MARS RUN
by
Charles Proser
MARS
Red sky. Low hills meet the horizon too soon. Lights blink
from an isolated settlement of low domes and antennae.
Frame reference codes tick:
RESEARCH OUTPOST GALILEA/43
MAY 43, 2166; 35:01 HOURS
Wind whistles through alien trees. In the foreground there
is movement. The perimeter is alive. Intruders creep in. A
strange musical phrase repeats..or maybe it's just the wind.
INT. OUTPOST
Alarms scream! Surveillance cameras show frenetic activity.
A dark woman, ANILYNE, works a defense keyboard. A second
woman, ELYSE, calls for help, but communication is jammed.
PICTURE BREAKS UP. Fragments of images. Anilyne turns, grabs
someone, possibly a child. MORE BREAKUP. A hug, a kiss, she
pushes the person through a portal. A door closes.
Anilyne, back at her station, programs madly. She calls out.
ANILYNE
Elyse! Watch the north quadrant!
She speaks more softly to someone unseen. Barely hear the
name Jess. She turns her face to the camera, repeats...
ANILYNE
Jess. I loved you.
AN ATTACK
Sudden, overwhelming, lethal. Walls blow in. Gales rush out.
Elyse goes down. Anilyne is hit, blown against a wall.
A dark figure enters. Then a FLASH... DARKNESS.
A SPACESHIP CABIN - 1 YEAR LATER
The lid to a life-support cannister releases. JESS YEAGER
moves. He rises, unplugs sensors, looks around. A glowing
panel announces the date: June 47, 2167; Perigee Minus One.
Jess is mid-forties, pure humanoid in form; a Terran,
judging by musculature. He has a strong face with no evidence
of bionic enhancement. His body bears old scars.
Groggily he looks around. At his voicecommand, a wallscreen
displays a rotating exterior curve of the ship. Shuttle craft
glide away to PHOBOS, an irregular moon with a giant crater.
And past PHOBOS, a glowing red orb...MARS.
Jess turns to a second screen and cues the vid of the
Martian attack. He studies the partially visible figure, but
the child...if it is a child... is unrecognizable. He fast-
forwards to the woman at the defense console, zooms to CLOSE
UP. Jess studies her sadly as the musical phrase repeats.
JESS (sadly)
Anilyne.
The screen blanks and a small microdisk is ejected into his
hand. He snaps the disk into his wristcom, a gauntlet set
into his arm studded with communication modules. He hits
play. The wristcom projects a holographic image... Anilyne.
He clears it, takes a drink from a wallunit, hears a voice.
CABIN VOICE
Good morning, Colonel Yeager.
Jess takes a sip, pensively responds to the computer.
JESS
It's mister Yeager. And nearly noon.
CABIN VOICE
Mister Yeager. How are you feeling?
JESS
Fine. I'm fine. Just the usual
crankiness.
CABIN VOICE
You are. Health excellent. All
vital signs within parameters. We
are now at Martian gravity, point
38 that of Earth. Please be careful
until you adjust.
JESS
Don't worry, I won't bump my head.
How's the war going?
Screen shows a new image; Mars.
CABIN VOICE
I have no war. It is designated
a Frontier Police Action.
JESS (ironic)
Police actions are bribes and parking
tickets. This looks like war to me.
Current Outland perimeter?
JESS'S POV - SCREEN - MARS SURFACE - HISTORICAL ANIMATION.
The surface lifeless. Then rains come. Water tumbles off the
Tharsis mountains, inundating the Arcadia Planitia, and
making seas of the vast arid plains of Acidalia and Chryse.
CABIN VOICE
Chryse is flooded. Indigenous
tribes have been pushed further
out. Here's the Valle perimeter.
On the map, a region controlled by the Valle Marineris
Government and the VALLETERRAN coalition appears in blue.
CABIN VOICE
Outlands...controlled by the
transgenics...the Martians.
Beyond the Valle MARTIAN OUTLANDER territory appears in red.
Jess turns, walks to a landing suspended over the interior.
JESS
Situation in the Valle?
He looks out at a strange landscape; ponds and meadows, low
hills dotted with villages. But it's wrong; it's concave.
This world is inside some huge ball. He steps off the landing
into microgravity freefall and drifts, rotating.
CABIN VOICE (OVER)
Native riots in the Ophir Chasma
continue. Second Labryrinth dam
partially breached. Sabotage.
JESS
Just like I never left.
He steps on another landing and walks through a portal.
CAPTAIN'S QUARTERS - JESS
This aerie floats over the rotating exterior of the space
ship, a hollowed metallic planetoid; a self-contained world
that travels the Hohmann elipse between Earth and Mars.
A figure in shadow gazes out "windows" as Jess enters. Jess
follows his gaze. Solar sailers pulse above the Red Planet.
FIGURE
Cargo ships from the five worlds:
Terra, Luna, LEO, Phd, and Mars.
But Mars is the key. Second and
last inhabitable planet in the
System. Everything else is too
cold, too dark. Right, Jess?
Rotation lights the man's face. He's fifty-ish. Robes cover
a body still hard. He tries to surpress a grin. Nic is an old
friend in new guise, but still with the rogue's charm.
JESS
Nic...is that you?
NIC (winks)
Surprised?
JESS
Surprised. (indicating his garb)
...at your virtue.
Jess is happy but unsettled to see him.
NIC
Yes...Well...It is a retrofit.
JESS (amused)
What..in Chryse...is that getup?
NIC (playing at sarcasm)
You always did respect the uniform.
JESS
Easily as much as you did.
Nic...They'll find you out!
NIC
They found me. And I found the
light. Along with a small stipend.
They would rather have me inside
the tent, um...praying out, than
outside the tent, praying in.
They laugh, embrace. Jess pulls off, holding Nic's crucifix.
JESS
Your order...isn't it run by Omidata?
NIC (innocently)
Omidata?
JESS
You know, one of the nastier
Megalop corps. In fact, the one
that sponsored those other guys in
our little fight in the Kasei
Valle.
NIC (mischievous)
Oh, a vicious and unfounded rumor.
And I'm rather disappointed in you
for repeating it.
JESS
You know me, just a loose cannon.
Never thought you'd work for them.
He smiles. There's something from the past between them. As
they fence, he turns to the view, regards the red planet.
NIC
Never thought you'd come back.
Even for Anilyne.
JESS
You know about the attack?
NIC
People like to know who's going to
Mars and why. Such a shame. She was
a brilliant scientist.
JESS
Is.
NIC (a beat)
Is. Her work with chromosomes ...It
was unfortunate...I always thought
you'd get back with her someday.
JESS (shakes head)
Her brain's all but destroyed. They
say there's a chance to reconstruct
...if I do a memory dump.
NIC
You sure they want those memories.
JESS
I don't even want 'em. But no one
else can do it.
NIC (a beat)
After...will you stay on Mars?
JESS
No.
NIC
Well, good to have you here.
JESS
Good to be had.
Nic laughs, slaps him on the back. But Jess looks at him
seriously. Something is going on but he doesn't know what.
Bells ring. Guests arrive. It's an elite group; military
men, telebrities. Nic greets a few with a wave, a smile.
JESS (ironic)
So many...important people.
...All going to Mars..?
NIC
Maybe they're just taking a gravity
break. Stay close. We must talk.
JESS
Why? We never talked before.
Out the window, Mars' equator swings into view. A trench
stretches halfway across the planet; the Valle Marineris.
MAN
What do y'know. It's really red!
NIC
Color of blood. Named by the
ancients for the gods of war.
JESS
And living up to its name.
At the mention of war, there's a stillness. Nic moves,
revealing TAURON, a regally exotic looking man. A genetic
Martian, he is tall, thin with copper skin and large chest.
The look in Tauron's eyes draws Jess's attention. Nic glances
at Tauron, at Jess. The Martian stares at Jess.
JESS
You know who he is?
NIC
Tauron. Some say second to Aaraam.
Some say he is Aaraam, himself.
JESS
Aaraam?
NIC
You have been gone... Don't you
have any interest in Mars?...
Aaraam's some new warlord they've
thrown up. Or maybe just a fiction.
