long, deep breath.
Ellie. Expressionless.
Joss.
CUT TO:
INT. ELLIE'S ROOM - LATE AFTERNOON
Ellie is packing. A discreet KNOCK at the door. Drumlin
enters. An awkward beat. He notices the suitcase.
DRUMLIN
You aren't staying?
ELLIE
This... seemed best.
DRUMLIN
Right. Well.
ELLIE
(after a beat)
Good luck, David.
Drumlin pauses. Nods, starts to go... then stops at the
door.
DRUMLIN
Ellie... we both know that if I was
any kind of a man, I never would've
entered this race. That I would
have told the President straight
out: Helen, Eleanor Arroway is
naive and strident and an enormous
pain in the ass... but she's got
more courage and intelligence than
the rest of us put together. That
more then anyone else on the planet,
she's earned this. And that she
should be the one to go because
she's the best we have.
(beat)
But that's not who I am. I like to
think it's who I might've been if
things had gone a different way;
that I might have been worthy,
really worthy of what I've been
given...
(shrugs)
You do what you have to do. And in
the end, as with everything, it
comes down to power. And it isn't
fair...
ELLIE
(quietly)
What would you have me say, David?
DRUMLIN
Nothing. I guess I just wanted to
thank you.
ELLIE
Thank you?
DRUMLIN
(nods)
For giving me a chance, just for a
moment, to feel what it must be like
to be you.
And he turns and goes, closing the door behind him.
CUT TO:
EXT. SMALL TOWN (TEXAS) - DAWN
Local residents and children watch in awe as a huge convoy
of super-human scale passes through the one-street town.
EXT. MACHINE SITE - DAY
The convoy heads through the gates and arrives at the
machine site. Enormous winches are wheeled in place;
cables attached.
EXT. RESIDENTIAL COMPLEX (MACHINE) - DAY
Ellie packs the last of her things in the back of her
T-Bird. She notices the activity at the machine site,
keeps packing.
INT. MACHINE CONTROL ROOM - DAY
Large windows, monitors look out on the machine
superstructure. Drumlin is surrounded by technicians;
Team Leader is at the main console; several of the ex-
candidates chat, smoke in back. Kent sucking on a
lollipop.
EXT. HIGHWAY - DAY
Ellie ROARS down the deserted highway, her hair blowing.
She floors it.
EXT. MACHINE SITE - SERIES OF SHOTS - DAY
The enormous erbium dowels are hoisted into place.
Positioned at the side of the outer benzel and aligned for
insertion.
Finally in place, an ALARM SOUNDS; all workers begin to
leave the area of the superstructure.
INT. CONTROL ROOM - DAY
The technicians fit Drumlin with a high-tech video
headset.
EXT. ROADSIDE BAR - DAY
Somewhere in West Texas. Ellie pulls up in cloud a of
dust.
EXT. MACHINE SITE - DAY
We see a technician in a hard-hat walking towards one of
the superstructure's elevators. As he approaches, we
recognize Joseph, now clean-shaven, wearing spectacles.
INT. ROADSIDE BAR - DAY
HANK WILLIAMS ON the JUKEBOX. Ellie sits on a barstool.
The BARTENDER approaches, recognizes her -- she sees he
sees -- and then he nods, treats her like any other
customer.
BARTENDER
What can I get you, pretty lady?
ELLIE
Beer, please.
EXT. MACHINE SITE - DAY
Joseph rides the elevator up the gantry. Under his vest
we can see his body wrapped with plastic explosives.
EXT. MEDIA CITY - DAY
Business as usual. Reporters nap under flapping tents.
INT. CONTROL ROOM - DAY
Everyone watches as the enormous dowel is positioned
beside a giant sphere of the machine and prepared for
insertion. Then Team Leader spots something on one of the
monitors -- he enlarges the image -- Joseph climbing onto
one of the dowels. Team Leader pushes the abort button.
ALARMS SOUND as the controllers panic -- Drumlin looks
around in confusion --
JOSEPH
stands next to the sphere, puts a hand out to touch it. A
last look up to heaven -- and then he EXPLODES in a BALL
of FLAME --
INT. CONTROL ROOM - DAY
Everyone freezes -- a timeless moment... and then, as the
smoke begins to clear, we see the damage to the machine is
minimal. Drumlin exhales. Everyone breathes a nervous
sigh of relief --
-- and then one of the MONITORS begins to RATTLE.
EXT. MACHINE SITE - DAY
The entire SUPERSTRUCTURE begins to RUMBLE. A giant
erbium dowel shudders downwards, crashing into the sphere
and ripping a hole in the machine. The controllers stare
as another EXPLOSION rents the bottom of the machine,
weakening the support structure. Gantries begin to
collapse around it as the giant sphere falls off its
support --
EXT. MACHINE OUTER PERIMETER - DAY
Workers stare in amazement -- and then start running --
EXT. MEDIA CITY - DAY
Reporters look up at the SOUNDS of DESTRUCTION --
EXT. MACHINE SITE
The SPHERE IMPLODES in a blinding flash of light. Time
and gravity seem suspended as debris gets sucked into an
eerily vacuole of nothingness -- as if for a moment, the
space around the machine is turning inside out -- and then
the VACUOLE EXPLODES in a unearthly FIREBALL of nuclear
proportions.
WIDE SHOT
The fireball begins to expand, the shockwave spreading out
to envelop the entire facility. Bodies are tossed through
the air like rag dolls. The blast wave approaches the
control tower --
INT. CONTROL TOWER - DAY
The occupants stare in horror as the shock wave approaches
-- Team Leader -- Drumlin -- it hits --
INT. ROADSIDE BAR - LATE AFTERNOON
A TV above the bar plays an afternoon talk show
("Intergalactic Fashions -- today on Geraldo") as Ellie
nurses her second beer.
Suddenly a LOW RUMBLE is heard, barely on the threshold of
sound. GLASSES RATTLE in their racks -- and then the TV
GOES OFF, followed by the lights and the JUKEBOX. PUSH IN
ON Ellie as she looks up at the frightened Bartender --
ELLIE
How far away are we from --
BARTENDER
Two hundred miles.
SERIES OF SHOTS - AFTERMATH
An eerie silence. The remains of the superstructure burns
quietly.
Media city lays in ruins; the toppled skyboxes blaze.
Dozens of flaming satellite dishes point impotently at the
sky.
... And, nearby, Drumlin's video headset, quietly
smoldering.
FADE OUT.
FADE IN:
EXT. ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY - DAY
A light drizzle falls. President Lasker reaches down to a
large marble slab and ignites an eternal flame that wavers
in the wind and drizzle before burning fiercely.
ANGLE
MUFFLED DRUMS ROLL. A state funeral for all who perished
in the machine disaster. Peter, his wife beside him;
Joss, quietly praying. Ellie stands alone.
HADDEN'S MONITOR WALL (LOCATION UNKNOWN)
CNN coverage of the funeral continues. As we SLOWLY
WIDEN, the next monitor over shows footage of the
destruction at Machine, Texas; FBI sharpshooters and
police firing into a run-down motel; an amateur video of
Joseph's suicide note. He is spookily well-spoken, calm:
JOSEPH (V.O.)
(on monitor)
What we do, we do for the good of
all mankind. This will not be
understood, not now, but the
apocalypse to come will vindicate
our faith...
We CONTINUE TO WIDEN as a pair of familiar glasses float
INTO VIEW; a gnarled hand plucks them from mid-air as
Hadden turns to look out a panorama window showing a
breathtaking view of Earth from 250 miles out in space.
