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 Ó÷è ñëîâà ïî ôðàçàì èç ôèëüìîâ |
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Ãëàâíàÿ>Êèíîñöåíàðèè>Ñîëäàò/ Soldier Ñöåíàðèé ôèëüìà Ñîëäàò/ Soldier íà àíãëèéñêîì ÿçûêå áåñïëàòíî (÷àñòü 2)
Çäåñü âû ìîæåòå íàéòè ïðîäîëæåíèå ñöåíàðèÿ ê ôèëüìó: Ñîëäàò/ Soldier. Ñîëäàò/ Soldier SANDRA You don't...look afraid. You look fearless. TODD looks at her. This is incredibly difficult for him, like physical labor. He wets his lips and take a breath. TODD Fear and...discipline. SANDRA (growing horror) Oh, my God. But there's nothing to be afraid of here. I can't hurt you. I wouldn't. TODD Always. It makes us...alert. SANDRA is overwhelmed. She reaches for him, hugs him to her breast like a little baby, holding him. But TODD is as tense in her arms as steel. He can't relax. He's even trembling. NATHAN, on the floor, looks up, smiles innocently. SANDRA lets go of TODD and steps back, looking at him, her face troubled, as we... CUT TO: INT. MEETING ROOM - DAY ELLEN is supervising block building (babysitting) with several of the younger children (OMAR, BUCKY, ANGIE and JANICE) while WILL and TOMMY play their own separate games close by. Then WILL looks up and sees something disturbing. WILL You're not supposed to do that anymore. He's speaking to JOHNNY who is doing martial exercises. JOHNNY So what? I'm a soldier. WILL They're gonna kick him out. ELLEN looks up from the blocks. ELLEN They can't kick him out... WILL They're gonna. My father -- ELLEN (interrupting strongly) My mother says when someone's sick or hurt, you have to help them. You don't have a choice. JOHNNY (getting interested) Yeah, but what if the hurt person is...evil? ELLEN You still have to help them... because if you don't, you're evil! WILL (importantly) My father says...uh...he says, "Soldiers deserve soldiers." TOM Yeah. That's what my father said too. ELLEN My father's making Sergeant Todd a scarf because he saved his life one time. He's knitting it. WILL That's dumb. Your father's dumb. WILL is smirking with satisfaction at having settled that when out of nowhere ELLEN's little fist hits him hard on the nose. WILL looks stunned. Blood oozes from his nose. He starts to cry. ELLEN looks horrified at what she's done as we... CUT TO: INT. OTHER ROOM - DAY The scarf! It's been knitted with an elaborate and colorful design. JIMMY PIG'S WIFE (O.S.) Jimmy knitted it himself. He worked on it for two months. SANDRA is examining the knitted scarf as JIMMY PIG and his WIFE stand in the doorway. SANDRA It's beautiful, Jimmy. He'll love it. JIMMY PIG looks very embarrassed. He shrugs. JIMMY PIG He saved my life out there. I guess Mace told you. SANDRA (nods) You should give it to him yourself. I think he's in the meeting room... doing...exercises. JIMMY PIG nods, takes the knitted scarf back from SANDRA as we... CUT TO: EXT. ALLEY/CITY - NIGHT Frantic CIVILIANS, mostly women and children, are illuminated by FLASHES from rocket fire overhead as they scramble for cover amidst heavy CROSSFIRE from automatic weapons. A terrified LITTLE GIRL, separated from her family, seeks shelter in a doorway when suddenly she's confronted by THREE SOLDIERS IN RED UNIFORMS looming over her. Looking up in abject horror, she sees a RED SOLDIER casually pan his assault rifle, pointing the muzzle right at her from only a foot away, unmistakably flexing to fire. BLAM! Suddenly the RED SOLDIER is blown backwards violently, shot in the chest. ANGLE ON TODD, visored, in a torn black uniform, firing again. BLAM! A SECOND RED SOLDIER goes down. CLICK! TODD's weapon jams. As the LITTLE GIRL, amazed to be alive, watches open mouthed, TODD swings his weapon like a club, attacking the THIRD RED SOLDIER before he can aim. Then she runs, leaving TODD savagely beating the THIRD RED SOLDIER to death. TODD is delivering a final savage blow to the prone body when a movement or shadow catches the corner of his eye and he whirls savagely to defend himself from behind -- INT. MEETING ROOM - DAY WHUMP! JIMMY PIG is slammed up against the wall of the meeting room, TODD's big hand around his neck. Gurgling desperately, his eyes popping out of his head, JIMMY PIG stares helplessly into TODD's merciless soldier eyes and his stone face only inches away. TODD blinks. He sees he's got a terrified JIMMY PIG pinned to the wall, his feet dangling two feet off the floor. Slowly he lowers JIMMY PIG to the floor. All JIMMY PIG can do is squeak desperately and point to the floor. JIMMY PIG Scarf! Scarf! TODD looks down. He sees a knit scarf lying on the floor. He doesn't understand. He looks up. He sees JIMMY PIG'S WIFE, HAWKINS, SLADE, and several other PIONEERS standing in the doorway of the meeting room, their stunned expressions indicating they just saw something horrifying. TODD stands there, isolated, bare-chested, his huge muscles glistening with sweat, decorated with terrible scars and mysterious tattoos, as we... CUT TO: INT. OTHER LIVING QUARTERS - NIGHT EVA, Johnny's mother, is reacting, horrified. EVA What....? What... are...those? Chester! CHESTER! CHESTER, Johnny's father, rushes in to see what the commotion's about. ANGLE ON JOHNNY in the tin cauldron that serves as a bath tub. JOHNNY'S bare chest and shoulders are covered with crude imitations of TODD's tattoos. JOHNNY (sullen) Those are my war marks. From the battles I fought. CHESTER and EVA exchange a look. CUT TO: INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT MACE and SANDRA are lying awake in the bed in darkness. For a long moment they're both silent with the silence that comes in a heavy moment in a conversation. Then MACE speaks, his eyes on the ceiling. MACE There's going to be a meeting. People are upset about him. SANDRA He's not fully recovered. MACE That's what scares people. He gets stronger every day. They're both silent for a long moment. MACE has something weighing on his mind that he hesitates to say...but finally he says it. MACE I've caught him..sneaking looks at you. At your body. SANDRA I know. A heavy silence, then... SANDRA Are you afraid of him, Mace? MACE stares at the ceiling and speaks with difficult honesty. MACE Yes. (pauses, then) God knows where he's been...or what he's done. Another pause before... MACE I've never been afraid of anyone before...not this way. I feel he could break me in half...with no real effort and no real...feeling. SANDRA He told me he's afraid. MACE Maybe he is. It doesn't matter. MACE is staring grimly at the ceiling as we... CUT TO: INT. WINDOWLESS CEMENT ROOM - DAY OR NIGHT (FLASHBACK) Silent and surreal, the events of 1986 continue with the PASSIVE FOUR-YEAR-OLD sitting on the floor while the AGGRESSIVE FOUR-YEAR- OLD looks down at him, and other FOUR-YEAR-OLDS gather ominously. It's only now, as he gets to his feet, suddenly trading vicious blows with the AGGRESSIVE FOUR-YEAR-OLD that we realize that this passive boy is FOUR-YEAR-OLD TODD. The boys don't fight like children; they don't quit or cry as the blood flows. Highly-polished shoes, sharply creased trousers, and eyes glittering from the shadows are all that is visible of the faceless OBSERVERS who make no move to interrupt the violence. FOUR-YEAR-OLD TODD, his nose pouring blood, exchanges savage hurtful blows with his opponent, bloodying him viciously, as we... CUT TO: INT. OTHER ROOM - DAY (PRESENT) Eyes! The adult TODD blinks away the memory, stares straight ahead... into NATHAN'S face, only six inches from his own. They're all alone in the room. It's very quiet. NATHAN smiles a tentative smile, raises a hand, reaches out to touch TODD'S face affectionately, curiously, testing their friendship... ANGLE ON TODD, his eyes. Dangerous. He draws his face back enough to avoid being touched. NATHAN looks unsure. He's used to affection. Then he realizes... it must be a game! He reaches out again... Again TODD avoids the touch...and as he does so, something catches his eye. TODD sees a VIPER sliding across the floor toward NATHAN. NATHAN doesn't see it; he's still trying to figure out this game. TODD pulls off his boot and hands it to NATHAN. NATHAN accepts it, thinks it's a gift. He's pleased. It's that kind of game! He gives TODD a friendly "thanks for the boot" smile. TODD points to the VIPER which is close to NATHAN now. NATHAN looks at the VIPER. He doesn't understand what he's supposed to do. TODD makes a hitting motion with his hand. The VIPER is close to NATHAN, coiling. NATHAN looks from the VIPER to TODD. TODD indicates the VIPER with his eyes. His look is intense, a message in his eyes. The VIPER is like a spring, it strikes... TODD's hand is like a blur, almost invisible as he catches the snake and flips it a couple of feet. NATHAN stares. The angry VIPER SPITS and HISSES and coils to strike again. NATHAN looks at TODD. TODD eyes the boot, then indicates the VIPER with his eyes. NATHAN frowns; he's getting the idea. The VIPER is about to strike again... SQUASH! A heavy boot comes down on the snake, crushing it. TODD looks up to see MACE standing on the snake, reaching down for NATHAN. As MACE hugs the boy protectively to his chest, he glares down at TODD with eyes blazing with fury. TODD meets the look without blinking. He never blinks. SANDRA (O.S.) What happened? TODD turns to see SANDRA standing in the bedroom door, her eyes almost as hard as TODD's as we... CUT TO: INT. MEETING ROOM - NIGHT TODD stares impassively as HAWKINS addresses him... HAWKINS No one here has any animosity toward you, Sergeant. None of us here is your enemy. TODD is standing in front of the room full of grim-faced PIONEERS, all looking at him. It's like a court. HAWKINS is flanked by MACE and SANDRA... HAWKINS Moreover, we respect your qualities. We have no doubt that you are a very, very good soldier. As she speaks, TODD's blank stare considers the weathered faces of the PIONEERS facing him. He sees CHESTER, EVA, RED with his WIFE, JIMMY PIG and his WIFE, SLADE and MRS. SLADE, JUDITH, EMMA, SALLY. As HAWKINS continues, TODD's sharp eyes pick out details. He sees JIMMY PIG opening and closing his hands nervously, he sees SLADE fingering a barely noticeable rifle barrel. CHESTER has a weapon too. HAWKINS (O.S.) But, because of your training, I don't think you'll ever be able to function in a group like this, a community of vulnerable people, of families, of children, where the ability to fight is not the sole purpose of existence. The PIONEERS are nervous, ready for trouble, afraid TODD might take this badly and fly off the handle. As TODD's huge hand opens...and closes, their eyes are on it. He could pick up the table and hurl it at them, break men in half with his bare hands. His face is like