JESS (indicates Tauron)
You were with us at Kasei...in the
duststorm...You know what he did.
Nic (shrugs)
Space is neutral territory. Come.
He takes Jess's arm, moves toward the man. Jess is
immovable. "It's alright" Nic says with his grin. Jess allows
himself to be brought along. The man turns.
NIC
Colonel Yeager.
JESS
Tauron.
An uneasy silence as others try to read into the reticence.
JESS
You're coming from ...Earth?
A beat, then Tauron turns to him.
TAURON (icily sarcastic)
I did the grand tour. Learned your
history. Our "history". I received
promises from the great white
fathers. And you, Colonel?
JESS
Mister. Retired. Visiting family.
TAURON
Yes, your wife. I'm sorry.
JESS
Ex-wife.
TAURON
A tragedy. But then, gentech
can be a dangerous occupation
along a disputed frontier.
JESS (bristles)
Who says they were into gentech?
TAURON
Somebody is.
JESS
Rumors.
TAURON
Plenty of them. But your wife had a
history with mutants, I believe.
Jess suddenly loses it. His movements are a blur, then he
has Tauron in a throat hold, his face distorted with rage.
No one moves. Then it's over. Jess regains control, releases
Tauron, walks off. Nic follows. Jess is mad at himself.
JESS
Sorry...sorry...
He scans the room. Others look at him. He turns away,
passes through the port to a landing. Nic calls, but Jess
walks to the edge of the landing, jumps off, drops away but
floats softly down to the surface. Nic watches him walk off.
INT. SHIP SURFACE - CONCAVE TOPOGRAPHY - COUNTRY LANE
He walks. Bird sounds filter through mist. Then other
SOUNDS. He becomes alert. Movement behind. More rustling to
his side, more ahead. Three figures appear. Jess raises his
hands in defensive stance.
One man nods at Jess's wristcom.
1ST ASSAILANT
You'll be gifting us that.
JESS (a challenge)
Come... Take it.
A flash in the assailant's hand. Jess is not impressed.
JESS
Why... it's just an old knife.
The first assailant crouches and moves in, threateningly.
ATTACKER
But I'm very good with it.
JESS (calmly)
You better be. If you're not,
there's going to be one real
surprised new face in hell.
A nanosecond of indecision, then, at a nod, quick movement.
They all attack at once. Jess lets them come, then, in a
flash so fast it's nearly invisible, he takes them down.
The knife goes sailing. Two are knocked into the bushes.
The leader attacks. He slashes at Jess's wristcom. Jess
counters and lands a blow to the helmet. The faceplate flies
open. Inside, a logo on the facemask...the Omidata ideogram.
The man swings, Jess counters again and the facemask slips.
Under it, the grotesque features of a mutant. Jess goes
berserk, smashing him back into the bushes.
He gets hit from behind. He rolls and counters but there is
no one there. He looks back. The mutant is also gone.
INT. CABIN - MOMENTS LATER
Jess sits. His tunic is pulled up, revealing a bruise on his
ribs. The wallscreen blinks on; Nic from his cabin. On Nic's
back screen is a surveilcam replay of the fight.
NIC
Still got your military reflexes,
I see. Can I assume...legally?
JESS
Assume what you like. Who are they?
NIC (studying replay)
Spacers or Martians. Weaker
than you. They come from low G.
JESS
Martians. One was a mutant.
NIC
Not all Martians are mutants.
Not all mutants come from Mars.
Maybe it was just simple robbery.
JESS
They wanted my wristcom. (a beat)
Or the info in it. The mutant wore
the Omidata logo. Just like yours.
NIC
You have a suspicious mind.
JESS
I come by it honestly.
Jess looks hard at Nic, who gets defensive.
NIC (mock hurt)
Jess, you know where my loyalty
lies.
JESS
With yourself.
NIC
Exactly. (he smiles) Such little
faith in human nature!
JESS
Specific humans. Devious ones.
NIC
Because of our long and intimate
relationship, I'll take that as a
compliment. But I know nothing. Or
as close to nothing as possible. It
wasn't me. Now come on, I'll take
you for a ride.
JESS
You always have...
EXT. SPACESHIP PIETRO SECCHI
A shuttle arcs toward the surface of Mars. It swoops over
Noctus Labyrinthus and over Olympus Mons, at 27 miles, the
highest known mountain in the solar system.
INT. SHUTTLE - JESS AND NIC
NIC
What have you been doing on our
home planet for all these years?
JESS
Nothing. Getting away from here.
NIC
What have you got there? Couple
square meters, a patch of sky...
rules, noise, overcrowding. Not
like you at all.
JESS
I got tired of dust, death and
mutants. Guess I'm getting old.
THEIR POV - MARS - THE EQUATORIAL REGION
A grand canyon unfolds below. The shuttle swings over meteor
fields, into the Eos Chasmas and up the Valle Marineris.
NIC
How long since you've seen
the Valle?
JESS
The Valle, Labyrinth, Tharsis
Olympus, must be near fifteen
earthyears...seven, eight of Mars.
NIC
Things've changed. Sea level's at
Kilometer Zero.
JESS
How much higher is it gonna get?
NIC (shrugs)
We need to open up the Outlands.
The domes are overcrowded.
JESS
Earth, all over again... Already.
Don't we ever learn?
Jess looks away. Below, Mars is swirled with bands of
vegetation. Maglev trains swoop into the Valle.
INT. SINAI PLANUM SPACEPORT - CUSTOMS/IMMIGRATION
A crowd of immigrants push toward the gates. There's
excitement, tension in the air. Nic leads Jess to a VIP gate.
They pass through without a check. Jess is impressed.
JESS
What is it, Nic, what's going on?
NIC
Oh, there's talk, the usual rumors
...a biotech breakthrough. Some new
way to manipulate human genes.
JESS
Human genes! What happened to the
ban on gentech?
NIC
Bans? On a frontier?
JESS
Silly of me.
NIC
42 billion people on earth. The
moon's maxed out. Can't build space
colonies fast enough. Mars is the
only other place in the solar
system that can support the masses.
We're pushing the frontier, moving
Martians out. Now, rumors...biogen.
What would Martian Outlanders be
interested in? Maybe a bug, a
plague, something to deny the land
to ValleTerrans. That's one rumor.
JESS
What's the other?
NIC
The Methusela gene...that...maybe
somebody's finally found it.
JESS
Extended life? That's all we need.
NIC
I'd sure like to have it.
JESS
We'll overpopulate. We'll infest
Mars like a fungus. Who did it?
NIC
Nobody knows. Maybe one of the
outposts. Everyone's looking. There
seems to be a big fight over it.
JESS
A fight? You mean a biowar! The
last one was over less than this.
That's what Anilyne...
He stops in mid-thought. Nic sneaks a look at him.
NIC
Yes, Anilyne. What was she doing
in an outpost?
JESS
I don't know, something devious.
What is it about scientists? They
know something's dangerous, but
they can't leave it alone.
Jess falls silent as they move to the customs official. Jess
hands him his passport. The official seems to know of Jess.
CUSTOMS OFFICER
Yeager?!! ...Cleared For MarSurf!
The official glances at Nic's and nods them through. Jess
notes Nic's influence, studies him thoughtfully.
JESS
What are you doing here?
NIC
What happens here will determine
the future of man. It's one big
experiment. Will we be a solar
species or will we...go?
JESS
Go? Go where?
NIC
Further. Good to see you. When you
get settled, come see me.
JESS
What for?
NIC
Why for old time's sake.
He presses a card in his hand. It reads:
HOLY MARTIAN CHURCH
ST. MARTIAN'S IN THE FIELDS.
A tone. Jess looks up. A holo projects above: the shield of
the Valle Sheriff Department. Code flits by, stops on a pix
of Jess; his dossier, then a constable appears.
CONSTABLE
Yeager, Jess TN55111. Late of the
Martian Expeditionary Forces.
JESS
Yes?
CONSTABLE
Right through that door, Sir.
JESS
Am I being arrested?
CONSTABLE
No sir. Invited.
The door opens revealing a MagLev car with Security logo.