EXT. EARTH ORBIT - 250 MILES UP
A privatized space shuttle breaks through the atmosphere
and heads towards the Russian space station Mir -- which
now bears the Hadden Industries logo.
INT. MIR DOCKING BAY (SPACE)
The shuttle nestles with a CLANK against the station. Air
floods the chamber and the locked door opens.
The Japanese Major Domo we saw at Hadden's plane appears
in the hatchway; Ellie a moment later. He points toward
the other end of the airlock. Ellie starts to glide-walk
through, glancing back to see the Major Domo gesturing to
three, very young, very beautiful women with empty eyes.
Ellie keeps moving...
INT. MIR SPACE STATION - STATEROOM/STUDY
Compact but luxurious. Earth is visible through a
panorama window. Hadden floats before it, curled up with
arthritis like a dying insect. Ellie moves beside him.
HADDEN
A sunrise and a sunset every forty-
five minutes.
ELLIE
It's so... small.
HADDEN
Poor, tired, spinning girl... How we
feasted on her. And now that we've
had our fill and given her a giant
dose of the clap... we're pulling
out.
(points)
That's Paris, where my daughter was
born. Moscow, where gangsters rule
the night and I gave up smoking. So
many battles, so many lives... all
that sturm, and drang. As if it
never happened. If it weren't for a
few power grids, you wouldn't know
we existed.
The sun begins to set. They watch the stunning transition
as night comes on. The Boston-New York corridor appears
as a glittering necklace of light; a tropical storm brews
in the Caribbean. Ellie points to a sparkling glow in the
Pacific.
ELLIE
What's that?
HADDEN
Japanese squid fleet. They use
lights to attract them to the
surface... then turn them into
sushi.
Ellie traces the magical glow with her finger on the
window.
ELLIE
It looks like pixie dust...
(beat)
Kent would've given anything to see
this. David, too.
HADDEN
Yes. A shame. Still... it'd be
worse if they died for nothing.
ELLIE
What are you talking about? It's
over.
HADDEN
Oh, not quite yet. At least for
their sake...
(indicates the Earth)
... I hope it's not. Because
they're running out of time.
ELLIE
You sound like Joseph. You think
the world ends with the millennium?
HADDEN
I think whoever sent the message did
it because they're worried about us.
ELLIE
The gods sent us the machine because
they took pity on us.
HADDEN
Wouldn't you if you saw Hitler on
TV?
(then)
Come; I want to show you something.
He reaches up to the ceiling, punches a button. A large
display appears, showing the Earth. He enlarges the
display until only Japan is visible, then only a large
island to the north --
HADDEN
Hokkaido Island.
ELLIE
The systems integration site.
HADDEN
Mmm. Look closer.
The display enlarges still further, revealing more and
more detail -- until it comes to rest on a familiar
gantry-enveloped sphere, surrounded by hundreds of ant-
like technicians...
A second machine.
HADDEN
As each component was tested and
shipped off to Texas a duplicate was
maintained and assembled in Hokkaido
-- for backup purposes, of course.
We've been right behind you the
entire time.
(as Ellie is stunned)
You see my problem: I couldn't
appear to control too large a
percentage; my enemies wouldn't
stand for it. So I simply made sure
the Japanese consortium received the
systems integration contract. Of
course no one had to know the
corporations involved were recently
acquired, wholly-owned
subsidiaries --
ELLIE
-- of Hadden Industries.
Ellie is nonplused. Hadden smiles dazzlingly.
HADDEN
Want to take a ride?
EXT. SPACE STATION MIR
The sun rises over the Earth like a dazzling jewel.
INT. DOCKING BAY
Hadden glide-walks Ellie to the airlock. They share one
last look at the magnificent view of Earth -- then she
turns to him:
ELLIE
Why don't you come back with me?
HADDEN
Can't. Doctor's orders.
(pausing)
The low oxygen/zero gravity
environment is the only thing
keeping the cancer from eating me
alive.
(laughs at Ellie's
shock)
It's all right -- I like it here.
Ever try sex in zero-G?
He raises an eyebrow. Ellie smiles, then steps into the
airlock. They face each other. Hadden pauses before
closing it.
HADDEN
One more thing, Doctor. If you do
meet these Vegans...? Ask them if
we have to die.
ELLIE'S POV FROM SHUTTLE - MINUTES LATER
The umbilicals release; the shuttle drifts away. Hadden
watches from his panorama window, small, motionless, as
Mir recedes and the shuttle retros back towards Earth.
EXT. SEA OF JAPAN - AERIAL POV - DAY
We RUSH DOWN THROUGH the clouds to Hokkaido Island,
DESCENDING PAST the snow-covered peaks of Saporro TO...
EXT. OBIHIRO VILLAGE (HOKKAIDO ISLAND) - DUSK
A shimmering vision of the machine sits in the middle of
the square; after a moment we realize it is made of ice.
Japanese artisans chip and grind, putting the finishing
touches on the enormous sculpture.
REPORTER (O.S.)
... it would be fair to say an
upbeat atmosphere prevails here; the
Japanese playing their role of host
impeccably.
The promenade, decorated with colorful banners for the
Winter Festival, is alive with activity; street vendors
and film crews abound. We BOOM DOWN to include the
REPORTER in the f.g.:
REPORTER
And there is reason for optimism:
the way the machine consortium has
bounced back in these last few
months is nothing short of
miraculous, and that restored sense
of hope and purpose is clearly in
evidence here today.
INT. HOKKAIDO COMPOUND - PRESS CONFERENCE/PHOTO OP (MOS)
Madhouse. CAMERA WHIR and CLICK, REPORTERS shout
questions. Ellie squints in the glare of the lights,
overwhelmed.
REPORTER (V.O.)
But look beneath the surface and you
can clearly sense a darker mood here
-- an undercurrent of apprehension
and fear as tomorrow approaches.
And questions: What awaits the
world at the end of the long road to
Hokkaido? What will happen when the
machine is finally activated? And
what must Eleanor Arroway be feeling
on this, what may well be her last
night on Planet Earth...?
EXT. JAPANESE INN - ESTABLISHING SHOT - NIGHT
An ancient, elegant structure. Security posted outside.
INT. ELLIE'S QUARTERS - NIGHT
Cherry wood and rice paper; candles, orchids... and a
jumpsuit hanging in the corner.
Ellie paces restlessly.
Tries to read a book.
Tries to write a letter... crumples it up.
Ellie lays down on the bed. A goldfish bowl sits on the
nightstand. Ellie peers at it THROUGH the glass.
And then she hears a sound; the CRUNCHING of FOOTSTEPS on
PEBBLES. Ellie sits up: a silhouette is visible THROUGH
the rice paper wall. She goes to the door, slides it
open --
-- revealing Palmer Joss, rumpled and jetlagged, holding a
sorry-looking bouquet of airport flowers.
JOSS
You didn't think I was going to let
you leave without saying good-bye...
A long moment... and then she embraces him.
JOSS
Ellie... the last time we spoke... I
said some things...
ELLIE
I remember. You were indelicate,
indiscreet and entirely less than
tactful... Sound like anyone you
know?
He smiles, grateful. A moment.
JOSS
So. The final countdown.
ELLIE
The final countdown.
JOSS
(remembering)
Oh. I brought you something.
From his jacket he produces a small palm frond, presents
it to her. She takes it, looks at him quizzically.
JOSS
During the crusades -- pilgrims who
made the journey to the holy land
brought back a palm frond to show
they'd actually been there. I
thought it sort of made sense that
Earth is now your holy land, so...
ELLIE
(visibly moved)
Thank you.
Joss takes her hand.
JOSS
You're trembling.