stone, his eyes like diamond chips as he glances toward SANDRA. TODD sees SANDRA is moved, trying to suppress her emotions, biting her lip, as HAWKINS goes on... HAWKINS You're different from us, Sergeant. We don't hate you for that, but we have agreed that to try to include you would pose an intolerable risk to the community itself. MACE We'll give you any tools you need, warm clothing, a good knife, boots. SANDRA (emotionally) And if you're ever sick...or you get hurt... MACE You're a friend, Sergeant. It's just... MACE doesn't finish. TODD's eyes glance again at the PIONEERS. They too seem moved, not so ready to shoot. TODD blinks. Once. And we... CUT TO: EXT. INSIDE THE TRENCH - MORNING (WIND) TODD is wrapped in a heavy parka, his mouth wrapped with the scarf JIMMY PIG knit, his eyes covered with eye protectors as MACE hands him another sack in addition to the one already over his shoulder. MACE If you need us...you can ask us for help. TODD glances at the knot of PIONEERS gathered in the trench, all eyes on him. SANDRA is among then with NATHAN in her arms. For just a second TODD's eyes go to the cheerful face of NATHAN; then he turns to MACE. MACE is startled to see TODD pull the scarf from his mouth to speak. He's never spoken before unless spoken to. TODD It's not true. (then, with great effort) I'm not a good soldier. Then TODD replaces the scarf over his mouth and starts to climb out of the trench into the wind as we... CUT TO: EXT. LANDSCAPE (AND "STEEL HENGE") - DAY - LATER Four suns glare down from the sky onto the vast, windswept wasteland. TODD is a tiny dot in the vastness, traveling like a bug along one of the long cables that stretches for miles and miles. He's out by the skeleton of the old ship as we... CUT TO: EXT. ANOTHER PLANET - DAY A low slung armored vehicle on caterpillar treads RUMBLES over a steep rocky terrain faintly backlit by a cold sun that looms enormously on the horizon while giving off only a faint glow. Hanging on to the outside of the insect-like scouting vehicle (called a "CRAWLER") are two nasty-looking NEW SOLDIERS in space suits designed for battle, their heavy rocket rifles cradled and ready, their visors blank and ominous. INT. CRAWLER The husky sergeant, CAINE 607, steers the vehicle and speaks into a radio mike at the same time. CAINE 607 Crawler, Crawler to Daddy. No hostiles! The GUNNER beside him and the NEW SOLDIERS in the back seat stare stoically out the windows as CAINE 607 replaces the mike. INT. COCKPIT/"DADDY" RUBRICK is sitting at a console cluttered with coffee cups and half-finished cheeseburgers, responding to the radio. RUBRICK All right, Crawler, Crawler, we got you. This is Daddy. Continue per, over. RUBRICK turns to CHURCH who's standing in the cramped cockpit, staring out a window at the gloomy planet outside, watching the CRAWLER creep over the terrain. RUBRICK We're clear. We can send a crew out. CHURCH (bored) Sloan's already on it. CUT TO: INT. CREW QUARTERS/"DADDY" - DAY An oval hatch door swings open and SLOAN enters. VETERANS in coveralls, slumped or sprawled on steel-tiered bunks, scramble obediently to their feet, eyes on SLOAM. SLOAN Suit up, fellas. Time to go build another play house. As VETERANS start to pull space suits from under the bunks, SLOAN turns her back on them...but hesitates before exiting as though expecting something. Sure enough, veteran RILEY speaks up. RILEY Sir. SLOAN Yes, Riley, what is it? SLOAN says it even before she's turned. She knew who it would be. RILEY We haven't been issued weapons, sir. SLOAN (as to a child) You won't need weapons, Riley. You're not soldiers anymore. RILEY (saluting) Yes, sir. SLOAN You don't even have to salute anymore. A simple "Yes, sir" will do. RILEY swallows hard and with effort keeps his hand from saluting as he speaks. RILEY Y-yes...sir. SLOAN turns her back and exits. As the door closes, RILEY, unable to restrain himself any longer, salutes hastily as we... CUT TO: INT./EXT. COCKPIT - DAY - LATER Through the cockpit window in the bluish glare of a work-light, VETERANS, dressed in space suits, can be seem erecting a prefab hut on the harsh moonscape. SLOAN is watching them through the window while behind her RUBRICK lounges with his feet on the console and reads a current magazine on a VDT. CHURCH is partially visible in the background, poring over charts in the navigator's cubicle. It's very quiet until SLOAN speaks, almost to herself. SLOAN Every time it's time to send them out, Riley asks about weapons. And every time I tell him they don't need weapons anymore, they're not soldiers anymore. RUBRICK (eyes on VDT) Jesus! It says here Macy's is going out of business. Can you imagine that? New York without Macy's? Silence. SLOAN watches the VETERANS outside through the window. They're working like a team of ants in space suits, erecting the hut. CHURCH gets up noisily from the navigation cubicle and joins them, shaking his head. CHURCH Next one's going to be a real pain in the ass. RUBRICK (reading, not interested) Yeah? What flavor pain in the ass? Gravity pain in the ass? Atmosphere pain in the ass? CHURCH How about a "gaseous currents" and "urgent convections" pain in the ass. SLOAN I think you're trying to say a "wind pain in the ass." RUBRICK Wind! CUT TO: INT. PIPE - DAY WIND! As the wind RAGES outside, TODD, wearing his parka, crouches over a tiny fire inside a huge open-ended pipe twelve feet in diameter. He stares at the bleak, windy landscape outside his shelter. He looks primitive, like a caveman, and very very alone as we... CUT TO: EXT. PIPE - DUSK The fat section of pipe is twenty feet long squatting in the blowing litter on the grim landscape in the shadow of the junk mountains. Somehow that inanimate pipe also looks lonely in the vastness as the four suns overhead darken toward evening. CUT TO: EXT. STARS - NIGHT Stars glitter behind the dimmed suns as the wind HOWLS and we... CUT TO: INT. PIPE - DAY The fire is nothing but coals. TODD sits stoically over the embers, more alone than ever, chewing on a piece of dried food, part of his spartan meal. As he chews, he stares blankly at nothing until... A single tear crawls down one cheek. Then another. TODD looks like a stone statue oozing tears. He reaches up and touches the strange water with his finger, then studies the finger, as though a tear were the most remarkable thing he's ever seen. He cannot remember anything like this; he cannot remember ever having cried. And suddenly, without warning, he's convulsed with tears, heaving with sobs, alone in the big pipe with the pitiful little fire, bawling like a baby as we... CUT TO: INT. BEDROOM - DAY A VIPER writhes across the floor through the patterns of light streaming through the window, a sinister presence, full of menace and evil designs. The VIPER winds its way toward an object that will prove in a moment to be a corner of the bad. SMACK! The VIPER doesn't make it! SMACK! Another blow from MACE's heavy boot being swung by hand. The VIPER coils and HISSES angrily, wounded and dangerous. SMACK! The boot again! NATHAN wields it awkwardly, hitting bravely at the HISSING VIPER! SMACK! NATHAN hits again and... MACE rolls over in the bed. SMACK! MACE comes awake, looks around. MACE lunges from the bed. SMACK! Just as NATHAN gives the damaged VIPER another blow, MACE snatches the boy in his arms and yanks him away. SANDRA sits up in bad, looking around, alarmed. MACE is holding NATHAN, staring down at the VIPER. The VIPER has up the ghost, lying on the floor. MACE hugs NATHAN to him and looks toward SANDRA. They both look at the boot. And at the dead VIPER. Their eyes meet and, for a long moment, they just look at each other. CUT TO: INT. OTHER ROOM - DAY - A LITTLE LATER MACE is wearing his parka, pulling on his eye protectors hurriedly as he opens the door to the corridor. SANDRA's voice makes him stop and turn to her. SANDRA Mace! What about the vote? Everybody voted. Mace glares at her for a moment, knowing she's right. Then he turns away and starts out defiantly. MACE We voted wrong! SANDRA looks relieved and worried at the same time and we... CUT TO: EXT. LANDSCAPE - DAY This time MACE is the tiny figure struggling along the wire in the wind, alone on the vast landscape under four suns. CUT TO: EXT. OUTER SPACE/"DADDY" - "DAY" The military ship called "DADDY" (Defend And Attack Deployment Entity) is a big ugly insect gliding through a black silent void. On the grimy bulwark of the ship are the letters NAF followed by serial numbers and the logo of the North American Forces. CUT TO: INT. COCKPIT - DAY CLOSE ON space charts. CHURCH's finger is indicating a tiny dot on the chart surrounded by a vast sea of space. CHURCH It's a dump. Literally. SLOAN and RUBRICK are looking over CHURCH's shoulder while a NEW SOLDIER sits stonefaced at the control console flying the ship. SLOAN No shit! We're gonna set up a monitor on a garbage dump! So we can monitor garbage rusting? RUBRICK Will the wind affect the patrol? CHURCH The Crawlers are low enough and heavy enough, they won't blow. The men should wear armored vests and carry double weapons and ammo for the weight. They may have to use lines too, like mountain climbers. RUBRICK shakes his head, snorts disgustedly. CUT TO: EXT. OUTER SPACE/"DADDY" - "DAY" As the grimy skin of the ugly military ship looms across our vision, a tiny orb is visible off the bow in the distance, a remote world, destination of "DADDY" as we... CUT TO: EXT. CABLE/LANDSCAPE - DAY Alone, MACE is pulling himself along the cable as the wind buffets him. Ahead the cable stretches past the skeleton of the ship and the "catcher trenches" toward the mountains of junk towering over the flat landscape several miles off. A heavy barrel blows by, then an old refrigerator tumbles past. MACE squints into the wind. Off to the right about a quarter mile away he can see a big piece of pipe...and a trail of smoke blowing out of the pipe and disappearing in the wind. MACE struggles the cable past flooded "catcher trenches" as we... CUT TO: EXT. PIPE/LANDSCAPE - DAY - MINUTES LATER The pipe lies fifty yards off the cable to the right. As MACE pulls even with it, he can see right inside. TODD is standing just inside the mouth of the pipe, looking straight out at MACE...but the light is behind him and MACE can't see TODD's face as he SHOUTS at him. MACE TODD! TODD! (pauses, then) TODD! WE WANT YOU TO COME BACK! WE MADE A MISTAKE! MACE starts toward him, letting go of the wire, struggling in the wind. TODD watches him come. MACE stumbles on, dances a few feet, recovers, struggles toward TODD, SHOUTING.... MACE TODD! WE'RE SORRY! WE WERE WRONG! Just then, a sharp gust staggers