Jess steps in, sits. Restraints come up, the craft
accelerates, swoops up the Sinai Planum, then down into...
THE VALLE MARINERIS
The grand canyon on a vast scale. A four-thousand mile rift.
In the ancient past, water rushed from the east, sweeping
everything before it. Sheer cliffs seven miles high have
collapsed strewing rubble fields across the valley.
Now it has been terraformed, domed. Small towns swell into
cities of slender spires. Oxide cliffs sprout earthplants. A
glint of water, the Valleriver, winds at the lowest points.
LOWELL - A MARTIAN MEGACITY - CAPITAL OF VALLES COPRATES
Warning tone and soft pop. His car detaches, decelerates,
passes through scanning devices, enters a security compound.
EXT. SECURITY COMPOUND - AN ARMED CAMP
The MagLev pulls into a dock. The door opens. The holoimage
of a sergeant awaits. Jess notes the tight security.
JESS (tinge of sarcasm)
You under seige?
SERGEANT
Secchi Fever. From the pressure of
being packed closely together.
The hologram withdraws, beckoning him on. He follows.
COMMAND POST
A uniformed figure stares at SurveilScreens. Jess enters.
The holo announces him. The Sheriff doesn't react. Jess
stands cooling his heels, then clears his throat.
JESS (impatient)
Ahem... Sheriff?
SHERIFF
Third Chief Deputy Sheriff.
She turns. LUNA is ValleTerran; a genetically pure human.
She wears a ghillie suit in Outland red, helmet ring open to
reveal lacy underthings. She measures Jess. He squints
against the glare of monitors of crowds on the street.
JESS
I'm on my way to Sinai Medical. I
could come back if you're busy.
LUNA
No. Arrival is always a fun time.
This is when we see how many new
bacteria you can force onto our
petrie dish.
JESS (sudden recognition)
Luna?... You, Sheriff?
LUNA
Third Chief Deputy.
JESS
...I thought you would...
LUNA (interrupts)
Be a Spec9 all my life? You didn't
give it much thought. What are you
doing back here?
JESS
Everybody asks me that.
There's an edge. Might be she's not that happy to see him.
LUNA
You've been gone a long time. Mars
has changed. Lots of vets selling
their skills as mercenaries. And
you've got too much history here.
(grabs gear, leads him out)
Come on. I'll give you a lift.
JESS
Where to?
LUNA
Sinai Medical of course.
JESS
Very nice of you.
LUNA
No it's not.
They enter a Combat Assault Craft with Sheriff's Markings.
AERIAL - MOMENTS LATER - SUN LOW OVER THE NOCTIS LABYRINTHUS
They swoop out of the dome. Off in the distance they spot a
firefight. Missiles spiral up. Luna explains.
LUNA
Martian Outlanders. Probably
Noachis. Nuisance raids on the
Outposts.
JESS
Why don't you hit them?
LUNA
Nightfall. They're in the
Labyrinth. Kiss 'em goodbye.
They swing away toward Sinai as Jess looks at her curiously.
JESS
You just let them go?
LUNA
Outlands. The reach of authority's
a sometimes thing. Anilyne...what
was she doing out there?
JESS
I don't know.
LUNA
Then what are you doing here?
JESS
It's personal.
LUNA (a beat)
Awful long way to come for
something personal.
JESS
What else?
LUNA
Revenge. I've seen you take a man
apart for a lot less than...
JESS (cutting her off)
It's not my concern.
LUNA
She was your wife.
JESS
She went out. She made the choice.
They set down on a pad, Jess gets out.
JESS
Who ran the Outpost?
LUNA
Omidata. They're up to something.
Nobody knows what. Maybe hot
biologicals. I do know one thing;
they sent those folks out on a
limb. I've been waiting for their
backup. And you know what? Looks
like it's you!
JESS
Me. You mean nothing was done?
LUNA
Well, we did a report.
JESS
Chryse!
He turns, walks away toward the Sinai Medical center.
INT. MOUNT SINAI MEDICENTER - WITH IDEOGRAM OF OMIDATA CORP.
Jess's wristcom projects an ID: Col. Jess R. Yeager; Mars
Expeditionary Forces, Ret,d. His history shows an ex-wife...
VAT 1636-AHD. "Immediate family" flashes. Guards admit him.
Jess walks deserted corridors. The wristcom points one
direction, but something draws him another way. He steps
through a portal. An alarm goes off. A nurse, face shielded
by exposure suit, suddenly blocks his way.
NURSE
You can't go in there, Sir.
JESS
No.
He pushes through, but a glimpse of squiggly things stops
him short. A small nurse whines up to him on wheels.
WHEELNURSE
You don't want to go in there.
JESS
Casualties.
WHEELNURSE
Veterans, yes. And ...
What he sees in dark corners repels him.
JESS
And enemy! What're they doing here?
WHEELNURSE
Wounded casualties...soldiers and
civilians. Now you must leave.
He hesitates, then pushes past.
It's dark, fetid. In vats... horribly disfigured creatures
...victims of biowarfare, mutants, genetic accidents. Some
turn their faceplates to him.
His face hardens. He turns and leaves.
INTENSIVE CARE
He enters a room filled with vats. He checks his wristcom.
It reads out 1636-AHD. He approaches slowly. A holo appears:
Anilyne...how she looked before... Jess stares at the face
beneath fluid under plastic; barely recognizable as human.
Sudden rage. He turns and finds the nearest thing, a rack of
equipment. He flings it against the wall where it shatters.
Jess looks for something else to smash. A voice interrupts.
VOICE (calmly)
A common response. We buy
those racks by the gross.
Jess turns. A tech, TANAKA, enters motions Jess to a bench.
JESS (anguished)
Why didn't they let her die?
TANAKA
Sixty per cent of her brain was
destroyed. It's veg-state... a
clonegrow. Very expensive.
JESS (voice breaking)
I'll pay.
Lights dim. Tanaka programs an apparatus hidden in the
walls. Beams project on Jess's head and face...probing.
TANAKA (softens)
It's taken care of. Her group...
somebody. They paid for...you...for
your shared memories. Sort of like
a map to trace over...the
braindump.
Jess reacts. He's puzzled for a moment, then goes on.
JESS
Can you regen her?
TANAKA
Good question. (turns to screen)
Don't know. And it's not without
danger. During the session, you're
not in control. Minds've been lost.
Equipment bleeps abruptly. The tech hesitates, waiting.
JESS
I have some delta 5's.
TANAKA
Old security blocks. That's
alright. No need to go into that.
We only need personal memory.
Tanaka queries the databank. It searches. Suddenly, a badge
appears. He looks at Jess with new interest.
JESS
What's that?
TANAKA
Official clearance. Somebody has
already taken care of things.
JESS
What's going on?
TANAKA
As if I knew. Now, You have a
vid... of the attack..?
Jess doesn't deny it, although he grows suspicious. Tanaka
holds out his hand for it.
TANAKA
Don't you trust me?
JESS
It stays right in here.
Jess covers his wristcom. A beat. The tech shrugs.
TANAKA
Okay.
TANAKA starts to connect the leads to Jess's wristcom. Now
he has sudden second thoughts. He hesitates.
JESS
Don't you trust me?
TANAKA
We're not supposed to do this. You
could suck our data the other way.
JESS
Life's filled with things
you're not supposed to do.
Jess opens his hand. A creditchip sparkles. TANAKA turns his
back on the surveillance cameras, pockets the bribe and
connects the lead to Jess's wristcom.
The dump starts. Tech hands Jess a drink; a drug. He stares
curiously at Jess. Jess feels it, stares back, drinks.
Ani's face is projected. A graphic matrix appears to connect
her image to Jess's brain, lobe to lobe. As Jess goes under.
TANAKA
There is one thing...
JESS
What's that?
TANAKA
Your profile... a 6330..a
racial artifact. Antipathy to
native Martians. But your wife...
JESS
Ex-wife.
TANAKA
X... Your X was a Martian?
JESS
Could we begin.
The tech keys. Jess is jacked in. The room disappears. We
are in another space and time; Mars then. Jess is younger.