ELLIE
I do seem to be... Maybe because I'm
just a little bit terrified about
tomorrow.
JOSS
(softly)
Maybe that's okay.
She looks up at him, utterly vulnerable. He raises his
hand to her cheek... then leans in and kisses her.
It's a very good kiss.
They kiss again, more passionately... and then Ellie pulls
away.
JOSS
(softly)
What...?
ELLIE
I'm sorry.
JOSS
What is it?
And suddenly she's crying, trying desperately to stop --
Joss puts his hands on her shoulders --
JOSS
Ellie, what is it?
ELLIE
I'm sorry -- I can't --
JOSS
What?
ELLIE
I can't do this --
JOSS
What are you so afraid of?
ELLIE
Please, Palmer -- if you care for me
at all, don't push this now --
JOSS
What are my other options? In fifty
years? Never?
ELLIE
Please --
JOSS
I'm in love with you, Ellie.
ELLIE
(stares, then)
Don't you understand? I just have
to hold it together -- just until
tomorrow --
JOSS
And then what? Then you'll be safe?
ELLIE
-- I don't know --
JOSS
(intensely)
Do you really think your life is
meaningless, Eleanor? Is that why
you're so quick to risk it --
because if your life means nothing
then you have nothing to lose?
ELLIE
I can't hear this now --
JOSS
Ellie, there is no reason you have
to be alone.
ELLIE
(looking up;
helpless)
And yet that's always how I seem to
end up, isn't it?
(a moment)
If you really do love me, Palmer,
you'll leave. Now. Please.
She pulls away from him, leaving the room. Joss stands
looking after her... then goes to the door... exits.
Ellie watches from the doorway...
INT. ELLIE'S QUARTERS - DAY
The bed is made. The jumpsuit is gone. PUSH IN ON the
palm frond, sitting on the nightstand, next to the
goldfish bowl.
FEMALE COMPUTER VOICE (V.O.)
(on P.A.)
Activation T-minus O-seven hundred
and counting --
EXT. MACHINE - DUSK
Floodlights illuminate the machine superstructure with
intense light. Technicians in blue jumpsuits, many of
them Japanese, swarm around the instrument/camera
bleachers.
While the Hokkaido machine differs somewhat from the one
in Texas in the details of its human-designed
superstructure, the eerie uniformity of the giant sphere,
here bathed in soft lavender light, is the same.
Elaborate instrument and camera bleachers surround it; in
the distance we can make out a control tower similar to
the one we saw vaporized in Texas.
INT. CONTROL ROOM - DUSK
The Female Assistant Team Leader from Texas runs the
console, more technicians at their various stations.
Peter hovers nearby. Standing in the back we notice a
number of poker-faced officials, some wearing U.S.
military uniforms. Joss stands at the window looking out;
he puts his hand to the glass.
REPORTER #1 (V.O.)
-- The security here in Hokkaido has
been incredibly tight; for obvious
reasons only a single pool feed has
been allowed at the machine site.
Through the eye of the camera
world...
EXT. PLAZA (SINGAPORE)
A sea of Asian faces transfixed by a giant outdoor screen.
REPORTER #2
(overlapping)
... watches, holding its breath for
that moment, now less than ten
minutes away, when a single human
being --
EXT. MACHINE - DUSK
A van pulls up. Out steps Ellie, composed, wearing her
jumpsuit and holding her video helmet. Two Japanese
technicians accompany her as she heads toward the main
gantry elevator.
REPORTER #2 (V.O.)
-- boarding a machine of unknown
origin and unknown function, will
step into history...
REPORTER #3 (V.O.)
(overlapping on
"history")
... the question that's on
everyone's mind: will history
repeat itself?
EXT. FIFTH AVENUE (NEW YORK) - DAY
The street is deserted. Televisions glow in every window.
REPORTER #3 (V.O.)
With a piece of engineering this
complex, this unprecedented --
INT. CHICAGO FUTURES EXCHANGE - DAY
The receipt-strewn floor lies deserted.
REPORTER #3 (V.O.)
-- with so many unknown variables --
EXT. MACHINE - MAIN GANTRY ELEVATOR
The elevator gates open; Ellie and the technicians step
in.
REPORTER #3 (V.O.)
-- could the unthinkable occur?
Could what happened in Texas happen
again?
FEMALE COMPUTER VOICE (V.O.)
T-minus five minutes and counting.
EXT. HOKKAIDO MACHINE SITE - OUTER PERIMETER - DUSK
Hundreds of reporters doing stand-ups. A cacophony of
voices.
REPORTER #3 (V.O.)
Cutting to the feed now.
INSERT TELEVISION
The elevator rises, finally arriving in position halfway
up the great sphere.
ANGLE - LASKER AND KITZ
watch from Camp David.
ELEVATOR GATES
open, revealing Ellie flanked by the two technicians.
She looks down the long narrow walkway that leads to the
machine.
She puts on her helmet.
She begins her long walk.
WIDE SHOT - MACHINE
Ellie's tiny figure approaches the blazingly lit sphere.
INT. GRAND CENTRAL STATION - DAY
Commuters stand stock still, watching the big screen.
EXT. BEIJING STREET - DAY
Chinese peasants crowd the front of an appliance store;
jockeying to see the televisions.
INT. CONTROL ROOM
On the monitors Ellie walks toward the machine.
ELLIE (V.O.)
(filtered)
Someone tell me this is really
happening.
PETER
(into chin mic)
It's really happening.
ELLIE (V.O.)
(filtered)
That you, Valerian?
PETER
Like it or not.
ELLIE (V.O.)
(filtered)
Like it. Almost there.
ELLIE
approaches the alien fractal-embossed surface of the
machine.
She pauses. Looks around -- her last glimpse of Earth...?
She takes a step -- and as she does the panel before her
loses its solidity, becoming an opaque gray mist.
Darkness beyond.
Ellis is on the threshold.
EXT. PLAZA (SINGAPORE)
A million people hold their breath --
INT. CONTROL ROOM
Peter. Joss --
TIGHT ON ELLIE'S FACE
as she steps into the unknown.
WIDE SHOT - MACHINE
Tiny Ellie disappears into the machine.
INT. MACHINE
As Ellie enters, the panel silently resolidifies behind
her.
ELLIE
(murmurs)
That's one small step for a woman...
Darkness. A dim glow ahead shows through similar openings
in two more spherical benzels. The surface beneath
Ellie's feet seems almost liquid. She continues...
INT. OUTER DODECAHEDRON
The enormous chamber is webbed with delicate
organosilicate implanted pattern. An inner dodecahedron
marks the core of the machine. Ellie steps through,
staring in wonder.
A.T.L. (V.O.)
(filtered)
Arroway, this is command control;
do you copy?
ELLIE
Arroway to control; reading you five
by five.
INTERCUT WITH:
INT. COMMAND BRIDGE
A.T.L.
Showing green across the board. All
systems go...
Hesitates...
PETER
What?
A.T.L.
I'm not sure. We have no launch
protocol; the entry of the passenger
is supposed to initiate activation.
PETER
(into chin mic)
Anything happening in there, El?
ELLIE (V.O.)
(filtered)
Not so far -- but --
A deep RUMBLING is heard -- everyone jumps --
A.T.L.
What the hell --
ELLIE
Did you get that?
JOSS
Look.
They all look out the windows.
FULL SHOT - MACHINE - DUSK
The mighty benzels slowly begin to move. It is an awesome
sight.
INT. CONTROL ROOM
A.T.L.
We have benzel activation, repeat,
we have benzel activation. Control
to Arroway, you okay in there?
(off silence)
Repeat, Control to Arroway, come
back.