MACE, driving him several yards toward a "catcher trench." He's teetering on the lip of the flooded trench, about to fall in, when TODD'S strong arms grab him. They look like a strange four-footed beast as TODD drags him through the wind in an awkward "embrace" toward the cable. Once MACE has the cable in his hands, he laughs and gasps... MACE Damn! Thank you, Todd. God damn! I almost took a... a...swim there! MACE breaks off. Todd isn't listening; he's looking off toward the horizon. MACE follows his look. Five miles away he can see an ugly insect-shaped spacecraft descending from about ten thousand feet. MACE My...God! Someone's landing. TODD doesn't answer. He's staring at the descending ship with soldier eyes and a stone face as we... CUT TO: INT. CORRIDORS/SETTLEMENT - DAY Excitement, confusion. PIONEERS and CHILDREN are clogging the narrow, earthen corridors, shouting excitedly, hurrying outside. SANDRA opens her door into the corridor, concerned... SANDRA What's going on? JUDITH Someone's landing! Jimmy Pig spotted a ship! SANDRA stands there stunned as excited PIONEERS mill past her, jamming the corridor, and we... CUT TO: EXT. CABLE - DAY TODD is on the cable with MACE, his eyes on the squat beetle-like object crawling slowly toward then through the junk half a mile away. MACE Look at that. It's some kind of vehicle. A landing party. HEY! MACE raises his arm to wave. Without taking his eyes off the approaching CRAWLER, TODD grabs MACE's arm and pulls it down. MACE looks at TODD, sees the grim expression on TODD's stone face, and suddenly MACE is worried too. INT. CRAWLER Peering through binoculars, a soldier in the front passenger seat, the GUNNER, nudges the DRIVER and indicates something to the right. Two tiny FIGURES in the distance on a long cable. The driver is the beady-eyed giant, CAINE 607. Reacting to what he see, he adjusts the vehicle to the right. EXT. CRAWLER/LANDSCAPE Two ominous NEW SOLDIERS wearing plexi-goggles and bulky armor under their uniforms hang on the outside of the CRAWLER in the wind, their waists dangling with weapons and equipment, big rocket rifles across their chests. They're looking ahead toward the long cable, as their nasty-looking vehicle grinds slowly forward through the litter, an evil vision. EXT. LANDSCAPE TODD and MACE are running, TODD in the lead, buffeted by wind, struggling through a clutter of old machinery, diesel engines, turbines, scattered haphazardly on the flat desert floor. MACE is running too, not as well, and TODD has to reach back and grab him, pull him along... MACE (gasp) ...maybe...they're... (gasp) ...friendly... INT. CRAWLER The GUNNER works a servomotor, aiming a cannon, as he peers through a scope. Through the scope, surrounded by digital readouts, we see two tiny running FIGURES... EXT. CRAWLER BALAAM! BALAAM! The CRAWLER cannon FIRES... EXT. LANDSCAPE MACE screams, he's hurled wildly mid-stride, tossed ten yards. TODD looks back, sees him lying on the sand, screaming in pain. TODD turns back, sprinting, low, weaving, tossed by the wind. WHOOOM! Another SHOT. If the wind hadn't hit him, TODD would have been hit. MACE is screaming. His right leg is gone. TODD gets him, drags him, stumbles. WHOOM! Another SHOT, another miss. TODD struggles for cover, staggering in the wind with MACE on his back. INT. CRAWLER Through his scope, the GUNNER sees TODD and MACE dive behind a big turbine. Unhurriedly the GUNNER flicks a switch on the dash. CAINE 607 nods approval. The GUNNER works the servo, bringing the cannon to bear on the turbine. EXT. TURBINES TODD is dragging MACE along behind the cover of the turbine, glancing back for what he knows will occur. BAWHOOM! The area where they disappeared EXPLODES, chunks of steel fly. TODD keeps pulling MACE, who looks half dead as... BAWHOOM! The TURBINE is hit again! INT. CRAWLER Through the scope, the GUNNER aims again and watches another chunk of turbine disintegrate. The GUNNER glances at the robot-faced driver. Their eyes meet. CAINE 607 nods. Obviously, they've killed the two men. The GUNNER points to the cable. CAINE 607 follows the look, nods, and alters the course of the vehicle in toward the cable as he reaches for the radio mike. EXT. ABANDONED ENGINES/TERRAIN TODD is crouched over MACE inside an abandoned diesel engine not far from the disintegrated turbine. He's making a tourniquet to stop the bleeding from the stump of MACE's leg. MACE looks awful, pale, in shock. He speaks weakly. MACE Oh, shit, Todd...I'm...dead... aren't I? I'm not going to make it. TODD meets his look but doesn't answer. He finishes the tourniquet and turns his back on MACE to peer out through a gap in the engine at the CRAWLER. TODD sees the CRAWLER approach the cable, watches it veer left and start to travel along the cable...straight toward the colony! TODD turns and looks into MACE's face. MACE's eyes are clouded with horror. MACE Why? Why? No answer. MACE I'm not..a soldier. (then...) A...mistake? Was it...a mistake? TODD shakes his head no. MACE's eyes fill with new horror. MACE Oh, my God. They won't...they won't...? Not Sandra! Not... not...Nathan! TODD turns away from MACE and peers through the machinery. He can see the CRAWLER is a hundred yards away now, traveling along the cable toward the colony. He can see the faces of the NEW SOLDIERS hanging on the outside of the CRAWLER, hard faces, goggled and ominous. When TODD turns back to MACE, he finds MACE eyeing him with pure hatred. MACE sneers weakly. MACE Soldiers! Soldiers... (gasp) ...deserve...soldiers! His eyes roll back. He's dead. TODD peers out again at the NEW SOLDIERS. They look invincible as we.. CUT TO: EXT. "DADDY"/LANDSCAPE - DAY The spaceship is squatting on the barren ground a mile from the junk towers like an ugly insect. INT. MESS/"DADDY" RUBRICK sticks his head in the door of the cramped officers mess. RUBRICK People. They've spotted people! Both CHURCH and SLOAN look up in astonishment from the card game they're playing on a tiny fold-out table. CHURCH "People"! "People"? What do you mean "people"? RUBRICK Two civilians. Unarmed. They've killed both of them. They've spotted smoke from some kind of camp and they're going to check it out. SLOAN A camp! Jesus Christ! CHURCH Damn! (worried) Did they ask for assistance? RUBRICK Not yet. CHURCH frowns, considers, then frets... CHURCH Like my daddy used to say, "Nothing's ever as simple as it's supposed to be...except shit." SLOAN (rolling her eyes) Thank you, "Daddy." RUBRICK Who do you think they are? SLOAN The civilians? (a shrug) Squatters...refugees. I don't think we want to know, do we? CHURCH Good point. CUT TO: EXT. GARDEN TRENCH - DAY - A LITTLE LATER HAWKINS, JIMMY PIG, RED, and other PIONEERS are peering over the lip of the trench just beneath the trellis. A half mile off they can see the CRAWLER creeping in their general direction. The garden is full of excited PIONEERS with their CHILDREN, everybody trying not to trample the plants, but trampling them anyway, as HAWKINS addresses them... HAWKINS I'm going to go out and talk to them. More than likely they're friendly. If not... (indicating Jimmy Pig, others) ...those of you with weapons will be ready to defend us. The rest of you go back. HAWKINS turns abruptly and looks over the rim. The CRAWLER is closer now, only a quarter mile away, angling to the left along the wire. HAWKINS starts to climb out of the trench, boosted by JIMMY PIG and CHESTER. She's waving her arms, shouting. HAWKINS HERE! OVER HERE! SANDRA looks worried. INT. CRAWLER CAINE 607 and the GUNNER both see the tiny figure waving at them a quarter mile away, trying to get their attention. As CAINE 607 adjusts their course to the left, the GUNNER's servomotor WHINES as he aims, peering through the scope at the helpless figure of HAWKINS. EXT. SETTLEMENT/LANDSCAPE ANGLE ON HAWKINS suddenly reacting to the sight of the vicious- looking CRAWLER coming straight toward her, now only five hundred yards away. They don't look too friendly! Frightened, she's lowering her arms and turning when... BLAAAAM! The cannon flashes, HAWKINS flies backwards! EXT. INSIDE GARDEN TRENCH HAWKINS' body flies back onto the PIONEERS in the trench. Panic erupts as... CHESTER raises his light rifle and starts FIRING over the lip of the trench. BAWHOOM! The whole edge of the trench explodes, dirt flies, and CHESTER is hurled backwards, dead. PIONEERS are screaming and running wildly down the trenches... JIMMY PIG bravely aims his rifle over the lip of the trench. He sees the CRAWLER is lumbering right at him. PING! PING! His shots are pitiful. The CRAWLER keeps coming. ANGLE ON JIMMY PIG. No choice but to retreat. He turns and hurries down the trench after the others as we... CUT TO: INT. OFFICERS MESS/"DADDY" CHURCH and SLOAN look up from their card game again as RUBRICK sticks his head in the door to report the latest. RUBRICK Report from Crawler One. Everything under control. No need for assistance. CHURCH There's resistance? RUBRICK Ineffectual. About fifty disorganized people with almost no fire power. Three men are going in to clean them out; one man's staying with the Crawler. CHURCH Humph. Sounds reckless, three against fifty. The old ones, the veterans, they would have called for support...just in case. Again RUBRICK and SLOAN exchange a glance and an eye-roll at the fretting old fuddy-duddy. Then SLOAN changes the subject brightly. SLOAN Speaking of Riley and his old soldiers...why don't we let them start putting up the unit? It's gonna take forever in this wind. CUT TO: INT. CREW QUARTERS/"DADDY" - MOMENTS LATER RILEY is standing rigidly in front of his bunk in crew quarters, flanked by the rest of the VETERANS in similar positions, facing SLOAN. RILEY Will we be issued weapons, sir? SLOAN (a sneering smile) No, Riley...no weapons. You're not a soldier, Riley. CUT TO: EXT. INSIDE THE TRENCHES - DAY The NEW SOLDIER comes straight, like some inexorable death machine, lumbering awkwardly with his burden of weapons, goggled and blank faced. A PIONEER is backing away ten yards in front of him, firing wildly. POW! POW! POW! The NEW SOLDIER looks at one of his armor-gloved hands, opening the palm in front of his face. His hand's been hit. He shakes it, annoyed, like it was a bee sting, then he aims at the PIONEER. WHOOOOSH! A tongue of fire from the NEW SOLDIER's flame thrower engulfs the helpless PIONEER as we... CUT TO: INT. MEETING ROOM - DAY PIONEERS are crouching in the room when the door bursts open, and a tongue of flame turns the room into a firestorm and we... CUT TO: INT. CORRIDOR - DAY SANDRA has NATHAN screaming in her arms as she calmly herds frightened CHILDREN through a corridor, JOHNNY, WILL, and