TANAKA
Anything you feel start to go
wrong...anything...you don't like
just tell me. I'll get you out.
Start. Just talk.
JESS
Talk?
TANAKA
It's easy.
But clearly, it is not.
TANAKA
What was it like back then?
MONTAGE - JESS'S MEMORIES - AS DESCRIBED - EARLY COLONIES
Mars evolves from a dry dead planet to one with mist, rain,
surface water. Colonies pock the area like spores, then
spread out. Water fills depressions making seas. Population
spreads to fill the green areas as Mars is terraformed.
JESS
...Terrans up in numbers, first
time in years. I was one of the
first. Valleans wanted to hear
stories about earth, Greenhouse
changes, the EcoWars... what the
race'd been up to for the last few
hundred years.
TANAKA
And Anilyne?
MONTAGE - EARLY MARS - MEGA-ENGINEERING HUGE DOMES.
JESS
I guess opposites attract. It was
before the crisis. It was still
possible then. Her mother was a
Vallean from Melas Chasma, her
father ...a Martian Outlander.
MONTAGE - RIOTS - NOCTIS LABYRINTHUS DAM IN B.G.
JESS
We found ourselves on opposite
sides of the barricade.
He wakes in the darkened room. Tanaka gestures. He closes
his eyes and is back in Mars past.
JESS
I left, returned to Earth. She went
to a research outpost. She was
Vallean, but also Outlander. She
was safe. For years.
TANAKA
You had children?
This question makes Jess very uncomfortable.
JESS
No. No children.
Tanaka observes an emotional spike on the readouts.
It triggers something. The brain images change, grow darker,
more disturbing.
Suddenly something goes wrong. We are on the Outland surface
with jumbled, terrifying memories. The vid kicks in. He
relives the assault through her eyes. An image...a child.
JESS
What's that?
TANAKA
Artifact. A memory, a dream. Could
be anything. Stress forced it
through the filters.
JESS
Who...?
TANAKA
Anyone...friend, family, just a
face. Doesn't mean anything,
necessarily. The guys got tapes of
things you wouldn't believe...under
attack, the damndest things come
out...Sorry. Forgot you're family.
Suddenly, Jess is caught in the dump. He flashes to some-
thing horrific...sub-human. He feels someone scanning.
JESS
Get me out!
But there is no response.
More images, rapidly swirling. And one image is a squishy
horror. Ani is there, surprised at something. They are in the
midst of a raging, rampaging fight.
JESS
Whores! Scientists...all whores!
ANILYNE
Don't blame me. Don't blame
technology. Blame yourself...people
like you. You're the soldier, the
one who kills for a living.
JESS
And what do you do? Anything!
Anything for progress! What is
progress? This?!
ANILYNE
No. It's a mistake, a false start.
It happens. But I can fix it. You
can't stop science. You can't
unlearn things. You must go on.
JESS
On toward what?
ANILYNE
No one knows. Nobody can know. But
you can't stand still. In the whole
damn cosmos, nothing stands still!
JESS
Well, I won't stand still for this.
ANILYNE
It's not your choice. Jess. Don't!
Push past her, past bubbling equipment. She tries to block.
It's something she doesn't want him to see. He pushes past.
There, in a vat...all dark and wiggly...an infant, but
misformed, horrible. He grabs it, turns from her. She
screams, rushes after, clawing at him.
Then he is OUT, sweating, rigid.
HOSPITAL ROOM
Tanaka stares at him.
TANAKA
What was that?
JESS (unnerved)
What...oh, nothing.
TANAKA
Her work.
The tech picks up a huge emotional spike on the monitor.
JESS (sweating)
What, oh yeah, I guess it was...
I don't remember. Are you through?
You have what you need? Can I go?
TANAKA
Are you alright?
He doesn't respond. Pain and confusion show on his face.
Then he comes back to the present and notices the tech.
JESS
What...yeah, yeah, I'm fine.
He pulls himself together.
TANAKA
Here, drink this trank.
JESS
No. No tranks.
TANAKA
You're welcome...(no response)
It's a joke... (Jess just stares at
him.) You'll be alright, just take
it easy. Anything else... you need?
JESS
A moment alone.
Jess stares at the stored image of Anilyne. Horrible
thoughts collide in his brain.
INT. HALLWAYS - MEDICAL CENTER - LATER - JESS
Walking. He remembers something, checks his wristcom data,
turns down a hall, checks the room numbers, finds a nurse.
JESS
VAT AH143 Elyse.LTM3? From Galilea?
WHEELNURSE
Date of admittance?
JESS
May 43rd 2166. Day of the attack.
He comes to rack AH143. It's empty. The nurse calls up data.
NURSE
Released.
JESS
Address?
WHEELNURSE (surprised)
Nothing... No address. It's wiped.
Whatever the reason, she's gone. As the nurse turns away,
Jess slips his wristcom onto the data port. Hear the Bleep as
he accesses and steals data on the missing woman.
INT. VALLECITY SECURITY COMPOUND - INFOCENTER - NIGHT
Luna walks through a nerve center of chaos. On screen; The
Underworld; sirens, strobe lights. She nods at guys on duty.
She looks up. Jess stands there with two cups of coffee. She
accepts one, hikes a leg up on a chair, studies him.
LUNA
All these years. Even now... She's
got a hold on you.
JESS
You know our trouble, you and me?
LUNA
Too much alike, I guess.
JESS
Yeah, not enough difference to make
it interesting.
LUNA
You'd like me now. I've become lots
more difficult in my later years.
JESS
So have I.
LUNA
You still leaving?
JESS
Who wants to know?
LUNA (hurt)
Me. I want to know. I don't forget.
I'm here if you need me.
JESS
I'm sorry. I know you are.
LUNA
She get to you? Or is it Mars?
He turns away and moves along the surveillance screens
studying the omnipresent Valle security coverage.
JESS
Those guys at the Outpost, why were
they were left with no security?
LUNA
They had security. Same as anybody.
Natives hit and run. Unless we have
a Sat footprint on 'em, we don't
know where. And we can't get a
satellite on 'em, 'cause soon as we
launch one, somebody shoots it
down.
LUNA (CON'T)
So mostly we're left with too few
men chasing god knows who, up
trails that are too damn old.
JESS
Well, I've got a problem.
LUNA
I got a hundred thousand of them.
Terrans off the boat. We haven't
got the room. What we have is
trouble. What you get when you put
too many humans too close together
and light a fire under them.
(Takes him by the arm out of
frazzled dispatcher traffic.)
Somebody's got to decide whether
they want the frontier. And decide
to foot the bill. Until they do,
I'm just the scorekeeper here.
She studies him. She's seen this look before.
JESS
I've got to find out what happened.
LUNA
Martians like Aaraam are running
all over us.I can't help much if
you do go out.
JESS
Are you talking me out of it?
LUNA
Hell no. Wouldn't waste my breath.
(She stops him for a beat.)
What do you need?
JESS
Men. The kind a sheriff would
like to get rid of.
She laughs, takes him to a holobooth, sweeps it, jacks in a
hypercube. Secret data ripples; wanted persons. She comes to
a dossier labeled 'MostWanted'. It's Jess's, coded: XRT.
JESS
What's that code mean?
LUNA (grins)
Dangerous. Under suspicion.
Intentions unknown.
Outside the booth, an officer motions to her. She excuses,
steps outside, leaving the info up.
He surreptitiously leans in, touches his wristcom to the
hypercube. A flashbeep as he steals the data.
LUNA
Seen enough?
She stands there. Did she see? He covers his wristcom.
EXT. LOWELL CITY - UNDER THE IUS DOME - MONTAGE SURVEILCAMS
Offloading thousands after a year in space creates a "Mar-di
Gras". Jess stands by the surging crowd, scanning Most Wanted
data on his wristcom. He finds info on underground haunts of
criminal types. He finds a LOWTEK bar. He steps into the
crowd and is swept through the streets and into...
INT. LOWTEK BAR
filled with weird "people". Jess moves through.
A woman in a dark chabalahood stops his eye. She has
business with rough types. Some growl, some laugh, all brush
her off.