PETER
(into chin mic)
Ellie?
INT. MACHINE
ELLIE
Arroway to Control, come in.
(off nothing, willing
herself to calm)
Arroway to Control, do you copy?
INT. COMMAND BRIDGE
The BENZELS have begun to generate a HARMONIC HUM, each
generating a DIFFERENT TONE. It grows LOUDER as they
continue to pick up speed --
A.T.L.
We've lost contact.
PETER
Pull the plug. Get her out of
there.
A.T.L.
There's no plug to pull.
PETER
What?
A.T.L.
There is no abort procedure -- we
don't know how we turned the damn
thing on, let alone how to turn it
off.
Peter stares at the spinning benzels, rapidly gaining
speed. Palmer Joss closes his eyes and quietly starts to
pray.
INT. MACHINE
Something is happening inside the machine; a shimmering,
almost as if the air itself was changing...
ELLIE
Control, I'm going to continue
broadcasting on the assumption...
hope... that you can hear me. The
atmosphere within the chamber seems
to be undergoing some sort of
spontaneous state conversion...
The shimmering amber-lit gas surrounds Ellie, in some
places remaining gaseous (for breathing); in others
aqueous, in others a gel-like colloidal, supporting her.
Nervously:
ELLIE
My breathing seems normal...
The MACHINE SHUDDERS.
ELLIE
What was that -- ?
FROM TWO MILES OUT AT SEA
We see clouds gather; an ominous microclimate forming over
Hokkaido. Strange violet-hued lights in the sky --
INT. CONTROL ROOM
The HUM of BENZELS is deafening, like a galactic choir --
INT. VLA - SAME TIME
Fisher, Willie and the team are glued to the set.
INT. CAMP DAVID - SAME TIME
President Lasker and Kitz watch the same coverage.
INT. MIR - SAME TIME
Hadden floating, silhouetted against his TV wall.
EXT. MACHINE
The lower support structure begins to withdraw but the
enormous sphere remains spinning freely in space -- the
clouds part --
ELLIE
whirls around in terror as the light grows dazzlingly
bright.
FULL SHOT - MACHINE
Suddenly the benzels flicker -- go transparent --
everything is visible for a millisecond as a blinding
flash of light illuminates the superstructure and
surrounding countryside brighter than the brightest day --
INT. CONTROL ROOM - SAME MOMENT
Monitors whiteout in a blaze of blinding light.
INT. MIR STATION
Hadden's TV wall whites out as he dies smiling --
CUT TO:
INT. MACHINE
The sense of acceleration is tremendous, as if dropping
through the center of the earth. The fluid has become
more gel-like solid, supporting Ellie's body. The front
panel is now opaque, the left and right panels semi-
transparent.
A bright blue-white light up ahead, illuminating what
seems not so much to be a tunnel as a sense of space
warping around us; like being inside a fisheye lens as it
dolly/zooms. Ellie speaks breathlessly into her mike...
ELLIE
I'm falling... sense of enormous
acceleration. It's a wormhole, it's
got to be, but how do they keep it
stable? The energy required --
Now the front panel becomes transparent: Ahead is a
dazzlingly bright blue-white object with dimmer copies of
it surrounding it.
As speed increases the subsidiary images become fainter,
moving in a transverse circle. Behind Ellie, though she
doesn't see it, the panels show similar images of the
launch site at Hokkaido. The blue-white light from up
ahead becomes blinding as the Dodec erupts into space.
ELLIE
It's a star, I'm in orbit around a
star, spectral type A, maybe early
F. Getting weird multiple images
here; relativity effects?
Accretion disk... gotta be Vega,
only... oh my God...
A great mass passing above eclipses Vega's light, throwing
the Dodec into shadow. The immense polyhedron construct
from the opening of the film, dappled with its millions of
transmitters, drifts overhead. It's easily 100 miles
across. Staring in awe:
ELLIE
They're talking to the whole
universe... Okay, okay, clearly
artificial, some sort of relay
station but the scale is just...
tens of thousands of receivers,
hundreds... some sort of
biotechnology, like the machine
but... don't see anything like a
docking port...
The machine suddenly makes a hard left; an object appears
ahead, an impossible inside-out sphere in space; four
dazzling lights seem to be embedded within it.
ELLIE
Another wormhole? Bigger this time
-- oh God --
The Dodec plunges down it as Ellie struggles to contain
her wildly fluctuating emotions. The surrounding gas
begins to shift color, modulate --
ELLIE
Okay. Okay. A series of wormholes,
linked together, artificially
created, but why would...?
(then)
Jesus, it's a subway system.
The Dodec erupts into a quadruple star system. A pair of
red and blue stars orbit each other while a pair of
yellow-green dwarfs orbit them.
Ellie swallows hard, hyperventilating --
ELLIE
Quadruple system... incredible...
don't recognize any background
constellations... hundreds, possibly
thousands of light years from Earth
now. So beautiful. So...
Ellie growing woozy; trying to snap out of it.
ELLIE
The physics must be a thousand, ten
thousand years beyond us but... oh
God... oh God something's...
happening...
Ellie is overwhelmed with emotion -- we think she's about
to cry but then she bursts out laughing --
ELLIE
It's beautiful. It's beautiful. I
keep saying that but I can't... my
mind can't... words... should've
sent a poet. I'm a poet and don't
know it...
(sings)
Ground control to Major Tom...
(struggling)
Relativitistic side-effect? Or --
induced by the transport medium?
The gas...
Now Ellie is crying, sobbing uncontrollably.
ELLIE
Oh, Palmer, I wish I'd had a baby.
The Dodec plunges into another inside-out sphere, this one
larger and glowing blood red --
SERIES OF SHOTS
A) A GIANT RED STAR
As it engulfs an Earthlike planet. We watch the
planet's oceans boil away; the surface chars, sears
dead --
B) SUPERNOVA
Tidal waves of gas clouds rush away from the exploding
sun -- shock waves tumble debris AT us. At the center
of the cataclysm a rapidly rotating neutron star
flashes like a lighthouse, ten times a second.
C) LARGE BLUE GAS GIANT
Circling an emerald green star. On the night side of
the planet are huge glowing jellyfish-like shapes, the
floating cites of an alien civilization. Millions of
glowing gold particles connect them in elaborate
swirling patterns, a dance of golden glitter...
D) LAST WORMHOLE
choked with multicolored pinprick flares -- a sense of
tremendous acceleration, finally erupting into --
CENTER OF GALAXY
So many dazzling multicolored stars they almost touch.
Millions more stars than are visible from Earth on the
clearest night.
An immense, spiraling river of gas and dust, millions of
miles long, pours into the maw of a black hole of
staggering dimensions. Flashes of radiation leap from the
center like summer lightning --
ELLIE
The center of the galaxy...
The Dodec suddenly rotates. Swimming INTO OUR FIELD OF
VIEW...
GALACTIC GRAND CENTER STATION
It fills half the sky. A vast vast artificial planet;
immeasurably immense liquid clouds drift in its
atmosphere, punctuated by planet-size holes, columns of
mist thousands of mile high.
The Dodec gently plunges into an atmosphere of blue night;
below we can make out thousands of yellow-lit openings in
the gel-like surface, each a different geometric shape.
ELLIE
Docking ports... those are docking
ports for other machines... hi,
everybody...
As the Dodec continues to lower toward a hexagonal
receptor the panels grow opaque, blocking out all light.
Ellie fights to remain conscious as it grows dimmer and
dimmer:
ELLIE
Now arriving Grand Central
Station... floating down...
floating...