ELLEN among them. SANDRA Keep going, children, don't panic, don't panic. But if her demeanor doesn't reveal her fear, her eyes do. CUT TO: EXT. INSIDE ANOTHER TRENCH - DAY Two Pioneers, SALLY and RED, lunge from a doorway into the trench and fire a rifle and a pistol at a THIRD SOLDIER who's advancing along the trench. BANG! BANG! PING! SPLAT! SALLY and RED dive back in the doorway for cover where a pioneer named SINGH is crouched, watching with alarm the THIRD SOLDIER advancing unfazed. ANGLE ON THE THIRD SOLDIER coming toward them. ANGLE ON THE PIONEERS huddled in the doorway. RED They got armored vests. You got to aim for exposed parts like the face... SINGH Here goes. RED and SALLY watch SINGH step out directly in front of the advancing THIRD SOLDIER and FIRE five shots rapidly...PING! PIZG! PING! PING! PING! WHOOOOSH! RED and SALLY see SINGH incinerated before their eyes. Exchanging a horrified glance, they turn to retreat down the interior corridor, but before they get two steps, they freeze... A SOLDIER is in the corridor, not looking at them, but breaking down a door. They can't go that way! Trapped, they turn to see the THIRD SOLDIER almost to the doorway, his flame thrower aimed, his finger on the trigger, and... A blur! Something lands on the THIRD SOLDIER from above the trench, and the THIRD SOLDIER falls over backwards, slamming hard to the floor of the trench. But he's a super soldier, so that almost at the same time he hits the ground he's already lunging upward to regain his feet and fight except... A knife blade rips across his throat, opening it wide in one swift movement, and... The THIRD SOLDIER's head sags back because not even superman can fight with no neck and the last thing he sees through his plexi goggles is... TODD looming over him with a bloody knife, a face like stone, and fierce soldier's eyes. ANGLE ON THE DOORWAY, where RED, SALLY, and another PIONEER peer around the corner, eyes wide with amazement at the sight of TODD kneeling over his victim. ANGLE ON TODD, slipping the utility belt off the dead THIRD SOLDIER, yanking grenades and ammo from the bulky body, stuffing a heavy pistol in his own waistband. RED approaches timidly. RED You want help, partner? TODD glances up at him, and RED sees TODD'S eyes and RED backs away quickly because... TODD looks badder even than the new soldiers! Turning back to the dead man, TODD goes for the last item...the goggles. Ripping them off he reveals... A one-eyed soldier. The dead man staring up at him is MELTON. For just a moment TODD stares into the dead face, revealing nothing of how he feels, as we... CUT TO: INT. OTHER ROOM - DAY NATHAN is SCREAMING in terror on the floor, ignored as SANDRA and CHILDREN haul the bed from the bedroom to add to the heap of obstacles they've placed in front of the door already. The stove, everything is wedged against the door to the corridor. As they heave the bed against the mountain of furniture and other belongings, the door quivers, the heap of furniture shifts. INT. CORRIDOR The FIRST SOLDIER, as big as an offensive tackle, shoulders the door again, and it gives... INT. ROOM CHILDREN SCREAM as the mountain of furniture heaves backwards, and the door opens part way, revealing the FIRST SOLDIER. SANDRA grabs NATHAN and hands him to one of the children. SANDRA Into the bedroom, all of you. SANDRA picks up a stool to defend herself. INT. BEDROOM Dashing into the bedroom, the children are greeted with a terrifying sight! SMASH! Soldier boots are kicking out the little window high in the wall, SMASH, SMASH, SMASH, and the window collapses, a boot sticks through the opening... INT. OTHER ROOM Unhurriedly, the giant FIRST SOLDIER bulls through the furniture, tossing the bed and table aside like sticks. SANDRA smashes at him with the stool, hitting him twice, hurling it in his face. The FIRST SOLDIER shakes off the blow as if he'd been hit by a feather. But she's got his attention. He turns his goggles at her, starts to raise his weapon as... SANDRA turns and disappears into the bedroom... INT. BEDROOM As SANDRA dashes into the bedroom in blind retreat she runs smack into the chest of another soldier! Helpless and horrified, she looks right into a cruel stone face and goggled eyes, and she gasps... SANDRA Sergeant Todd! TODD never takes his eyes off the door as he brushes her roughly aside with one hand, while his other arm aims the heavy rocket gun right at the door and... The FIRST SOLDIER comes into the doorway with his flame thrower raised to torch women and children and what he sees is TODD looking right at him, aiming the rocket gun, and BAWHOOM, the FIRST SOLDIER is blown clear back across the other room with a shot right in the chest. ANGLE ON SANDRA, still on the floor where he knocked her, watching TODD exit the room, weapon raised, his utility belt dangling bandolier style across his chest. He looks like...one of them! A soldier! INT. OTHER ROOM Crossing the next room, TODD moves quickly to the door, flattens, and peers into the corridor. He sees the SECOND SOLDIER heading toward him. BLAM! BLAM! TODD fires twice around the door and sees... The SECOND SOLDIER staggering back, hit, a pistol from his hip... Dirt explodes around the door frame as TODD ducks back. Quick as a wink, he yanks a grenade from his utility belt, triggers it, and flips it around the corner as CRACK! a shot rips at his arm. BAWHOOM, the grenade goes off and, bleeding from his arm, TODD swings into the corridor and follows the grenade with three quick rocket shots. INT. CORRIDOR Keeping low, TODD charges, his weapon pointed at the fallen SECOND SOLDIER. The SECOND SOLDIER is sprawled bloodily in the corridor, the walkie-talkie on his chest squawking urgently. WALKIE-TALKIE (V.O.) Crawler One calling Double Mike. Give me an "okay," Double Mike. TODD seizes the walkie-talkie, presses the transmit button, and snarls a throaty animal growl into the mike... INT. CRAWLER/LANDSCAPE CAINE 607 is sitting at the wheel of the motionless vehicle parked near the trench garden, radio mike in hand, when he hears the low ANIMAL SNARL come across his speaker. CAINE 607's robot face reveals nothing as he listens to ANOTHER GROWL. WIND HOWLS outside. Then he flicks a switch on the dash and puts the mike to his mouth, his face expressionless. CAINE 607 Crawler to Daddy, Crawler to Daddy. Come in, Daddy! CUT TO: PORTHOLE VIEW/EXT./INT. OFFICERS' MESS/"DADDY" Seen through the thick plexi-porthole, heavily-clothed VETERANS are struggling with a wall, trying to erect the pre-fab unit while the wind, inaudible inside the ship, rages around them, staggering them this way and that. What we hear in the quiet interior of the mess is CHURCH voicing his disbelief. CHURCH (O.S.) A "growl"! He heard a growl? RUBRICK, looking uneasy, is facing CHURCH who's looking up at him from a game of solitaire at the little table. SLOAN is biting her fingernails in the b.g. RUBRICK Well, he didn't say the word "growl." He said a "throat-noise," but I asked him to imitate it and it sounded like a growl to me. CHURCH My God! Who are we fighting here! RUBRICK (nervous) I think...I think we have to assume the missing men are...down. CHURCH (getting up, pacing) I knew Mekum's hotshots were green. No reinforcements, then they walk right into an enemy stronghold. RUBRICK We could send reinforcements now... CHURCH (sharply) Absolutely not. Those bastards are just waiting in there for us. No more of this fancy super-soldier shit. We do it with the hammer... RUBRICK and SLOAN exchange a nervous glance as CHURCH paces agitatedly. RUBRICK Uh, what does that mean, "the hammer"? CHURCH (suddenly smug) My daddy always said, "When you want to insert a nail in a piece of wood, you don't do nothing fancy or glamorous, you don't finesse or play the hero, you just pick up your damn hammer and hit that sumbitch till it's in." SLOAN (under her breath) Christ! Now Daddy's a carpenter! RUBRICK (to Church) I...don't...quite...follow...sir. CHURCH (decisive, sharp) Take the whole unit, both Crawlers, and tell 'em to pound that place with rockets, cannons, mortars, everything we got...from a safe distance. RUBRICK (brightening) Raw firepower! CHURCH It may not be heroic, and we may waste some ammo, but by God we'll get the job done. CUT TO: EXT. LANDSCAPE - DUSK The four suns are dimming noticeably, dusk is falling. The wind HOWLS, junk drifts and shifts. A corpse turns over in the wind. It's HAWKINS' BODY, ravaged by the turbulent air, as we... CUT TO: INT. EARTHEN CORRIDOR/SETTLEMENT - NIGHT Someone is dragging a CORPSE down the smoky, lamplit corridor as little NATHAN watches SANDRA tending to the bloody wounds of a PIONEER lying on the floor. As the CORPSE is dragged past NATHAN, the lifeless, vacant eyes stare right at the uncomprehending little boy. NATHAN sees the pioneer's seven year old daughter, ANGIE, sobbing uncontrollably at the sight of her father's wounds. SANDRA is trying to help with the bandages and console ANGIE at the same time while all round her in the hellish atmosphere people GROAN and children CRY OUT. NATHAN doesn't understand it, it's confusing. MEN and WOMEN loom past him. He wobbles off down the corridor, toddling away from the sounds of pain. SHUK! KA-SHUK! Strange SOUNDS come from a doorway ahead, the doorway to the meeting room. CHAK! KLAK! SHIK CHIK KA CHIK! The sound of metal and metal, metal parts CLICKING and SLIDING. Alone in the corridor, NATHAN toddles innocently forward, toward the SOUNDS. INT. MEETING ROOM NATHAN wobbles into the meeting room doorway and stops there, staring. The burnt furniture has been heaped in one corner of the room, leaving a large open space where TODD, bare-chested, a tourniquet on one arm, is squatting on the floor, skillfully reassembling a stripped rifle. Surrounding him on the floor in neat piles are the rocket rifles, pistols, ammo clips, utility belts, goggles, torn armor vests, boots, grenades, knives, and flashlights he salvaged from the dead soldiers. TODD looks up at NATHAN and their eyes meet. NATHAN recognizes his "friend," tries a tentative little smile. But TODD just stares at him, and the unformed smile fades from NATHAN's face. For a long moment they just look each other in the eyes very seriously. SANDRA enters, her dress covered with the wounded man's blood. Not noticing TODD, she rushes to NATHAN, grabs him... SANDRA Nathan, thank God, there you... Suddenly seeing TODD she breaks off, stares at him. Squatting on the floor, surrounded by weapons, TODD'S eyes meet hers for a long moment...then he looks away, goes back to assembling the weapons with quick sure movements, almost as if he wanted to avoid her eyes. SANDRA wets