She moves to a cyberpunk. Jess recognizes him from the Most
Wanted List; DOS KASIMOV.ATM8, a space urchin, all fastalk
adrenalin rush.
Something she says makes him laugh.
DOS
No.
Vague mumblings from the girl. Dos shakes his head.
DOS
Because I like my life. Nasty,
brutish and short, it may be, but
it's my most valuable possession.
(she murmers to him) You can't.(She
asks) Because I like you. But if
you try to go through with it,
you... can leave me that coat.
She turns and is quickly gone. Jess picks other fragments
from the aural stew as he reviews Dos's dossier..
"Cav's kicking butt along the Tempe."
"Can't kick em if you can't find them."
"Find Aaraam, they'll wish they hadn't."
Dos feels Jess's glance. In nanoseconds he's in motion. Jess
vectors him aside, then feels a stinger pressing his side.
DOS
Wanna dance?
He glances down at the stinger.
JESS
Some other time.
Jess looks down again. Dos' eyes follow to a bigger knife.
DOS
Ah...you deal in antiquities.
JESS
No. Information.
DOS
Call the phone company.
JESS
I'd rather ask you.
DOS
Love at first sight.
JESS
Yeah. Let's get married. Have
some kids. Little ones. With
holes in their sides.
DOS
You know, you're right. Drinking
and dangerous weapons don't mix.
He nods quizzically. Jess affirms. As one, both weapons
disappear. No one around has seen anything.
JESS
Tell me something.
DOS
No. Forget it. Nobody goes out.
JESS
Who wants to go out?
DOS
You do. It's that kind of bar. But
you can't. The Martians are on the
move, but organized this time.
JESS
I need something cracked.
DOS
I can take you somewhere.
JESS
Where?
DOS
You aren't gonna like it.
JESS
Why not?
DOS
It smells.
JESS
What do you charge?
DOS
Me, nothing. They'll charge a lot.
I make mine on the float.
SOMEWHERE BENEATH THE DOME - THE UNDERGROUND
Noises in the dark. Dos leads him through a favella winding
up the canyon side and into...
INT. TECHNOLAB
A maze of equipment jumbled together. Jess is on alert.
JESS
Nobody here.
DOS
There's you and me.
JESS
Who's gonna do the job?
DOS
Two choices. It's not you, is it?
JESS
Thought you didn't do this.
DOS
I lied. It's a survival mechanism.
Jess shows him his message fragment; the attack. This and
his credit chip greatly interest Dos. He moves to a console,
jacks in. His hands play the keyboard at warp speed. Picture
fragments fly overhead room. Finally, he gets it stabilized.
DOS
See...that embedded code?
Dug it out of the interstices.
He takes two bundles of silvery mesh off a rack.
DOS
Surveilcams recorded every angle on
different data streams. You've been
seeing an autodirect program. But
the rawdata is there. And with it
I...can make a virtual environment.
He hands one to Jess, drapes the second over himself. The
mesh clings, connects; an input telesuit. He jacks in and
they are standing in the vid....in VIRTUAL REALITY.
Moving forward and backward at will, they study the attack.
The scene speeds, slows, at their direction. They walk behind
people, zoom them larger. They control this universe.
But there are dropout holes in the imagery.
JESS
I can't see that.
DOS
It's not an exact science.
JESS
What's that? Freeze the field.
Run subtrack ten sec cycle.
Instinctively DOS knows what he wants. They jog and cycle
the audio track. A musical phrase is abstracted.
JESS
Stop it.
DOS
But I've just started.
JESS
I've seen enough.
Dos reverses the 'reality'. It rewinds slowly.
JESS
How many data streams can you run?
DOS
How much money have you got?
JESS (a beat)
Wait here.
DOS
Not a chance. You know where this
thing is. It keeps moving. So do I.
I come with you.
He starts straping his black boxes into a vest.
JESS
Okay, but be careful.
DOS
You be careful. I'll be right
behind you.
Jess's eyes are drawn to a wall-holo of the Outland.
DOS
You're going out. What for?
JESS
To find out what happened.
She was my wife.
DOS
Was? You came ninety million
miles for that?
JESS
That's right.
DOS
Okay, have it your way. But there's
a war on and you're going right
into it. What else is out there?
JESS
Nothing. Just that.
Dos looks around the reality.
DOS
That...I do not choose to believe.
I know who you are. Everyone's
spooked about the Outland. I'm not.
I can handle myself. I know about
Outposts, the Bugworks.
The SFX musical phrase repeats, now clearly.
JESS
What's that?
DOS
What, Bugworks?
JESS
No. That. What's that sound?
DOS
Feedback. No. No. Maybe it's music.
JESS
What kind of music?
DOS
I don't know.
But as he tunes, they listen. It's the weird sound of the
Martians, now more familiar. Jess gets an idea.
JESS
Jack this in.
He gives Dos the Secret Dossiers. Dos keyword searches.
It bleeps on the dossier of RAND.xth1.9. a specialist in
Martian Culture; also a possible subversive. Listed among his
haunts... the Academy of St. Martians.
Jess looks at Nic's card..the same.
JESS
Oh, shit.
Dos slips the console in a harness, covers it with a coat.
EXT/INT. ACADEMY OF ST. MARTIANS IN THE FIELDS.
Jess and Dos enter a cavernous ellipse. People stand among
Martian plants. Music similar to that on the vid is heard.
Dos drifts away, covering Jess as he searches.
In one grotto, a familiar form orates to a group.
NIC
Man, the catalyst, unleashed
natural forces locked in inert
chemical bonds. Electrons slip
orbit for new ones closer to life!
Nic glances at Jess. His eyes flash in some strange
collusion. Jess studies the pilgrims listening avidly.
NIC
Like God's kiss, human intelligence
brings disorder into order and
wakes the world.
He winks. Jess moves further into the crowd.
NIC
Men who left the lush terrain of
earth for the dark, cold Spaces
walk on their work... their
destiny...as the "Marain" bursts
forth into life.
Jess spots RAND listening to the ancient music. He is tall,
with the dark features of a half-breed. Jess sees Dos spot
Rand and move in behind him.
Jess turns. Nic stands next to him with a Cheshire cat grin.
NIC
I do hope you were taking notes.
JESS
Some of the finest frontier
gibberish I've heard.
NIC
Thank you sincerely.
Jess turns back. Rand senses Jess's interest, furtively
glances at him, then moves away. Jess follows.
Someone else follows Rand. Jess notices another. The two
stalkers separate.
Rand turns and looks directly at Jess. He seems to assume
that Jess is leading the group following him. Jess shakes his
head no. He glances right and left, indicating the threats.
Rand turns left.
Jess engages the threat on the right. Rand walks off,
quickly disappears.
The left stalker suddenly loses his prey, tries to catch up.
Then Rand appears before him. They face off.
The pursuer is not ready. Then he sees his back-up moving
into position.
Suddenly, Jess appears. The second man is checked. The first
pursuer is one-on-one against Rand, a position he now
regrets. He takes off. Jess does nothing.
Rand turns, throws something. It whistles after the man as
he disappears into shadow. Rand and Jess move off together.
RAND
You let him get away.
JESS
Wasn't my fight.
RAND
Now it is. Been on Mars long?
JESS
Nope.
RAND
It shows. Thanks for the help.
JESS
You'll do the same for me sometime.
RAND
You're wishing bad luck on
yourself, friend.
JESS
No more than I have. Or you do.
Rand studies Jess. Nic slides into step, winks at Rand.
NIC
You're so...popular!
RAND
Seven parking tickets.
NIC
Oh, yes. They're so strict!
Someone passes close, they avert their faces. Rand suddenly
seems to lecture dim students.
RAND
Martians are divided into bands.
As he waves his hand, holomaps appear. Regions highlight.
RAND
The Arcadians and Tempes are from
planitias north of the Valle. The
Argyre and Noachis from the south.
JESS
The Cyane are upland tribes from
the Tharsis plateau. To the east,
in the Chaotic Valles, are the
Xanthes, Aures and the Chryse.
The bypasser's gone. Rand looks at Jess with new interest.
RAND
So seldom... a Terran with an
interest in these things.
JESS
But there are Martians with an
interest in these.