(like a little girl)
Twinkle twinkle... little star...
how I wonder... ellemenopee...
(shaking her head)
... have to stay awake... stay
awake...
(slipping)
Please... please...
She passes out.
FADE TO BLACK.
IN BLACK
Nothing. Still nothing. Finally, a gentle, familiar
SOUND...
FADE IN:
ELLIE
lies in a fetal position. After a long moment she opens
her eyes. The familiar RHYTHMIC sound is LOUDER. Her
eyes widen...
EXT. BEACH - DAWN
Ellie sits up on a pristine white beach. Huge ranges of
cumulus lit red/gold by the dawn silhouette clusters of
palm trees; the sound of gently ROLLING SURF, SQUAWKING
GULLS.
Ellie stands. The Dodec is nowhere to be seen. She looks
around in disbelief.
She takes a few halting steps, like a child learning to
walk. She kneels, scoops up some sand. Frowns in
confusion...
Ellie digs her hand into the sea, almost loses her balance
again. She tastes the water. Normal. Her confusion
grows...
ELLIE
I... remember this...
She steps further into the water; letting its warmth
soothe her, wipes the furrows from her brow. Closes her
eyes as she lets the water take her.
EXT. BEACH - LATER
The sun is higher now. The SURF CRASHES.
ELLIE (O.S.)
Recording... check, check.
Recording, is this on? I think this
is on.
Ellie sits against a palm tree, looking out at the sea.
She seems a little more cogent.
ELLIE
Okay. I've traveled thirty thousand
light years, give or take a few
parsecs, to go to the beach. So...
Either they've created this
environment... or the illusion of
this environment, to make me feel at
home... or else somehow I am at home
-- or else this is my cage at the
intergalactic zoo and the tour bus
will be along any minute...
A distant figure becomes visible down the beach. As it
approaches Ellie continues, unaware:
ELLIE
Or else, of course, I'm completely
insane. This should not be
discounted as a possibility --
although the fact that I'm
questioning my sanity should be a
pretty good indication that I am in
fact sane... unless of course...
unless...
Ellie stops, as if sensing something. The figure grows
closer, now clearly humanoid. Ellie turns to look --
-- and stares in utter disbelief. She rises to her
feet...
ELLIE'S POV
Ted Arroway is walking easily toward her. He smiles.
TED
Morning, Captain.
ELLIE
Tears come to her eyes... she approaches, staring... He
takes her hand --
TED
I've missed you.
It's too much. Ellie throws herself into his arms, holds
him tight.
ELLIE
Dad...
She sobs. He holds her.
TED
It's okay...
Ellie recovers a bit, wiping away her tears --
ELLIE
I used... I used to dream you were
alive... and then I'd wake up and
lose you all over again.
TED
I'm sorry I couldn't be there for
you, sweetheart.
ELLIE
Dad... But tell me, how did... I
mean how can...?
Reality returns like a cloud passing over the sun.
Softly:
ELLIE
You're not real. None of this is.
TED
(smiles sadly)
That's my scientist.
ELLIE
(struggling to
breathe)
So. Are you an hallucination? Or
are little gear trains and circuit
boards under your skin?
TED
Am I artifact or dream? You might
ask that about anything.
ELLIE
But you're so... I mean how could
you possibly...?
(realizing)
When I was unconscious. You...
downloaded... my thoughts, my
memories, even...
(realizing)
This beach. I've never been here
but I remember... it's how I always
imagined...
(softly)
Pensacola.
TED
We thought this might make things a
little easier.
And in the blink of an eye they are no longer standing on
a beach but on the rim of the Grand Canyon, looking out at
a spectacular sunset.
TED
... although this is nice too.
Ellie tries hard to swallow her amazement as Ted begins to
stroll along the rim; she walks with him.
ELLIE
So who -- what -- are you?
TED
Originally just another species like
yourselves. Well, not like you at
all actually, but...
ELLIE
Can you show me?
TED
Small moves, Captain, small moves.
ELLIE
Why did you contact us?
TED
You contacted us. We were simply
listening. We've been listening for
millions of years.
ELLIE
And those other docking ports I
saw... I mean... there are others?
TED
Many others.
ELLIE
And they all travel here through
this wormhole subway system you
built.
TED
Oh, we didn't build it. The transit
system has been in place for
billions of years; we're just its...
caretakers.
ELLIE
So who...?
TED
We don't know. Whoever they were,
they were gone long before we ever
got here.
ELLIE
The scale... it's just...
(catching her breath)
So all the civilizations you detect;
they all end up coming here?
TED
Not all. Some choose to stay at
home and dream their dreams.
(sadly)
Some never make it this far.
ELLIE
So we passed some kind of test?
TED
You have your mother's hands...
(beat)
There are no tests, Ellie. We don't
sit in judgment. Think of us more
as... librarians. Curators of the
Universe's rarest and most valuable
creation...
And now they are walking through a familiar forest.
Sunlight streams through the tall trees.
TED
As many civilizations as we've
found, compared to the vastness of
space...
He seems momentarily overcome with a terrible sadness...
and then he recovers, smiles.
TED
... life is unspeakably rare. So
whenever we do find another
civilization, especially one
that's... struggling... We send a
message. Sometimes we can offer
help. Sometimes we can't. But we
always try. Life is simply too
precious not to.
ELLIE
Can you help us?
Ted hesitates. They are now standing in the middle of a
vast alien desert, stretching to the horizon. The dome of
the sky darkens revealing a view from outside the galaxy;
the Milky Way hangs like a pinwheel in the blackness of
intergalactic night.
TED
You're an interesting species; an
interesting mix. Capable of such
exquisite dreams; such horrifying
nightmares. Technologically you've
advanced very quickly -- some think
too quickly... and yet...
CLOSE ON TED
He turns to Ellie, puts a loving hand to her face.
Softly:
TED
You're so lost. So cut off... and
so sad.
And suddenly Ellie is standing on the sun-dappled Cal Tech
campus. She turns to find herself standing opposite David
Drumlin.
DRUMLIN
What is it that makes you so lonely,
Miss Arroway?
Ellie stares at him -- instinctively backs away, turning
around --
-- to find herself high atop the radio dish at Arecibo
looking into Peter Valerian's face --
PETER
Be honest, El. The truth is you
really don't want the company.
Peter shakes his head -- then begins to melt, morph into
Palmer Joss --
JOSS
What does it feel like to understand
everything in the universe except
yourself?
-- the Texas meadow instantly dissolves behind him to
become the darkness of the Hokkaido night --
JOSS
Ellie, there is no reason you have
to be alone.
Ellie stares at him; he slowly morphs back into Ted as he
and the space around them become infused with an unearthly
golden light; his voice ECHOING and resonating into
infinity --
TED
We are alone. For millions of years
we've searched the cosmos... and
after all the suffering, after all
the chaos and desolation of the void
-- the one thing we've found that
makes the emptiness bearable is each
other. That's why I sent the
message. That's why I made contact.
Ellie moves closer, staring into his eyes... and catches a
glimpse of infinity. She holds her breath --
ELLIE
(whispers)
Who are you?
We begin to MOVE THROUGH them, INTO --
ANOTHER DIMENSION
TED
(reading her mind)
Am I one... or many?
ELLIE
The librarian... or the library...?
We are lost inside an unimaginable realm, an infinity of
nested realities turning inside and within each other in a
staggering visual paradox that dazzles and overwhelms,
that builds and soars until --
-- the soft CRASHING of the SURF...
Ellie is back, standing with her father on a perfect beach
in the glow of twilight. A gentle breeze blows. Ellis is
overcome.