her lips to speak, hesitates, then finally blurts out what she can hardly bear to ask... SANDRA Did he find you? No answer. TODD finishes with the weapon, starts checking the next one. SANDRA My husband...Mace...he went out to look for you. He...found you, didn't he? TODD looks up at her and nods. Their eyes lock. SANDRA They...killed him...didn't they? TODD nods, turns back to his arsenal. SANDRA stands there, hugging NATHAN to her chest, holding her tears in, her lids quivering, fighting to conquer her emotion. After a long, difficult moment, she wins the battle with herself. She looks numb, stunned, but she's not crying. TODD has begun to dress. He straps a sheath knife to one ankle, pulls on boots. Then he pulls a jersey over his muscular torso, covering all the old scars, the tattooed names of battles, and the tourniquet on his arm. Staring at him with glazed eyes, SANDRA notices a blotch of blood form on the jersey, leaking through the tourniquet. She speaks numbly. SANDRA Your wound...it's still bleeding. Stuffing his pockets with ammo and other items, TODD glances at her with eyes that glitter dangerously. TODD I like to bleed, sir. SANDRA stares at him stupidly as he continues to dress, pulling on a heavy armored vest. SANDRA It doesn't...hurt? TODD pulls on a second armored vast, one that already has a ragged hole in it from a rocket. TODD Not enough, sir. SANDRA watches him go to the heap of charred furniture in the corner and take a blackened stick from it, watches him smear charcoal under his eyes. SANDRA How do you know they'll come back? TODD looks at her, a savage with blackened eyes. TODD They're soldiers, sir. Like me. SANDRA What...what do they want? TODD Nothing. SANDRA Nothing? TODD They are obeying orders, sir. It's their duty. For a moment SANDRA is silent, then... SANDRA You know who they are, don't you? Do you know how many there'll be? TODD crosses two utility belts across his armored chest like bandoliers. TODD Seventeen more, sir. SANDRA Seventeen! My God! (suddenly energized) You can't fight seventeen yourself! You have to organize the rest of us, show us what to do. We don't have your...your skills...but we're not cowards. We'll do what you tell us, we'll -- TODD (interrupting, softly) No. His voice is soft as silk but hard as steel. She looks into his eyes. Does she detect a hint of approval, of respect, in those flat expressionless snake eyes? SANDRA Why not? TODD turns to go, laden with weapons, a flamethrower on his back, a rocket rifle on his shoulder, another in one hand. TODD Soldiers deserve soldiers, sir. SANDRA But...one soldier against seventeen! He looks back at her, right into her eyes this time. TODD I am going to kill them all, sir. CUT TO: INT. CREW QUARTERS - NIGHT The NEW SOLDIERS are putting on their heavy gear in ominous silence, covering their muscular torsos with armored vests and utility belts while SLOAN watches from the hatchway. SLOAN Double belts, double ammo, double everything! You've got to be heavy there or you'll blow away, fellas...and we wouldn't want that, would we? They continue dressing obediently, their eyes the sullen eyes of robots. But CAINE 607 speaks up, at once respectful and dignified... CAINE 607 It's dark now, sir. SLOAN You're afraid of the dark, Sergeant Caine? CAINE 607 No, sir. But the manual says -- SLOAN That's what nightscopes are for, soldier. For the dark. CAINE 607 Yes, sir. But the sixth rule is "never give the enemy an advantage unnecessarily." If they're expecting us -- SLOAN (erupting) Listen, Sergeant, this may come as news to you, but you're not a real hot thinker! Your pitiful efforts at tactics have cost us three men already. So turn it off, that little pea brain of yours! (turning to the others) That goes for all the rest of you mental giants too. All you have to do is go boom-boom. Understand? Boom-boom! Kill kill! Say it... Kill...kill...kill... Draped in battle gear the seventeen NEW SOLDIERS obediently repeat the words after her, their eyes blank and sullen... "Kill kill kill..." They look like somber death machines as we... CUT TO: EXT. "CONSTRUCTION" SITE - NIGHT In the harsh blue glare of work-lights RILEY and the crew of VETERANS, dressed in heavy parkas, are struggling in the wind to erect the second side of a small hut. RILEY sees something, reacts. He sees seventeen NEW SOLDIERS exiting the ship in the fringe of the work-lights, ominous death machines in their heavy gear and goggles, partly lost in shadows like some vision from hell. RILEY stares at them, at the men who carry the weapons he used to carry, his face like stone, his eyes a mystery as we... CUT TO: INT. CORRIDOR - NIGHT SALLY and RED are guarding a door to the trench when a CLANKING noise in the corridor behind them makes them turn and look. Their jaws go slack with amazement. Clanking toward them is TODD, so armored and laden with fighting gear he looks almost like a medieval knight! He says nothing as he looms closer to then, heading for the door. The two of then shrink hastily out of his way. EXT. INSIDE TRENCH Stepping into the trench, TODD hears the wind SCREAM overhead. He approaches crude steps dug in the side of the trench and begins to pull himself up into the wind. As he climbs, the SCREAMING wind changes pitch radically, and by the time he bellies over the lip of the trench, the wind is only a breeze. Getting to his feet and finds even the breeze is dying, replaced by a terrible stillness. As TODD looks off into the darkness, a voice calls to him from the trench behind biz. SANDRA (O.S.) Sergeant! Sergeant Todd! TODD turns back, looking down into the trench, and sees SANDRA looking up at him. SANDRA Sergeant...these soldiers...the ones you're going to fight... Are these the "better ones"...the ones who replaced you? TODD looks at her for a long moment, his face a mask, before he nods almost imperceptibly. Her eyes are full of tears. SANDRA Sergeant Todd...I think they...I think...someone made a serious... mistake. TODD looks into her eyes. It is impossible to tell if he knows that she cares about him and that she is blessing him. After a moment he turns away and lumbers off into the darkness, the CLANKING of his equipment the only sound in the spooky stillness. CUT TO: EXT. JUNK/TERRAIN - NIGHT Two CRAWLERS cut through the night fifty yards apart. Four of the NEW SOLDIERS cling to the outside of one CRAWLER, five on the other, two on each CRAWLER operating spotlights that pan the darkness to the sides while the headlights illuminate the skeleton of the crashed ship and shadowy chunks of machinery littered across the terrain ahead of them. It is very still. No wind. INT. CRAWLER ONE A DRIVER is at the wheel, a GUNNER beside him, studying the night through an infrared scope. Behind them, two more NEW SOLDIERS sit lost in shadows in the back seat, staring impassively out the window at the spooky spotlights combing the eerie junkyard. EXT. CRAWLER ONE The LEFT FRONT SOLDIER sits on the fender seat of CRAWLER ONE, peering along the beam of his spotlight, scrutinizing the sinister shapes in the darkness, when... BLAM! He's shot in the face, slammed back into the windshield of CRAWLER ONE. INT. CRAWLER ONE Vision blocked, the DRIVER is fighting for control of the vehicle as the GUNNER to his right screams into the radio mike... GUNNER CRAWLER ONE, WE ARE RED! RED! WE ARE RED! By veering sharply, the DRIVER is able to shake off the body that was blocking his vision, clearing his shattered windshield. EXT. JUNK TERRAIN Seven of the NEW SOLDIERS -- the three hanging on CRAWLER ONE and the four from CRAWLER TWO -- drop off into the stillness. One checks the LEFT FRONT SOLDIER's body while the others, barely visible in the weak light, fan out, keeping low, taking cover in the random junk strewn all around them. ANGLE ON NEW SOLDIER ONE, a corporal, crouched behind a huge piece of discarded agriculture machinery. He yanks a flare from his waist band and fires it. The FLARE bursts overhead, exposing the ghostly terrain to a bright green light. ANGLE ON THE JUNK AND THE SKELETON SHIP: a ghostly graveyard. No wind. Nothing moves. No sign of TODD. INT. CRAWLER ONE Maneuvering across the junk-strewn landscape, the DRIVER peers through the cracked windshield at the green terrain, looking for TODD as the RADIO crackles... RADIO Crawler Two to Crawler One. Do you have a sitrep? THE GUNNER and the DRIVER exchange a glance. The GUNNER takes the mike and speaks into it. GUNNER Crawler Two, we are one down, responding to sniper activity. INT. CRAWLER TWO CAINE 607 is at the wheel, speaking into his mike. CAINE 607 Crawler One, do you require assistance? RADIO That is negative. We will eliminate the sniper and rendezvous at target. CAINE 607 Roger, One. We are proceeding to target. CAINE 607 accelerates the CRAWLER. EXT. JUNK TERRAIN The flare fades and the near darkness returns. ANGLE ON NEW SOLDIER ONE peering out into the stillness, then signaling NEW SOLDIER TWO who's hiding nearby. As the two NEW SOLDIERS step out from their sheltered positions, they're joined by NEW SOLDIER THREE. Exchanging hand signals, the three of them advance, spreading out cautiously. NEW SOLDIER THREE has moved about thirty yards away when suddenly he "disappears." EXT. INSIDE A "CATCM TRENCH" SPLASH! SOLDIER THREE has tumbled into a flooded trench. He struggles to his feet, can't figure out where he is. He pulls a flashlight from his waist and shines it down the trench in both directions. The flashlight beam reveals a steep-walled trench knee-deep in water and littered with rusting junk. NEW SOLDIER THREE splashes along the trench, looking for a way out. His light reveals a piece of a derrick mast leaning against the trench, a perfect ladder. He's slogging toward it when he whirls suddenly and splays his beam down the trench behind him. NEW SOLDIER THREE'S POV of the flooded trench. Junk and water. ANGLE ON NEW SOLDIER THREE, turning back and approaching the ladder. Just as he reaches the ladder he whirls again. Again his light illuminates the spooky trench. Again, nothing but water and junk. Relieved, he's just about to switch off his light when... TODD rises out of the water only five feet away like a demon. Before NEW SOLDIER THREE can cry out, TODO lunges at him. EXT. JUNK TERRAIN As he creeps cautiously through the gloom, NEW SOLDIER ONE stiffens. Was that a stifled CRY? Or not? NEW SOLDIER ONE signals NEW SOLDIER TWO and the two of them turn and move cautiously toward where NEW SOLDIER THREE was. EXT. INSIDE THE TRENCH TODD'S light reveals NEW SOLDIER THREE slumped in the water, his head askew, neck broken, eyes vacant. TODD is hastily rummaging through the soldier's equipment, looking