Jess passes him an infocube. Rand touches it to his
wristcom. The music phrase from the attack plays.
Nic's wristcom alarm buzzes.
NIC
We're being scanned, Jess.
Rand looks up.
RAND
Jess? (Jess says nothing. Rand
looks at the cube) You can work
that out on any simple database.
JESS
Not like you can.
Jess touches his wristcom. Rand looks up in surprise. His
own face appears; his own secret dossier. Rand blinks.
RAND (suspicious)
But I'm not interested.
But clearly Rand is. Jess shows him the code on his dossier.
JESS
That XRT. That means
dangerous. Under suspicion.
Then Jess shows him his own dossier; also XRT.
RAND
The phrase is ancient. Of
course, you need the context.
A DARK CORNER -
Jess plays the attack vid. Nic keeps watch. Rand is hooked
by the mystery. The musical phrase is repeated.
JESS
You know what it is?
RAND
Fragment of a legend song. White
Goddess theme. (Jess stares)...A
woman...to revitalize the gene
pool. Fertility legend of the
Chrysean tribes.
UNDERGROUND
Jess, Nic and Rand are on the move. Dos trails them.
JESS
So they're Chryseans?
RAND (shrugs)
Bands change. Somebody gets an
idea, attracts a few men, they go
out, steal stuff, melt back into
the tribe; the Noachis, the
Chryse. Aaraam. Names change.
Nobody knows who did what. Same
guys show up at another outpost in
a week, hocking the goods. Now
they're selling gentech to finance
their war.
JESS
To...?
RAND
To whatever Megalop has feelers
out for the technology.
JESS
You sympathize with them?
RAND (hesitates)
I can see their point of view.
Alarm Beep! Rand's wristcom projects the Most-Wanted list.
Dos' face appears. Rand looks up. Dos is there in person,
grinning at him, fiddling with his console.
DOS (to Jess)
We've got a trailer...
RAND
Where'd you get this?
JESS
A friend. You worry her. She thinks
you're an agent.
RAND
So she gave you that?
JESS
I jacked it. Along with your
address code. Dos here cracked it.
Without this, you don't exist.
RAND
And would be arrested on sight.
JESS
Not if you weren't here.
RAND
If I wasn't here, where would I be?
JESS
Out.
Rand looks at Dos who grins. Jess is alert. Something hunts.
RAND
They after me or you?
JESS
Why would someone be after you?
RAND
I've got some debts coming due any
second. And you?
JESS
Me? I'm just a Terran.
RAND
Some places that's reason enough.
Movement, on all sides of them, and moving in.
RAND
On second thought...a vacation.
Probably just what I need!
UNDERGROUND - SUDDEN MOVEMENT.
A vicious attack! Four thugs. Dos is down. Rand and Nic are
engaged. Two attack Jess, go for his wristcom. Then one
attacker gets the drop on him. He's a nanosec from death.
A form from the shadows clips the attacker.
Jess throws his man who rolls, disappears. The figure from
the shadows, in a familiar chabalasuit, leans over a downed
thug. He's dead. Jess moves.
JESS
I wanted to talk to him.
The figure looks up. Only the eyes are visible.
FIGURE
Should have talked faster.
The figure goes back to rifling the enemy's effects.
JESS
What are you doing?
FIGURE
It's my kill. I get the goods.
JESS
My fight. You butted in.
FIGURE
Good thing I did. You would
have lost it. I'd be arguing
with him over you.
The figure walks off toward a NeonBar. Jess picks up a
shaken Dos. He sees Rand follow the figure into the bar. A
body down, distant sirens... Jess grabs Nic and follows.
JESS
What are you doing?
NIC
Give me some credit. The Church
doesn't really deal in mysteries.
I want to help. You need my help.
(Jess is suspicious. Nic grins)
This stuff,(holds robes) is boring.
Jess looks at him hard, finally cracks.
JESS
So is being staked in a sand pit.
NIC
What did I do to deserve such
distrust?
JESS
Well, there was that time in the
Labyrinth...And in Ius Chasma...
NIC
So...six or seven honest mistakes.
The rest is lost in noise, but Jess has his arm around Nic,
partially to pat him down for weapons as he leads them in.
INT. NEONBAR
Jess leads Dos to the bar. Rand joins, indicates the other
thug got away. The figure...the hood slips, the briefest
glint of a face. It's the girl from the LOWTEK BAR. Then they
are close. Her actions are tense. She wants something.
DOS
Beautiful.
NIC
And very expensive. Hasn't quite
set. Expressions a shade standard.
JESS
Something intelligent in the eyes.
NIC
Yeah, just behind the vat I.D.
numbers. Women think they can
change their fate with their face.
But the old one always wears
through. There's some weird
proto-Martian trouble there.
Jess moves to her, orders drinks. Her hair is a copperish
Martian tint cut short. A tiny scar at the corner of her
mouth twinges when she is tense, on alert. As she is now.
JESS
Why the scar? They could have
fixed that with the face.
Looks up at him, then back.
ELYSE
Souvenir.
The face is serene. The odd, off-handed humor is all in the
eyes. Her attitude is a defense against deep anger. ELYSE is
lethal, the young hot-tempered gun. He touches her face.
JESS
Very nice... An accident?
ELYSE
No. No accident.
Drinks come. She looks curiously at his wine, enhancers in
the nose quivering... He sees her glance.
JESS
You following me?
ELYSE (laughs)
Maybe we just enjoy talking
to the same type of people.
JESS
Thieves, mercs, combat cases,
adrenalin junkies, psychos.
ELYSE
Exactly.
JESS
Starting a dance troupe?
She turns, studies him, gives it to him straight.
ELYSE
My outpost was hit in a raid.
I'm the only one left.
JESS (sudden gestalt)
You were in Sinai Medical?
ELYSE
Who are you? What're you doing
here?
JESS
What you are, looking for help.
Having much success?
ELYSE
Lot of tough swaggers. Nobody
really wants to go out after
Martians. Not for what I can pay.
(offers hand) Elyse.LTM3.
JESS
Jess Yeager.
She freezes up. Her face sets. She turns and walks off.
After a beat, he goes after her. She won't turn around.
ELYSE
Anilyne was a friend of mine.
JESS
I know. I've seen the attack. I
would have recognized you, but...
(indicates her face) you've
changed. (a beat) She ever talk
about me?
ELYSE
Never.
JESS (realization)
...was a friend?
ELYSE (surprised)
She's dead.
JESS
No.
ELYSE (sadly)
Yes.
JESS
I just did a brain dump with her.
She turns, surprised, then resigned. She studies him.
ELYSE
Not with her you didn't. She never
made it out. I don't know who you
linked with or what you told them,
but it wasn't her.
Jess is stunned. He turns to the corner, deep in thought.
She stands, looking around. A dozen eyes search her. She
checks out Dos, Rand, Nic. Finally she moves to Jess.
ELYSE
You didn't know. I'm sorry.
He pulls her into a back room. The others follow, watching
for trailers. He finds a cubicle, rents it and they enter.
Dos sets up equipment. Jess jacks to his wristcom. As the
others watch, he and Dos electronically break into Sinai.
They "go" to Anilyne's room. Her vat is gone. They search.
Finally Dos unplugs, looks at Jess.
JESS
You're going back out? Why?
ELYSE
They were my friends. And you?
(he doesn't respond)...Join me.
JESS
You want to run things?
He glances in Dos's survelliance monitor at the security
patrol outside, picking up the thug's body.
JESS
Not exactly a low key approach.
ELYSE
You're the one attracting
attention. Judging from that, you
haven't been out in years. Your
flexes are a nanosec slow. I know
the Outlands. I know the outpost.
( a beat) I'll go with you.
JESS
Doesn't anyone ever say please?
She looks at him for a moment, then snorts a laugh. Dos
slides up, his wristcom alarm buzzing.
DOS
Surveillance. Looking for us!
JESS
I need ten seconds.
DOS
Make it a fast ten.
They step into a corner. Dos programs... A holoimage of the
corner is projected in front of them. To the casual observer,
they disappear. Under the illusion, Jess turns...