ELLIE
... all those voices... you gather
them all together. Millions of
intelligences in one consciousness...
and now we're a part of it.
TED
You always have been. We're all
descendants of the same stars,
Ellie. All made of the same
primordial atoms.
ELLIE
(overwhelmed)
So. What happens now?
TED
Now... you go home.
ELLIE
(instinctively; like
a child)
No!
(as Ted smiles)
I mean... why so soon?
TED
If we don't engineer a consistent
causality it'll work itself out on
its own, and that's almost always
worse.
(seeing her
confusion)
Ellie, according to your physics
none of this is possible. A lot of
it you're simply not capable of
understanding, not yet. No offense.
ELLIE
None taken... but ... do we get to
come back? Others of my kind, I
mean.
He tenderly brushes a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
TED
Eventually you'll get here on your
own. This was just the first step;
in time you'll take another.
ELLIE
But -- other people from our planet
should see what I've seen -- they
should witness this for themselves.
TED
That isn't the way it works.
ELLIE
But you said you wanted to help --
don't you see what it would mean?
TED
(gently)
No more stalling, Captain.
ELLIE
(intensely)
Please -- if you... downloaded...
everything about us you know the
problems we face, the impact it
could have -- it could make the
difference --
TED
Ellie... this is the way it's been
done for billions of years...
She looks at him pleadingly... and as the part of him that
is her father look into his daughter's eyes, he
hesitates --
TED
... but we'll consider your request.
A breeze blows, stronger now.
TED
It's time to go home now.
ELLIE
No. Please.
TED
(smiles sadly)
Childhood is over, Ellie. It's time
to grow up.
A WHOOSH of AIR -- Ellie spins around --
The Dodec sits incongruously on the beach.
She turns back. Ted has vanished.
ELLIE
No...
And as Ellie finally and fully mourns her lost father, we
leave her, crying, alone on an empty beach, 30,000 light
years from home...
FADE TO BLACK.
FADE IN:
EXT. MACHINE (HOKKAIDO) - NIGHT
The HUM DIES as the benzels slowly come to rest.
Ellie emerges from the machine. Her expression composed.
The opening solidifies behind her --
-- and then we hear a sudden BURST of STATIC, followed by
a cacophonous BARRAGE of VOICES -- Ellie instinctively
puts her hands to her helmet --
CONTROLLER (V.O.)
(filtered)
-- Got her -- !
A.T.L.
(filtered)
-- all benzel motion has ceased.
Repeat, benzels are stopped;
securing the area --
PETER (V.O.)
(filtered)
Ellie -- are you okay?
ELLIE
I'm -- I'm fine.
PETER (V.O.)
(filtered)
Thank God. When we lost contact, I
thought -- we thought... but you're
okay. We're still trying to
determine the nature of the
malfunction. Did you notice
anything at all that --
ELLIE
Wait -- hold on a minute --
PETER (V.O.)
(filtered)
It's all right, the important thing
is you're safe --
ELLIE
Peter, what are you talking about?
What malfunction?
(looking around)
What day is this?
PETER (V.O.)
(filtered)
What day?
ELLIE
How long was I gone?
INT. COMMAND CONTROL - CONTINUOUS ACTION
Peter stands at the command console, just as we left him.
PETER
Ellie... we saw you enter the
machine. The benzels spun up,
generating some sort of atmospheric
disturbance. The benzels spun down.
And then... just now... you stepped
out. We were out of radio contact
exactly... seven minutes and thirty-
five seconds. The machine never
went anywhere.
INT. MEDICAL BUNKER - IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING
A team of physicians examine Ellie, hooked up to various
medical equipment --
DOCTOR
Are you experiencing any flu-like
symptoms. Aching joints? Fever?
ELLIE
I'm fine --
DOCTOR
Headaches? Swollen glands?
ELLIE
No -- could somebody please just --
The DOCTOR checks a series of monitors, turns to an
official.
DOCTOR
Vitals identical to pre-launch
stats.
ANOTHER SCIENTIST
No sign of radiation or biological
contamination of any kind. She's
clean.
Peter enters the room, briefly confers with the official
-- then approaches Ellie, who sighs in grateful relief.
ELLIE
Peter... What is going on? Has
everyone gone completely insane?
PETER
That's one way of putting it. Kitz,
the President, the I.S.C. have shut
down all official communications;
there've also been reports of riots
flaring up across the U.S. and
Europe. Until we figure out what
went wrong things may get rough,
especially for you --
ELLIE
But the machine worked -- that's
what I've been trying to tell
everyone!
(in utter
frustration)
The tape -- it's all there, if
they'd just look at...
(seeing Peter's grim
look)
... the tape...
And as Ellie realizes with sickening certainty --
CUT TO:
STATIC-FILLED MONITOR
Colored snow. Nothing.
INT. DEBRIEFING ROOM
Kitz turns off the monitor, turns to Ellie, still in her
hospital gown and robe. Peter stands nearby, as do a
group of frighteningly expressionless I.S.C. and Pentagon
officials.
ELLIE
... I don't understand it. All I
can think is that maybe because the
video gear wasn't accounted for in
the original plans it somehow
violated the integrity of the
design.
KITZ
Is that your official response?
ELLIE
I don't have an official response,
Michael. All I have are the same
questions you have.
Kitz pauses... and then he turns to her, his intensity
increasing as we PUSH IN ON him --
KITZ
I'm afraid that's not a satisfactory
answer, Doctor. We spent two
trillion dollars. You walked into
that machine with the hopes and
prayers of an entire planet with
you, and you stepped out with
nothing. Those people are going to
want more than idle speculation and
conjecture -- they're going to want
answers -- and I hope for all our
sakes you can come up with them.
EXT. MACHINE (HOKKAIDO) - NIGHT
Ellie, surrounded by a phalanx of security, moves quickly
through the nightmarish mob scene. Disorienting TV lights
glare, illuminating a flurry of drift snow --
As Ellie is hustled toward a van she glimpses a figure --
an oasis of stillness in the mob, watching her -- Joss.
Their eyes meet for the briefest of moments -- and then
Ellie is swept into the van and away. Joss watches her go
-- looks at the chaos, the madness around him -- then
slowly looks up to the sky ...
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. WASHINGTON D.C.
A hard rain falls. We FIND a government sedan, FOLLOW it
THROUGH burned-out slums --
SECRETARY (V.O.)
(filtered)
I have Mr. Kitz for you Ms.
President.
PRESIDENT LASKER (V.O.)
Put him through.
(as PHONE CLICKS)
Well?
KITZ (V.O.)
(filtered)
Nothing. Apparently the surface
began to ossify immediately after
she emerged; all subsequent attempts
to re-enter the machine have
failed...
The sedan approaches the Capitol Building. The steps are
mobbed with a surreal menagerie of the fanatical and the
dispossessed. A huge bonfire has been built; images of
Ellie on the cross...
KITZ (V.O.)
... as have all attempts at internal
analysis. We've tried sonargrams,
magnetic resonance, gamma rays; it's
completely impenetrable.
PRESIDENT LASKER (V.O.)
Recommendations?
KITZ (V.O.)
I don't know. Maybe we built the
damn thing wrong. Maybe it was all
a hoax...
(sighs)
The safest thing would probably be
to do a Chernobyl; encase it in
concrete.
PRESIDENT LASKER (V.O.)
Have your department make a full
report.
INT. OVAL OFFICE - CONTINUOUS ACTION - DAY
The rain pours down. The President slowly hangs up the
phone.