for something. He finds it. EXT. JUNK TERRAIN NEW SOLDIERS ONE and TWO are approaching the trench when suddenly a flare bursts above them. The NEW SOLDIERS react with amazement as the flare exposes them in a brightly illuminated landscape. Before they can take cover... BUDDA BUDDA BUDDA. Flashes of fire from the lip of the trench. NEW SOLDIER ONE drops dead, NEW SOLDIER TWO is down and writhing on the ground, SCREAMING. ANGLE ON CRAWLER ONE veering sharply toward the trench, accelerating, FIRING ROCKETS, CANONS, MACHINE GUNS.... ANGLE ON THE OTHER NEW SOLDIERS, prone, firing toward the trench. EXT. INSIDE THE TRENCH Tracers whizzing over the top of the trench illuminate TODD as he races down the trench, running for his life. EXT. JUNK TERRAIN Still firing, CRAWLER ONE grinds up to the lip of the trench. ANGLE ON NEW SOLDIERS charging toward the trench behind the CRAWLER. CLOSE ON CRAWLER ONE'S HOOD where a small trap opens and a nozzle pops out like a little penis and...SQUIRTS a stream of liquid! The liquid stream arcs fifty yards along the trench and diminishes backward like a man pissing... INT. INSIDE THE TRENCH TODD looks back just before be rounds a corner in the trench, sees the liquid hitting the water in the trench. Sheltered from their view by the turn in the trench, TODD tries to scale the steep wall of the trench. WHOOOOOOOOOSH! The surface of the water-filled trench bursts into flame. A fiery river of flammable liquid. ANGLE ON NEW SOLDIERS reacting to something! NEW SOLDIERS' POV of TODD, visible in the firelight as he rolls over the lip of the trench fifty yards from them. ANGLE ON THE NEW SOLDIERS firing as they move toward TODD. They've got him now! ANGLE ON TODD bellying toward a rusting turbine, disappearing from view. ANGLE ON CRAWLER ONE, separated from TODD'S hideout by the trench, pouring heavy FIRE on the spot where TODD disappeared. ANGLE ON NEW SOLDIERS communicating by hand signals as they move to surround TODD. EXT. BEHIND THE TURBINE As rockets and canon shells SLAM into the turbine, TODD hastily attends to a nasty wound in the flesh his thigh, bandaging it skillfully, quickly. EXT. JUNK TERRAIN While CRAWLER ONE keeps TODD pinned down, NEW SOLDIERS move to outflank him. EXT. BEHIND THE TURBINE As TODD completes dressing his thigh, the CRAWLER stops firing. Silence. TODD peers out, assessing the situation. TODD'S POV of the terrain. Vague glimpses of NEW SOLDIERS slipping from cover to cover, never exposing themselves enough for a shot. ANGLE ON TODD. He seems to know he's in a tight spot. He's preparing to fight off an attack, laying out weapons, grenades, when...he freezes. Listens. Behind the stillness he can hear the faint WHISTLE that precedes the wind. Hastily TODD yanks his belt off. EXT. TERRAIN NEW SOLDIER FOUR sticks his head up from behind an old boiler and signals NEW SOLDIER FIVE. ANGLE ON NEW SOLDIER FIVE acknowledging from the mouth of an old storage tank where he's positioned. ANGLE ON NEW SOLDIER SIX bellying toward TODD'S position. EXT. BEHIND THE TURBINE Using his belt and a carabiner as a safety line, TODD attaches himself to the heavy turbine...and gathers up his weapons. He can HEAR the very low WHISTLING building ever so slightly. EXT. TERRAIN The WIND SIGHS and a faint breeze stirs. Then a tin can skitters by in a puff of wind as the NEW SOLDIERS take turns moving closer to TODD, flanking him from safe vantage points. NEW SOLDIER FOUR stands to wave the next man forward when... WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH! THE WIND ERUPTS, ROARS, BELLOWS... NEW SOLDIER FOUR is lifted into the air and carried away. NEW SOLDIER FIVE is trying to stay on his feet, as the wind SLAMS him into one piece of junk after another. INT./EXT. CRAWLER As the wind HOWLS and shakes the CRAWLER, the DRIVER and the GUNNER stare with amazement as NEW SOLDIER FIVE slams into their windshield, neck broken, and stares at them with lifeless eyes. They see NEW SOLDIERS SIX and SEVEN tumble and somersault past. As NEW SOLDIER SIX disappears, blown off into the night, NEW SOLDIER SEVEN manages to grab hold of the walking wire. Gripping the wire for his life, he turns just in time to be decapitated by a piece of aluminum housing flying through the air. EXT. TERRAIN NEW SOLDIER FOUR, badly battered, is down on his belly trying to stay "under the wind" when he sees something terrible! HIS POV of a massive lathe blowing right toward him along the ground, tumbling, crashing, slamming into things. It looms over him, unavoidable, the end! ANGLE ON NEW SOLDIER FOUR reacting to the huge lathe about to crush him. EXT. BEHIND THE TURBINE Held by his safety belt and protected by the turbine, TODD peers out, and watches the wind destroy the footsoldiers. TODD'S POV OF NEW SOLDIER FIVE's lifeless body being blown along the ground like a leaf. ANGLE ON TODD, reacting. He's seen something important. TODD'S POV of CRAWLER ONE moving again, rounding the far end of the trench and, no longer separated by the trench, turning toward TODD'S position. INT. CRAWLER ONE As the DRIVER steers, the GUNNER peers through his scope. GUNNER'S INFRARED POV of TODD darting behind an overturned vat. GUNNER There! The DRIVER steers toward where TODD disappeared. EXT. JUNK TERRAIN Windborne junk CLATTERS against CRAWLER ONE'S armor plating, debris flies through the bright swaths of the headlights, as the vehicle grinds toward the overturned vat. ANGLE ON CRAWLER ONE coming around the vat, headlights glaring. INT. CRAWLER ONE The GUNNER is peering intently through his scope. GUNNER'S POV through his scope: The infrared view with crosshairs is especially spooky because of the debris blowing eerily across the landscape as the gun whips back and forth, looking vainly for TODD. Suddenly the sight is yanked hard, sweeping violently over to pin a moving object... False alarm! Just another piece of blowing junk. No sign of TODD. EXT. CRAWLER/JUNK TERRAIN The CRAWLER grinds slowly past a huge overturned boiler, its cannon panning right, then left, then right. INT. CRAWLER ONE Peering through the scope as he sweeps the terrain, the GUNNER suddenly stiffens and back-pans to find something... GUNNER Tentative at One. The DRIVER angles right, aiming for one o'clock. GUNNER That's negative, no target. The DRIVER swings the wheel back and they continue slowly through the darkness. In the back seat, two NEW SOLDIERS peer into the night with blank faces. One of them is watching a huge plastic sign cartwheel past in the wind when -- -- he reacts! -- as TODD'S face appears is only inches from his, right against the plexi! BAM! Before the NEW SOLDIER can do more than look startled, TODD shoots out the window with a pistol and shoves a live grenade through the hole. NEW SOLDIER RED! RED! RE -- BAWHOOOM! The grenade EXPLODES and... The DRIVER fights for control of the wheel. The GUNNER screams and screams and screams like a machine running at high speed while the two NEW SOLDIERS lie open-eyed with death in the back seat. EXT. CRAWLER No sign of TODD. Disappeared again. As the wind ROARS furiously, the damaged CRAWLER limps along. INT. CRAWLER ONE The dying GUNNER is making awful noises while the DRIVER, eyes glazed, his face streaming with blood, maneuvers the vehicle slowly and cautiously, looking for the enemy... But all he sees through the cracked windshield is a shadowy world of wind-tossed debris. EXT. JUNK TERRAIN Protected by a hunk of pipe, TODD crouches and watches the CRAWLER, his eyes glittering, his weapon ready. It's clear now that the tables are turned and he is the hunter as we... CUT TO: INT. CORRIDORS - NIGHT EXPLOSIONS! SCREAMS! BAWHOOM! Another shell hits, beams splinter, dirt walls collapse. Eight-year old JOHNNY, alone and terrified, comes in to view around a corner. He's been separated from the others. JOHNNY DAD! DAAAAAAD! No answer. JOHNNY doesn't know which way to go. The world's falling apart! WHUMP! The little warren of earthen corridors is shaken by another BLAST. Desperate, JOHNNY makes a left, away from the last blast and hurries down a collapsing corridor past doorways that reveal rooms with no ceilings where the wind HOWLS. It's obvious the shelling has been going on for a while. JOHNNY DAAAAAAAD! Just then, JIMMY PIG pops out of a doorway in front of him and and rushes toward him. JIMMY PIG GOTCHA! BA-WHOOM! Another shell collapses the corridor behind JOHNNY as JIMMY PIG grabs him and hauls him toward the door he emerged from, the Dining Commons. INT. DINING COMMONS EMMA is ushering CHILDREN through a trap door in the floor into the root cellar as JIMMY PIG ushers JOHNNY into the room. JOHNNY Where's my father? Where's my father? JOHNNY looks around urgently. SANDRA is bandaging TOMMY'S arm while ELLEN, NATHAN, and WILL are huddling under a table in the most protected corner of the room. JIMMY PIG and JUDITH exchange a pained look as JIMMY PIG pushes JOHNNY toward SANDRA and the table. JIMMY PIG Johnny, get over under that table with Miss Sandra and Ellen and the others. Miss Judith, you better go on down the root cellar with Emma and help with the ones down there. JOHNNY Where's my mother? BAH-DOOOM! Another fierce CONCUSSION twenty yards away shakes dirt from the ceiling. ELLEN beckons from under the table... ELLEN Come on, Johnny. CUT TO: EXT. SETTLEMENT - NIGHT MUZZLE FLASH! FFFWHOOOMP! CRAWLER TWO fires another round. The vehicle is squatting not thirty yards from the trench garden, pouring round after round into the colony, lighting the night with bright-colored flowery blasts. Crouched in the wind not far from the vehicle, the two NEW SOLDIERS from the back seat have set up a mortar, and they too are firing away. INT. CRAWLER TWO/STATlONARY The GUNNER is looking through his scope, methodically aiming and firing as CAINE 607 at the wheel watches impassively. KA-FOOMP! Another shot, the vehicle rocks, and, five hundred yards away, fire and dirt fountain thirty feet into the air. BEEP! BEEP! A light on the dash blinks on. CAINE 607 switches on a radarscope, spots a blip. The GUNNER takes his eyes off the scope, looks at the blip. CAINE 607 is already manipulating a spotlight, looking across the GUNNER out the right window. The spotlight stabs the darkness, finds a moving vehicle a half mile of moving toward them. It's CRAWLER ONE with its lights out. As CAINE 607 flicks off the spotlight, the GUNNER turns back to the scope and resumes his deadly barrage. CAINE 607 speaks into the radio mike. CAINE 607 Crawler Two to Crawler One. Come in, One. RADIO One. CAINE 607 Two to one, take your port to our nine o'clock and commence firing. RADIO Copy, Two. Port to your nine and commence firing. FOOOMP! The