JESS
I'm going out.
RAND
How far?
JESS
To Galilea. You're invited.
RAND
What's in it for... us?
JESS
I can't say. You'll have to figure
that out for yourselves.
They look at each other. Elyse looks suspiciously at Nic.
ELYSE
Wait. I don't know these people.
JESS
You have four seconds to walk away.
The seconds count off.
ELYSE
How many you have?
DOS (proudly)
Two.
RAND (thoughtfully)
Three.
NIC (ironic)
Four.
Nic takes position commanding the door. Elyse scans them.
ELYSE
Not enough. (beat) Five.
JESS
What'll you do if you find them?
ELYSE
When I find them, if it won't
interfere with your plans, I'll
kill them.
NIC
Charming.
DOS
We're drawing interest.
They feel it. They are being watched. They split.
EXT. UNDERGROUND - JESS
His wristcom buzzes warning. Someone hunts him. He slips
away, leads them on a chase. They wear him down. He takes
cover, but they release a gas that rushes toward him.
IN LIMBO
He wakes to an interlocking moire pattern defining space. He
leans forward, puts his hand through the pattern. Buzzing
warns him of a nerve-block fence. A symbol appears. A voice.
OFFICER 1
Don't move. Valle Security. You
have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say, think...or feel
may be taken down and used against
you in a...
A distortion in the field. Then the face of Luna appears.
LUNA
Awright, awright...at ease. (turns
to Jess) Sorry. I just found out.
Some of the guys...a little
overeager. They want to deport you.
JESS
Thanks for your help.
LUNA (surprised)
Why...you're welcome.
(leans in to Jess)
We have made a deal?
INT. COMMAND ASSAULT CRAFT
Luna leans over him. Elyse is brought up. She climbs in,
looks at Jess, at the others, at the troops and military
hardware.
ELYSE
Very impressive.
Jess looks at Luna but she turns away. The AC lifts, swoops
up and out over the Valle.
INT. ASSAULT CRAFT - JESS, LUNA AND TROOPS.
They lift out of the dome. As air pressure drops, they pull
on oxygen lines. They move past checkpoints, past pickets in
hardsuits, past the scars of battle.
The Sheriff's troops are wound up. They whoop as the AC
jinks, as flares blast, ECM buzz and rattle. They check
weapons and steal glances at the strangers.
Jess's is combat-ready. He's done this before. They watch
him on a hairy negative dive. He meets their eyes coolly.
A terrifying drop. He doesn't blink. Elyse is cool, Nic and
Rand look okay, but Dos is a little green around the gills.
Jess winks at him. He leans to the pilot.
JESS
This thing safe?
Pilot turns, thinks for a minute, grins over his shoulder.
PILOT
Fuck no!
Dos has a bad moment. They laugh at him. It breaks the
tension. The troops check out Elyse. Luna studies Jess.
LUNA
You know how dangerous this is?
JESS
Yeah.
AERIAL - OVER OUTPOST GALILEA 43
On the slope of a ring island caldera. Concentric impact-
crater rings, half-submerged, form steep islands, broken by
arcs of water. The small sun hangs over distant mountains.
RAND
The sea in Galilea. For four
billion years, there's been
nothing like this.
JESS
Yeah, and no one to see it. Now all
of a sudden, it's strategic. But
why would they come back again?
LUNA
Whatever they were looking for,
they didn't find the first time.
OUTPOST GALILEA 43
They land, spread out, set up a perimeter, study defenses.
Jess directs the others to pick among the rubble for clues.
NIC (impressed)
They had a good security perim.
LUNA
You ever see a perim stop a
Martian? They spook our bugs with
their bugs. They've been here a
long time. They're very good with
their juju. This is still a
dangerous place.
Jess picks finds something in the dirt. He studies a
fragment with half-destroyed serial: 78..3H.crx.
JESS
CRX series gene splicer.
RAND (ironic)
Whole damn planet's just a big R
and D pit for some megalop. If it
works, they make megabucks, if it
doesn't, they isolate their
mistakes on the frontier.
INT. OUTPOST
As it appeared in the vid, destroyed and nine months
weathered. Gaping holes, fractured beams. Tattered insulation
whips in the wind. Dos measures angles.
DOS
If we lay our data over this, we
can see what they took. And we can
reverse plot the trajectories.
Dos's fingers fly. The explosions reverse. The projectiles
reform and fly backwards, leaving whirling tracer trails.
Jess suddenly hears something. He throws himself down,
pulling Luna with him. The others look at him for a moment,
then they too dive for cover.
A flaming comet roars overhead and smashes into the ruins,
raining them with white-hot debris.
LUNA
What in the Chryse was that?
Jess picks up a fragment of shrapnel gingerly by the edges.
JESS
What was the desig of that new
satellite you just put up?
LUNA
Gimme that! Chryse, Phobos and
Deimos! They just shot it down!
Jess looks across to what's left of the Outpost.
JESS
And not a bad country shot it was.
You might consider it a message.
LUNA
For me or for you?
JESS
To hit a sat, you'd need the power
of a megalop... an Omidata. Now,
who was telling me these were just
a bunch of disorganized raiders?
(Jess grabs a probe from a Scout)
What you doing with that?
SCOUT
It's a drone, a Bird'seye...to see
up. You got a problem mister.
JESS
Yeah, don't do it 'til I get well
away. They're gonna send a Ferret
down that beam and kill you.
SCOUT 2
Not this, this is a Mark 21.
JESS
Well, experience is a great
teacher. I'll be over there.
He walks off. They stand holding their drone. Luna turns and
walks off after him. She offers him a blast of her oxygen.
LUNA
You were a rookie once. How come
nobody let you get yourself killed?
Jess thinks about it, stops, turns around and walks back
toward the confused troopers. He takes the drones, tunes them
as he walks to the troopers, hands them over.
JESS
You launch in multiples, tune in
series. Each talks to the next, and
only to him. The first goes down.
You dive the last. They may not be
fast enough to target you. Then
again, they might just be.
The trooper's eyes widen but they thank him gruffly.
They start to set up three drones.
INT. THE OUTPOST - LATER
In the destroyed wreckage Dos sets up his equipment. He is
unnerved by Luna, Jess and the troopers watching blankly.
JESS
Problem? You have what you need?
DOS
Didn't expect such a...
distinguished audience.
NIC
Don't worry. I give you absolution.
And so does she.
He looks over. Luna smiles, but Jess is spooked by the
location. Then he comes out of it, motions Dos to proceed.
DOS
We have the original vid, your
memories, what you jacked from
the hospital and...Elyse. It
ought to be a lot clearer.
Dos hands a telesuit to Jess, drapes a second over Elyse.
The mesh clings, connects. Elyse looks uncertain.
JESS
Are you okay with this? You
don't have to do it.
ELYSE
Yes I do.
He turns, gives the nod to Dos. Dos jacks in.
They stand in the VIRTUAL REALITY. Moving backward, they
examine the attack, the people, the reactions. The scene
speeds, slows, pauses. The imagery is clearer.
They feel the shock, the brutality. By running it over the
actual location, they see missing equipment.
NIC
They took all the genetic gear.
But Jess is already on to something else. During the attack,
he notices the Martians' interest is focused on Anilyne.
JESS
What were they working on?
Dos runs the reality back...then forward. They circle around
to Anilyne. She is inputting, but the squiggles on her screen
are in indecipherable machine language, except for one symbol
that Jess looks at closely...an ANKH.
DOS
She's inputting directly in code,
hiding the data from everyone.
Now he sees for the first time, the part of the action
interrupted by static in the vid. A figure runs up to Anilyne
at the console. It's a young girl, about 13. She looks like
Anilyne. Anilyne turns, hugs her, leads her to a hidden door.
She kisses the girl, shoves her through, goes back to her
battle station. She's crying.
JESS
Who's that?
ELYSE
It's Xanthe. Of course.
JESS
Xanthe?
ELYSE
Xanthe... Her daughter.
Jess is stunned.
ELYSE
You didn't know?
JESS
No. She never told me. (a beat)
Who's the father?
Elyse looks at him strangely, then she's back to 'reality'.