INT. SEDAN - CONTINUOUS ACTION
Ellie looks out the window at the mob descending on the
car, all fighting desperately to catch a glimpse of her --
faces filled with hope, hate, desperation -- Ellie shrinks
back --
INT. SENATE ANTEROOM - DAY
The CLOCK TICKING on the wall reads five to nine.
Ellie sits alone in the small room. Waiting.
A KNOCK on the door. Ellie looks up nervously --
Palmer Joss stands in the doorway. A moment... and then
Ellie slowly rises and goes to him. Embraces him. He
holds her.
JOSS
Oh, Ellie...
Ellie finally pulling away, wiping her eyes.
ELLIE
Hi.
JOSS
Hi.
ELLIE
I'm assuming you read my deposition.
JOSS
It was quite a page turner.
ELLIE
Pretty ironic, huh? I had to go all
the way to the center of the
galaxy... Just to find you.
She takes his hand, kisses it. He touches her face.
The CLOCK TICKS.
ELLIE
So. I'm assuming they sent you here
to administer last rites?
JOSS
I'm not sure it's come to that.
ELLIE
They don't believe me.
JOSS
I do.
ELLIE
You're sure you want to? In the
universe I saw we're not exactly the
stars of the show. What happened to
me makes us all seem pretty damn
small.
JOSS
It also makes God enormous. I think
of the scope of your universe,
Ellie... and it takes my breath
away. As it will everyone else's.
ELLIE
I don't have any proof, Palmer.
JOSS
Ellie, you're the proof. You tell
them your story. Ultimately they'll
have no choice but to believe you.
ELLIE
It's not enough, don't you
understand? I know it happened --
but by every standard of science, by
every standard I've lived my life by
that fact is utterly beside the
point. It may be true but it
doesn't matter because I can't prove
it's real.
JOSS
Ellie, the only one holding you to
that standard is you! The people
want to hear your story, they need
to hear it!
ELLIE
But --
JOSS
Have you seen what's happening out
there? The terror, the despair?
The world is on fire, Ellie. People
need something they can believe in,
something worthy, and you can give
it to them!
ELLIE
I want to, Palmer -- more than
anything. But it has to be real.
It has to be true.
JOSS
(hesitates)
Ellie... if you go out there like
this -- if you admit to even the
possibility that what you
experienced didn't actually happen
-- I'm afraid they really will
crucify you. Please. For your own
sake, for the sake of the world...
tell them what you know to be the
truth. Tell them it really
happened.
Ellie looks up at him -- and then the door opens and an
AIDE enters.
AIDE
They're ready for you.
INT. U.S. SENATE
Every corner of the cavernous Senate Chamber is jammed
with media, politicians, onlookers. The world stage. The
big show.
The International Committee is composed of eight men and
two women, including Kitz. Occupying the center seat is
the COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN, An Asian American Senator in his
sixties.
Sitting all by herself at a long table opposite them,
Ellie looks very small and alone.
SENATOR
You were in the machine for seven
minutes, thirty-five seconds, is
that correct, Doctor?
ELLIE
Earth time, yes.
SENATOR
(pausing)
Earth time.
ELLIE
(a deep breath)
Senator... I believe I traveled
through a series of wormholes.
Wormholes are a phenomenon deduced
by Einstein; they're essentially
tears in the fabric of space/time.
Because of the effects of relativity
what I experienced as a period of
approximately eighteen hours passed
almost instantaneously on Earth. To
you I seemed to depart and arrive
back at the same moment.
KITZ
Doctor, isn't it true that wormholes
are merely predictions of relativity
theory? That there's no evidence
they actually exist?
Ellie hesitates. Looks up at Joss in the gallery. Then:
ELLIE
There is no direct evidence, no.
KITZ
And current theory holds that to
sustain the sort of wormholes you're
talking about, even for a fraction
of a second, would require more
energy than our sun produces in a
year, is that correct?
ELLIE
I don't have the figures in front of
me, but yes, that sounds about
right.
KITZ
In fact, by all the laws of physics
we know what you claim to have
experienced is simply impossible.
ELLIE
(beat, then, softly)
By our standards... yes.
Palmer Joss, sitting in the gallery, closes his eyes.
SAME SCENE - LATER
The Chairman flips slowly through a file as he questions
Ellie.
CHAIRMAN
... And this is how the
extraterrestrial presented himself
to you? As your father?
ELLIE
Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN
He died...
(looks at file)
... in 1972.
ELLIE
Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN
(pausing)
Dr. Arroway, do you think it's
possible you had some kind of...
delusional episode.
Joss leans forward in his chair.
ELLIE
Is it possible...?
CHAIRMAN
All the elements are there. A
woman, orphaned young, under a great
deal of stress. The failure of a
project she's staked her self-worth
and very sense of identity on --
induces a fantasy of reuniting with
her 'father in heaven' as it were.
Is it possible?
Ellie is silent.
KITZ
Please answer the question, Doctor.
ELLIE
(a long silence)
Is it possible. Yes. But --
KITZ
Thank you, Doctor. Now --
ELLIE
(overriding him)
-- but I don't believe it to be the
truth.
CHAIRMAN
(peering at her;
intrigued)
You don't believe it to be... tell
me something, Doctor. Why do you
think they would go to all this
trouble... bring you tens of
thousands of light years, and then
send you home without a shred of
proof? Sort of bad form, wouldn't
you say? What was their intent?
ELLIE
(hesitates)
I don't know. Ultimately their
motives may be as incomprehensible
as their technology.
The crowd murmurs. Committee members exchange glances.
CHAIRMAN
(sigh)
Dr. Arroway, you come before us with
no evidence. No records, no
artifacts -- only a story that -- to
put I mildly -- strains credibility.
Over two trillion dollars was spent,
hundreds of lives were lost, many
more may be in jeopardy due to the
almost incalculable worldwide
psychological impact... Are you
going to sit there and tell us that
we should simply take this all on
faith?
The word rings out like a shot. Silence.
KITZ
Answer the question, Doctor. As a
scientist -- can you prove any of
this?
JOSS
Holding his breath.
ELLIE
Closes her eyes. Finally, almost inaudibly:
ELLIE
No.
The room is silent. Almost gently:
KITZ
So why don't you admit what by your
own standards must be the truth:
that this experience simply didn't
happen.
ELLIE
(pauses, then,
simply)
Because I can't.
The crowd reacts.
Ellie looks up to the gallery... and finds Joss.
As she speaks with great emotion and restraint, she seems
to be talking directly to him.
ELLIE
I had... an experience. I can't
prove it. I can't even explain it.
All I can tell you is that
everything I know as a human being,
everything I am -- tells me that it
was real.
The room grows quiet.
ELLIE
(softly)
I was given something wonderful.
Something that changed me. A vision
of the universe that made it
overwhelmingly clear just how tiny
and insignificant -- and at the same
time how rare and precious we all
are. A vision... that tells us we
belong to something greater than
ourselves... that we're not -- that
none of us -- is alone.
JOSS
Moved beyond words.
ELLIE
looks lovingly at Palmer... then shifts her gaze to
Michael Kitz. Softly:
ELLIE
I wish I could share it. I wish
everyone, if only for a moment --
could feel that sense of awe, and
humility... and hope. That
continues to be my wish.
The emotion in her voice compels the room to silence.
Kitz.
Joss.
Ellie.
INT. CAPITOL BUILDING - CORRIDOR - NIGHT
Spilling out; reporters closing in. As Kitz emerges he
sees Ellie -- she meets his gaze.
A moment... and then he nods, walks briskly off. Ellie
turns -- to find Joss standing by the door, waiting for
her. A timeless moment...
... and then she silently crosses to him and lets him fold
her into his arms.