GUNNER fires again, rocking the vehicle. CAINE 607 looks at the SCOPE. The blip continues on directly on its course. CAINE 607 picks up the mike again. CAINE 607 Crawler Two to Crawler One. Again; proceed to port nine... RADIO Affirmative, Two. FOOOMP! The GUNNER fires again as CAINE 607 looks at the screen. The blip on the screen keeps on straight, doesn't alter course! CAINE 607 (into the mike) Two to One. You are still on twelve o'clock. Correct to nine. RADIO Roger. But the blip continues straight, directly at them. And suddenly CAINE realizes! Dropping the mike he snaps at his GUNNER urgently. CAINE 607 Gunner, hard to port, target hard to port! As the startled GUNNER starts to obey both of them are bathed in sudden, blinding white light as CRAWLER ONE suddenly switches on all lights and... KA-BLAM! KA-BLAM! MUZZLES FLASHES from CRAWLER ONE. WHUMP! WHUMP! CRAWLER TWO shudders, taking two direct hits. The GUNNER SCREAMS in pain. INT. CRAWLER ONE TODD is at the wheel, speaking into the radio as wind whips at him through the shattered windshield. TODD Roger, Two. Affirmative. BLAM! BLAM! TODD fires as he drives straight ahead toward CRAWLER TWO and the two NEW SOLDIERS pinned in his headlight. EXT. CRAWLER TWO As shells slam into CRAWLER TWO, the two NEW SOLDIERS outside try to get clear of the explosions, staggering off into the wind. INT. CRAWLER ONE TODD sets his sights on one of the NEW SOLDIERS, cutting him down with rocket fire, then he glances toward the SECOND NEW SOLDIER on the right. The SECOND NEW SOLDIER, ten yards ahead, stops, turns to fire. TODD yanks the wheel, swerving toward him. EXT. CRAWLERS CRAWLER ONE plows into the NEW SOLDIER, crushing him under the wheels, and continuing to grind toward the crippled CRAWLER TWO. WHAM! CRAWLER ONE rams CRAWLER TWO and drives it sideways, pushing it ten yards... twenty yards.... thirty yards...until suddenly it sprawls into the mouth of the trench garden, splintering the trellis and wedging itself at a sharply canted angle over the garden, and we... CUT TO: INT. CAPTAIN'S CABIN/"DADDY" - NIGHT Silence. CHURCH is dozing fully clothed on his bunk in a tiny stateroom. BZZZZT. BZZZZT! A buzzer sounds and a light flashes. CHURCH opens his eyes, sees the light flashing. Siting up in the bunk, he grabs the receiver of a phone and puts it to his ear. As he listens, his eyes widen with incredulity...then they get wider as he hears more. CHURCH Whaaaaat? CUT TO: INT. CORRIDORS/SETTLEMENT - NIGHT Thick smoke clogs the narrow corridors as RED winds through the maze of corridors, coughing desperately. He can hear VOICES ahead. INT. DINING COMMONS/SETTLEMENT RED charges into the commons, shouting excitedly. RED THEY STOPPED SHOOTING! THEY STOPPED SHOOTING! He stops abruptly, seeing... a blazing fire, whipped by wind from a shel hole in the ceiling, consuming tables in the far half of the commons... while JIMMY PIG, SLADE and SANDRA struggle with one end of a huge beam that's fallen at an angle on top of a trap door in the floor, the root cellar. ELLEN, with NATHAN in her arms, TOMMY, WILL, JOHNNY and OTHER CHILDREN hover behind her, staring at... a six inch opening between the floor and the trap door where EMMA, JUDITH and OTHER CHILDREN, unable to squeeze through the six inch gap, peer out with frightened eyes, trapped. RED (dampened) They stopped shooting! JIMMY PIG (to Red) Give us a hand, dammit! As RED joins the effort. SLADE snaps at him sarcastically as he strains against the heavy beam. SLADE You think (grunt) that's good they stopped? It means (grunt) they're comin' for us! To (grunt) kill us! That's good news, you think? SANDRA (looking for hope) Sergeant Todd (grunt, cough) said... SLADE That he's gonna (grunt) stomp a whole army? Couldn't if he wanted. The smoke is getting thicker. EMMA and JUDITH are coughing, looking scared. SANDRA He (grunt) knew them! He said -- SLADE He's dead! If he isn't (grunt) dead, he joined 'em. He don't (grunt) care about us, he's a soldier. Besides, we threw him out, remember? SANDRA pushes at the beam with all her strength, fighting back tears of despair. SANDRA He's not dead! The massive beam won't budge! Eyes wide with terror, EMMA and RUTH peer out of their trap. CUT TO: INT. COCKPIT/"DADDY" - NIGHT CHURCH is in the cockpit now, hovering behind RUBRICK who's speaking urging into the radio mike. RUBRICK This is Daddy, come in, Number Two. Daddy calling Number Two... CHURCH What about Number One? Try Number... RUBRICK I tried One. I can't get either one of them. SLOAN is pacing, looks sick to her stomach with fear. SLOAN There was...some kind of... guerilla action... RUBRICK Then we lost them... Now CHURCH is pacing back and forth, panicky, ranting... CHURCH You should have waked me sooner! This is bad, very bad. I never should have let that clown Mekum test his wonder boy army on me. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Shit! We don't even know what we're up against. How many...? SLOAN We couldn't get any figures on enemy troop strength. RUBRICK Not even estimates... CHURCH We're sitting ducks here! There could be a couple of divisions! More! We don't even have the weapons to arm the old soldiers. RUBRICK (into the mike, desperately) Hello... Hello, One. This is Daddy... EXT. ABOVE THE TRENCH GARDEN The radio in CRAWLER TWO is still SQUAWKING urgently with RUBRICK'S VOICE as the crippled vehicle lies sprawled at a violent angle over the trench garden. RADIO (V.O.) This is Daddy! Come in, Crawler Two, come in... Nearby, A VOICE is crying out in pain in the night. Limping, TODD keeps his weapon ready as he searches out the sound. ANGLE ON THE INJURED SOLDIER, the one TODD crushed under the treads of the CRAWLER. He's screaming in pain. Looks up. TODD looms over the INJURED SOLDIER, weapon pointed. Their eyes meet. In agony, the SOLDIER looks into TODD'S eyes, nods ever so slightly. BLAM! BLAM! TODD fires point blank. Now the only sound is the ROARING of the WIND and the pathetic sound of RUBRICK continuing his desperate RADIO BABBLE. EXT. INSIDE THE TRENCH GARDEN As the RADIO CHATTERS, burning debris from the CRAWLER canted over the garden illuminates the garden...and a BODY sprawled there, fallen from the CRAWLER above. BAM! KABAM! ROCKET FIRE! EXT. ABOVE THE TRENCH TODD FIRES rockets into the damaged CRAWLER...until the RADIO CHATTER stops abruptly. RADIO killed dead. CUT TO: INT. DINING COMMONS/SETTLEMENT - NIGHT The gap between the floor and the trap door has increased to ten inches, enough for EMMA and RUTH to squeeze an INFANT through to SANDRA'S reaching arms. Soaked with sweat, gasping and coughing in the thickening smoke, JIMMY PIG, SLADE and RED continue to strain at the beam...and it moves. Another inch! The fire is raging. The INFANT SQUALLS in SANDRA'S arms. SLADE snaps at her as he pushes on the beam. SLADE Get them kids (grunt) hid somewhere! There's soldiers coming. ELLEN and the CHILDREN look alarmed as SANDRA gathers them and ushers them toward the exit, glancing back toward the trap door as she's leaving. EMMA and RUTH meet her look with frightened eyes. Noticing SANDRA'S hesitation, JIMMY PIG reassures her... JIMMY PIG Don't worry. Couple more inches and they're out. SANDRA and the CHILDREN exit. And suddenly!!! The beam slips back five inches, almost closing the opening. EMMA and JUDITH SCREAM! JIMMY PIG, RED and SLADE look alarmed, defeated. EXT. ABOVE THE TRENCH GARDEN TODD walks away from the smoking bulk of the CRAWLER canted over the garden and drops into a traveling trench. EXT. INSIDE A PASSAGE TRENCH Limping slightly, laden with weapons and still wearing his helmet, TODD starts along the trench in the direction of the settlement. EXT. INSIDE THE TRENCH GARDEN In the shadows six feet below the overturned and smoldering CRAWLER TWO, the BODY stirs on the floor of the garden, barely visible in the flickering half light from the flames above. It's CAINE 607. He groans and stirs again. He's not dead! In fact, he's rolling over, struggling to his knees. INT. DINING COMMONS The frightened eyes of EMMA, RUTH and CHILDREN peer from the four inch crack. Whipped by wind from the hole in the ceiling, the fire is spreading, the smoke is thick. JIMMY PIG, SLADE and RED are gasping with effort and coughing. SLADE gasps to RED. SLADE You know where Thomas keeps those two axes? Go get the axes. RED takes off at a run. JIMMY PIG (so Emma and Ruth can't hear) We can't (cough) chop 'em out. We don't have time. SLADE Just as good (gasp) to die chopping as fighting. INT. CORRIDOR RED rushes through a smoky corridor. Wherever shells have punctured the roof, the WIND whips debris about. EXT. INSIDE THE GARDEN TRENCH Sitting up now, using a flashlight, CAINE 607 is examining a terrible gash in his thigh that reveals tissue and tendon. The right side of his face is also badly injured, flesh torn, swollen and distorted. He pulls the first aid kit from his utility belt, opens it, focuses the light on the contents. Selects a couple of pills. Swallows them. Considers. Takes two more. Pulls out a hypodermic needle, injects his leg. Takes another needle, stabs his bloody cheek. His eyes glitter as he feels the rush from the drug. He looks dangerous again in spite of his condition. EXT. INSIDE THE PASSAGE TRENCH TODD reaches the settlement, enters a half collapsed doorway. INT. SUPPLY ROOM RED is urgently rummaging through crowbars, coils of rope, sledge hammers. At last he finds two axes, grabs them and exits. INT. CORRIDOR/SETTLEMENT TODD picks his way among collapsed walls, fallen timbers. He peers through doorways, sees CORPSES. Moves on. Searching. EXT. INSIDE THE PASSAGE TRENCH Dragging a freshly bandaged leg, CAINE 607 makes his way along the trench toward the settlement. He's using the wall for support...but he seems to be getting stronger rather than weaker. His face is hideous. INT. JUNCTION OF CORRIDORS Carrying two axes RED zips around a corner and freezes... RED'S POV of: A SOLDIER, seen from behind, moving down a smoky corridor, helmeted, heavily armed, dangerous looking, unidentifiable. ANGLE ON RED, terrified, waiting till the SOLDIER (TODD) has disappeared in the smoke. Then RED hurries on down another damaged corridor, axes in hand. INT. OTHER DAMAGED CORRIDOR RED scoots around another corner and... stops short...an armored torso a foot in front of his face. Looking up, RED looks right into the distorted face of CAINE 607. Before RED can react, CAINE 607'S hand shoots out and snatches one of the axes. Astonished, RED backs up a step, and raises the other axe to defend himself. RED'S POV OF CAINE 607 looming toward him, axe in hand. ANGLE ON RED, turning and running. ANGLE ON CAINE 607 limping