A blast. The 'reality' continues... walls blow in, air
rushes out. Explosions shock. Dos turns to a grim Jess.
DOS
You may not want to see this.
JESS
Keep running.
Anyline is hit, blown against the wall. Jess watches and his
face sets. A noise, he turns, glimpses the dark figure
entering. Then they notice Elyse. She's in trouble....
JESS
Cut it!.
The VR cuts, but Elyse can't get out mentally. She relives
the attack. Out of control, she flails around the room. Rand
and Nic tear off their own connections, tackle her, tear her
telesuit off, hold her trying to subdue her convulsions. She
calms. Jess leads her away from them.
ANOTHER ROOM - FILLED WITH WRECKED LAB EQUIPMENT
Elyse is badly shaken, and embarrassed at her weakness.
JESS
I'm sorry. I shouldn't have
let you do this.
ELYSE
It's alright. It reminds me why
I'm here.
JESS
Why are you here?
ELYSE (a beat)
You ever been where they've
breached a containment?
JESS
Nope.
ELYSE
Like being in a tornado. (a beat)
We shouldn't be out here, if we're
not gonna adapt and be like them.
JESS
You did. You got new lungs...
ELYSE
The old ones weren't too ripe after
the attack. I couldn't get a thing
for them.
JESS
Lungs...eyes...neuroreflex...quasi
legal biogen...But they weaken you.
There is some cost.
ELYSE
Nothing weakens me.
He takes her face in his hands.
JESS
What kind of equipment did
they put in there, anyway?
ELYSE
Only the best.
JESS
I should let you rest.
He hesitates. She moves closer.
ELYSE
She did speak of you. She just
never spoke your name. But I know.
JESS
Too much.
ELYSE
Not enough.
(He turns)
Stay.
She opens her arms.
ELYSE
Haven't really tried out
all the new stuff.
He embraces her, but just to comfort her, then pushes away,
lets himself out, leaves her standing.
MAIN ROOM - LUNA, DOS, OTHERS
Jess walks in. Luna looks at him jealously.
LUNA
Everything okay?
JESS
She's upset. You understand.
She picks a long hair off his collar.
LUNA
Yes. I do.
AT DOS'S CONSOLE - LATER.
Dos and Jess are locked in the reality. Jess is intent.
JESS
What is it?
DOS (curious)
Some kind of lock. She had it
coded, keyed to your voice print...
released only to you.
Anilyne fades. Then a bleep! Datastreams. Images mix in
rapid flashes...too much info in an overwhelming rush.
Rapid scan of a little girl's image through a database.
Finally a match, then an ID; a birth certificate. Xanthe...
He brings up a Chromosome database. The girl's genes match
with her mother, Anilyne. Then her face...Anilyne's secret:
ANILYNE
S..yoorr. sss youuuor.
JESS
What? What?
Dos plays with the controls. The face stabilizes.
ANILYNE
Jess. I know you'll come. I'm
sorry. I never told you. Xanthe.
She's yours. Take care of her.
Jess reacts with shock as the pixels resolve.
The girl's face clears, superimposed over the older girl
from the attack. The images mix; same girl. See her medical
history, her fingerprints, cerebral maps, her chromosomes.
Then we see other chromosomes...a match. They are identified
as those of her natural mother, Anilyne and as those of the
father...Jess. His have the Logo ID of an insemination bank.
DOS
You're a father. You have been
for...fifteen earth years.
JESS'S FACE - SURPRISE, ANGER...SADNESS.
He had no idea. Then, as he watches the holo, a child's data
stream appears, develops, grows complex, then abruptly ends.
JESS
What happened?
DOS
Her bio ends there.
JESS
She's dead?
RAND
The child was taken. By him.
Jess looks at the dark figure, half visible. Jess walks up
face to face with the image. He can't make out the face and
stares through it with hatred.
RAND
Aaraam. It's his theme...
ELYSE
She's the key.
JESS
To what?
ELYSE
I don't know. But they hit us
because of Ani's work. Maybe, if
they think Xanthe knows something,
they'll keep her alive.
Off to the side, Luna is staring at him. He looks away to
where Dos matches the virtual reality with the physical set.
He finds something, calls Jess over.
DOS
Here's something they didn't find.
JESS
What is it?
DOS
Looks like a biotech pit.
Instinctively Jess blasts it. Dos screams, holds his head.
DOS
Geez! Chryse! Look Out!
Dos shuts down. The scene fades. They stand in the wrecked
outpost. Jess turns away. Dos looks worried.
DOS
What was it? What'd they have in
there?
JESS
Nothing. Just some squishy stuff.
NIC
When they hit us with bios at
Kasei, there was a lot of squishy
stuff... Captain Benning, Haris,
Sergeant Ito. You going out there?
You're nuts if you do.
JESS
So are you.
EXT. OUTPOST - LATER
They send up three drones. The data stream from above the
outpost gives them a view of the quadrant of Mars.
EXT. OUTPOST - SHORT TIME LATER
They prepare to leave. Luna has a jealous look for Elyse.
She moves to Jess.
LUNA
Pretty girl.
JESS
What? Oh, yeah...guess so.
LUNA
Thought you had a problem with
bioenhancements.
JESS
Not her fault. She had no choice.
The Martians made it for her.
LUNA
Don't waste yourself on revenge.
It's too damn dangerous. She's
probably dead. You don't know what
they've done to her. Don't go.
JESS
You know I've got to. Can you help?
She hesitates, then whips out her weapon. She blasts the ID
ports of the Assault Craft next to her.
LUNA
I'm leaving you these. Officially,
they were destroyed by the sat. If
you're smart, you'll use them to
turn around and come back in.
JESS
Never been smart. It's a setup?
LUNA (agreeing)
Somebody wants you here.
JESS
What can I do, turn around?
LUNA
No. Not you. Not now. Maybe
somebody's counting on that.
She climbs aboard, takes the controls, signals the troops.
They mount up as Dos runs out.
DOS
Hey, they're pulling out! They
can't leave us here!
NIC
Thought you wanted to go out.
DOS
I did. We are Out. This is far out
right here. I'm not worried. I
just...I meant it in the abstract.
NIC
Well don't worry. It's gonna get
all too concrete from here.
Dos looks to the departing forces. A trooper leans out.
TROOPER
You'll be...sorry!
Luna waves at Jess as The AC's lift. Dos turns away.
DOS
Yeah, story of my life. Okay.
If we're gonna go, let's go.
Jess looks at a holo of Mars on the wall; at outer regions.
He turns to Nic. Nic recognizes the look in his eyes.
NIC (shakes head)
Forget it. Trail's cold. If
you can track em, it's magic.
DOS (holding equip)
Any sufficiently advanced
science is indistinguishable
from magic.
Dos programs his black box. Rand leans over.
RAND
Ahhhh...Valletech.
(It bleeps, dies. Rand smiles.)
And...the limits of Valletech.
DOS (reprogramming)
Iron in the surface rego. Each
passing leaves a very slight
magnetic ghost. If you're good
enough, you can track a trail.
Maybe even one this old.
Dos' blackbox throws a holo. It shows the region from the
drone projection, lighting to indicate their thoughts.
DOS
They went North initially. After
that, your guess.
JESS
Chryseans. They'll head into Lunae.
If they don't know we're here,
they'll know soon. Mount up.
NIC
What's your plan?
JESS
Follow and attack.
He turns away, mounts up. Dos looks after him.
DOS (half-kidding)
That's it? Some plan! I could
come up with a plan that good!
NIC
You know where they're going.
JESS
Yeah. Kasei Valle. ..the biopits.
NIC
You don't want to go back there.
JESS
Damn right I don't. Neither do you.
NIC
I've a flat in the IUS... Hot and
cold running whatever. I'm not
going out there. I'd need to have
my head examined.
JESS
Yeah, you're right. Go back. Tell
whoever you're working for that I'm
on my way.
He mounts the AC, starts it, puts it in gear, waits.
NIC
Aw...Jess, what the hell. Wait.
(He pulls himself up on the
AC, shrugs at Jess sheepishly.)
Hell...Nobody lives forever.
MORE...