EXT. CAPITOL BUILDING - NIGHT
The rain lashes down unabated. A sea of press crushing in
on Ellie and Joss as they grimly make their way through,
police clearing the way -- A ZEALOT intones in the b.g. --
ZEALOT
'... He dreamed, and behold, a
ladder was set up on the Earth, and
the top of it reached to heaven...
Surely the Lord is in this place,
and I knew it not. This is none
other but the House of God.'
As Ellie moves through the crowd PEOPLE in wheelchairs
fight to approach, people with terrible deformities --
they call to her:
PEOPLE
Ellie... Bless me, Ellie... Heal
me...
Ellie, torn between wanting to help these suffering souls
and not wanting to lie, whispers:
ELLIE
I'm sorry... I'm sorry...
And then the reporters descend, shouting out questions --
one in particular rings out --
REPORTER
Reverend Joss, do you think the
failure of the machine is God's
rebuke to science?
Joss stops. He turns to the crowd; slowly:
JOSS
As a person of faith... I am bound
by a different covenant than Dr.
Arroway -- but I believe our goal is
one and the same: the pursuit of
the truth. I think today Dr.
Arroway continued that pursuit under
the most trying of conditions.
He puts his arm around Ellie and hurries away. The
crowds, the media watch as the Messiah who failed
disappears into the rainy night.
SERIES OF SHOTS
A) HOKKAIDO
The entombment of the machine has begun. Scaffolding
on all sides, swarming with workers in quarantine
suits. Helicopters fly overhead, dumping load after
load of concrete.
B) VLA
boarded up, deserted. Weeds springing up around the
now-rusting cyclone fence; the desert moving in to
reclaim what it had briefly lost. The radio dishes
waiting, silent.
C) SMALL COUNTRY CEMETERY
a familiar fishpond in the b.g. Ellie, holding a
small bunch of wildflowers, kneels to gently place
them on her father's grave.
EXT. LAKE TIMOTHY (OREGON) - DUSK (DECEMBER 31, 2001)
The small figures of Ellie and Joss walk along the
beautiful lake under the forested slopes of Mt. Hood.
ELLIE
... but it is a good question, and I
suppose I'll always wonder about the
answer: Why would they send me back
without proof?
JOSS
Maybe what you experienced can't be
reduced to images on a videotape.
Maybe they still plan to grant your
request, only in their own way, in
their own time... Or maybe it's just
like you said: ultimately their
motives may be as incomprehensible
as their technology.
ELLIE
In other words, God works in
mysterious ways...
JOSS
(smiles)
In other words.
They stop, look out at the water.
ELLIE
I don't know. If it was a god, it
was searching for a greater one. It
was still searching for meaning...
JOSS
Does that mean you think it doesn't
exist?
ELLIE
I'm not sure...
(looking up)
Maybe it simply exists in the search
for it. Maybe its something we have
to make for ourselves.
JOSS
Meaning...
ELLIE
Something my dad -- they -- said.
'After all the suffering, after all
the desolation of the void -- the
one thing that makes the vastness
tolerable is each other.'
(looking up at Joss)
The one thing that makes it bearable
is love.
She takes his hand... and then they look up at the sky,
where the first stars are coming out.
BBC REPORTER (V.O.)
... and while the riots here in
London continue for the fourth night
in a row, on the other side of the
Atlantic the news is equally grim...
REPORTER #1 (V.O.)
(overlapping)
... thousands of starving refugees
fled the area as the bloody fighting
continued...
REPORTER #2 (V.O.)
... a massive book burning took
place in downtown Berlin today...
REPORTER #3 (V.O.)
... and on this last night of the
old millennium and the eve of the
new one, looking back on a past
racked by violence and chaos, we of
the human race look ahead to an
uncertain future -- a future which,
at least for now, seems to promise
only more of the same...
The VOICES FADE into oblivion.
CUT TO:
EXT. HOKKAIDO MACHINE - DUSK
The machine stands entombed; silent, inscrutable.
All is still.
Then, the first sign: small insects crawl from cracks in
the pavement.
A stirring. A slight breeze. A subtle HUMMING sound --
A monk stirs in his bed in the nearby monastery; if not
awakened by the strange vibration then by the SHRIEKING
MONKEYS outside.
A vibration. Something is happening at the core of the
concrete edifice -- it begins to crack --
From inside comes a sound, a terrible, otherworldly
ROAR --
The next transformation has begun.
FROM TWO MILES OUT AT SEA
The island of Hokkaido is shrouded by an ominous
microclimate... a vortex out of which radiates an awful
vibration like the shockwave of a bomb. A Japanese
fisherman smoking a cigarette on his shrimpboat looks up
in awe.
MACHINE
is lifting, spinning -- dissolving into itself -- leaving
only the vortex of a prodigious wormhole --
DOWNTOWN TOKYO
A thousand neon signs go dark. New Years revelers look up
in fear.
EXT. SAN DIEGO ZOO - NIGHT
and the keepers have never known the animals to be so
disturbed.
VIRGINIA SUBURB
Peter Valerian steps out of his front door and stares up
at the sky. His wife joins him; he silently puts his arm
around her --
WASHINGTON OFFICE
Michael Kitz turns to look out the window at the D.C.
skyline -- fear on his face as he looks down at a picture
of his family, wife and two kids --
BALKANS
Guerrillas look up at the terrifying sky as the GUNFIRE
DIES.
ON SERENGETI
Stampeding wildebeest wheel around seemingly to form a
vast circle.
SOMEWHERE IN PACIFIC
Great swirling pod of dolphin swim in a frenzied circle.
INDIA
A circle of dung beetles in the dust.
EARTH
from Hadden's darkened viewport. The land obscured by a
rapidly growing cloud that fills the ecosphere.
ELLIE AND JOSS
stand outside a lakeside cabin, transfixed.
A wind picks up. Grows stronger.
A deep RUMBLING sound, felt more than heard: a sound too
vast to be any sound at all. The wind grows stronger.
The LIGHTNING CRACKLES, flushing birds from trees --
And then everything becomes perfectly still -- the
RUMBLING STOPS --
-- a deafening silence -- then --
SOUNDLESS CONCUSSION OF VIOLET LIGHT
high over Times Square -- Kitz's office -- a solitary
farmhouse under the Nebraska sky -- downtown Tokyo -- a
lonely freighter in the middle of the Pacific --
EVERYWHERE --
EXT. EARTH ORBIT - 250 MILES UP
Looking toward the Earth past the deserted Mir Station --
the brilliant violet flash --
EGYPT
The Valley of the Kings. The faces of the long dead
Pharaohs bathed in the violet light.
SAHARA
Children stare up in wonder at the same light.
TIME SQUARE/PICCADILLY CIRCUS
People stand frozen in awe.
WASHINGTON D.C.
At the Lincoln Memorial the great man looks down as the
homeless crawl out from their cardboard shelters, bathed
in the brilliant light...
ELLIE AND JOSS
stare up at the sky at an impossible view.
It is the view from the center of the galaxy. THROUGH the
mouth of the enormous wormhole, we can see the machine
returning to Grand Central Station as a dazzling Aurora
Borealis fills the sky --
VARIOUS SHOTS - ALL OVER THE WORLD
All over the world faces of every race and ethnicity stare
up at a billion blazing multicolored suns lighting up the
heavens, brighter than the brightest day.
The citizens of the Earth look up and wonder as the CHIMES
of MIDNIGHT RING OUT all over the world --
ELLIE
Her eyes filled with tears of wonder and joy, smiles.
She's found what she's been searching for.
CUT TO:
BLACK CARD
BRING ON THE MILLENNIUM
FADE TO BLACK.
THE END