along, dragging his leg as RED disappears around a corner. CAINE 607 rounds the corner in pursuit... and see only smoke, no sign of RED. INT. DINING COMMONS EMMA and JUDITH peer out from under the heavy metal trap door as JIMMY PIG and SLADE desperately try to move the beam using a piece of metal as a lever. SLADE This (grunt, cough) ain't gonna work. Where's them axes? He musta run into soldiers and got killed. JIMMY PIG How do you know there's soldiers coming? SLADE 'Cause soldiers (gasp) finish what they start -- unless you stop 'em. And we're what (gasp) they started, and we didn't stop 'em! (shouts to Emma) WE'RE GONNA GET YOU OUTTA THERE SOMEHOW! I SWEAR IT! Just then RED bursts into the room with a single axe, shouting... RED SOLDIERS! SOLDIERS! SLADE (grabbing the axe) Only one axe? RED They took the other one! SLADE (chopping furiously) Toldja. JIMMY PIG (to Red) How many? RED I... I couldn't... I couldn't... count 'em. Four, I think. Maybe five. SLADE (chopping) More! Trust me! JIMMY PIG (grabbing the axe) Turns. JIMMY PIG starts chopping furiously. SLADE picks up a rifle, hands it to RED. SLADE Do what you can. As RED looks at the rifle, alarmed, SLADE "comforts" him. SLADE They're gonna kill us anyhow. No point in surrendering. (grabbing the axe) Turn! JIMMY PIG gasps for air as SLADE takes over chopping again. RED exits, worried. INT. THE MEETING ROOM Huddled in a makeshift shelter of overturned furniture, with NATHAN asleep on her lap, SANDRA is reciting to ELLEN, WILL, TOMMY, JOHNNY, ANGIE, eight year old RAMON. SANDRA "-- sailed an a river of crystal light into a sea of dew. Where are you going and what do you wish the old moon asked the three. 'We've come to fish for herring fish...'" TOMMY What's a "moon?" JOHNNY I know what a moon is! It's... SANDRA (suddenly, urgently) SHHHHHHH! SANDRA is reacting to vague movement in the shadows beyond the door...and sounds. She puts her hand over the mouth of a whimpering CHILD, hushes another. A timber falls outside the door and SANDRA sees a shadowy shape enter the meeting room, looming in the darkness. Frightened CHILDREN hold their breath, peer out fearfully. CRACK! SMASH! The huge shape hurls aside the debris in his way, switches on a flashlight, probes the darkness. The light wipes the damaged room. Suddenly, SANDRA gasps. SANDRA Oh, my God! It's... it's you! TODD maneuvers the flashlight beam, sees the frightened CHILDREN. SANDRA Are you...all right? TODD We should go, sir. SANDRA Go? INT. CORRIDOR Peering into the smoke, RED reacts. RED'S POV of CAINE 607, obscured by smoke, crossing the corridor ahead, not seeing RED. ANGLE ON RED, summoning all his courage, raising his rifle, aiming. BANG! ANGLE ON CAINE 607 reacting, looking toward RED. ANGLE ON RED scared to death, firing again! And again! ANGLE ON CAINE 607 wrenching a heavy door from its hinges and holding it in front of him, shielding himself from RED's continuous shooting, advancing. ANGLE ON RED, firing again and again...and backing up. ANGLE ON CAINE 607 holding the door/shield as he advances on RED. Backing, RED trips, goes down flat on his back. CAINE 607, only six feet away, hurls the door at him. RED shoves the door aside, aims his gun up at CAINE 607, as the huge soldier looms over him. Before RED can pull the trigger, CAINE 607 snatches the rifle barrel and yanks the weapon out of RED'S hands. RED rolls, scrambles to his feet. And CAINE 607 clubs him to the ground with the butt of the rifle, crushes his skull with three brutal blows. INT. ROOM TODD'S impassive face somehow reveals the alarm and awkwardness he feels at what's happening to him. TOMMY is seated on his shoulders, he's got NATHAN in one arm and JOHNNY is nervously looking up at him as he clutches at TODD'S huge free hand, and now a little girl, SARAH, clutches at his combat pants as SANDRA instructs her. SANDRA Sarah, you hang on to Sergeant Todd. No matter what happens! Clutching TODD's combat pants fiercely, SARAH looks up timidly at the big stonefaced man as SANDRA turns to ELLEN. SANDRA Ellen, go to the Commons. Tell Jimmy Pig and Mr. Slade that Sergeant Todd says we have to leave as soon as they get everybody out of the root-cellar. Can you do that? ELLEN (scared) Uh, yes, ma'am. SANDRA It's all right. The soldiers are gone for now. But be careful where you walk. And if it's too smoky, just come back. SARAH (on her way out) Yes, ma'am. SANDRA (calling after her) Tell them to bring all the food and clothing they can carry. (turning to the children) Do you all understand that Sergeant Todd here is going to help us, and whatever he says to do you must do immediately, as if he was your father or your mother. SARAH (tears) He's not my father! ANGLE ON TODD'S stone face. Unfamiliar territory. SANDRA No... but he's our friend. Our good friend. Do you understand? Frightened faces look to the awkward "killing machine." TODD looks like a statue decorated with CHILDREN. JOHNNY is sobbing as he hangs onto TODD's giant hand obediently. JOHNNY I want my father and my mother! Can he find where my father is? I want him to find my father! SANDRA No. No, he can't do that, but -- A SCREAM! From the corridor! SANDRA freezes. TODD is alert, tense...and covered with CHILDREN. SANDRA turns and runs for the door as TODD starts to put the CHILDREN down. But he's awkward, slow, not his usual graceful self, trying to be gentle like a clumsy man handling breakables. INT. CORRIDOR Bursting into the corridor, SANDRA sees ELLEN racing toward her, weaving through broken beams, SCREAMING as CAINE 607 lumbers after her out of the shadows. CAINE 607 doesn't bother to avoid obstacles, shoving beams aside like twigs, dragging his bad leg. SANDRA Sergeant Todd! ELLEN dives into SANDRA's arms and SANDRA turns, only three steps ahead of CAINE 607, and rushes into the meeting room. INT. MEETING ROOM TODD is just putting NATHAN gently on the floor when he sees CAINE 607 arrive in the doorway. For halt a second their eyes meet, then -- CAINE 607 advances on TODD. Still encumbered by CHILDREN clutching at him, TODD sees his weapons, but can't get to them. Then it's too late! The terrified CHILDREN watch as the giant CAINE 607 clubs TODD mercilessly with the rifle butt, then hurls him backwards like a rag doll. Horrified, SANDRA sees TODD slam into a wall, slump to the floor. Dismissing TODD, CAINE 607 turns, looms toward the CHILDREN. SANDRA THEY'RE JUST CHILDREN! CAINE 607 ignores her, heads for ELLEN, dragging his bad leg. Spotting TODD'S weapons, SANDRA snatches a heavy rocket rifle, brings it up awkwardly, points it, FIRES! And the kick from the heavy gun sends SANDRA sprawling back, the weapon trembling from her hands. But the WHIZZING ROCKET, a near miss, gets CAINE 607's attention. He turns away from ELLEN, toward SANDRA. ANGLE ON TODD rising to his knees, blinking stupidly, trying to focus as blood pours into his eyes from a gash in his forehead. TODD'S POV, a vague, unfocused image of SANDRA, snatching a bayonet from TODD'S gear on the floor and lunging courageously at CAINE 607. Vaguely, TODD sees CAINE 607 parry her thrust effortlessly and grab her. As she beats at CAINE 607 bravely with her fists, the big man slams her into a wall brutally. As she crumples, he hits her again. ANGLE ON TODD struggling to his feet, staggering as he shakes his head to clear it. His eyes go to SANDRA, slumped against the wall, bloody. Terrified CHILDREN look up at CAINE 607 as he towers over them. Suddenly... SHTUNK! A knife blade suddenly sticks in CAINE 607's neck. CAINE 607 only flinches... and, as he YANKS the knife from his neck by the handle, he turns to see who threw the blade... WHAM! TODD slams into him, tackling him, driving his big shoulder deep into the new soldier's waist, slamming the big man hard into a wall. Air goes out of CAINE 607, the knife drops from his hand. But that's it for TODD's victory. Six-five, two-sixty, CAINE 607 is bigger and stronger than TODD. His powerful arms rip TODD off him like he's taking off a Band-Aid. Terrified, wide-eyed CHILDREN watch TODD hurled back across the room. TODD scrambles to his feet, shakes his head clear. Here comes CAINE 607, dragging his bad leg. TODD attacks! Combining a martial arts feint and lunge with a vicious kick! But 607 counters expertly, brushing aside the attack! TODD lunges again employing yet another skilled move. SMACK! CAINE 607 outmaneuvers TODD again, punishing him brutally. WHACK! WHAM! SMASH! CRUNCH! This time TODD jolts the bigger man with a terrible combination of moves, smashing him in the Adam's apple, kicking him in the knee, driving an elbow into the jaw. This time it's CAINE 607 who has to back away to recover. And now he seems to re-consider TODD, revealing for the first time a genuine respect. As their eyes meet, CAINE 607 seems to be saying "All right then, you're serious, let's do it, fella." TODD lunges. SMASH! CAINE 607 creams him. TODD twists, slams CAINE 607 back. BASH! A fist to the face! UMMMMMPH! A knee in a groin! SLAM! A head against a wall! CUT TO: VIDEO SCREEN/COCKPIT/"DADDY" - NIGHT His face tanned from his Caribbean vacation, his image blurred and distorted by transmission, MEKUM'S VIDEO IMAGE stares incredulously from the snowy video monitor in the cockpit. MEKUM/VIDEO SCREEN You can't be serious! This is some kind of a joke...in poor taste. As SLOAN and RUBRICK look on uneasily, an indignant CHURCH addresses the image on the screen. CHURCH Not only are we apparently out twenty of your fancy new soldiers, your supermen, we're out both crawlers and all the weapons...so we can't arm the old soldiers, the ones you "improved" on, to defend ourselves... SLOAN (panicky, blurting at the screen) We've got to get out of here, Colonel Mekum! CHURCH flashes a scowl at SLOAN as, on the screen, MEKUM erupts excitedly. MEKUM/VIDEO IMAGE Abort? You want to lose twenty top soldiers to a phantom army and then abort the mission? Do you know what that would look like on my record? Or yours? We'd be explaining it for the next fifty years from some goddam assignment in God knows where, we'd -- CHURCH (interrupting sharply) Well, how's it gonna look when we lose the ship too? How's that gonna look on the old record? 'Cause that's what's gonna happen if we don't get our ass outta here. We can't defend ourselves with no weapons and -- MEKUM/VIDEO IMAGE (fighting his own panic) Hold on, hold on there, Captain! At ease! Let's calm down and remember...remember we're soldiers. CHURCH (sarcastic) Good plan, Colonel. MEKUM/VIDEO IMAGE (moving on, improvising) Now we can't just get the shit kicked out of us by an unknown guerilla army... But maybe we could...alter...our objective... CHURCH Meaning? MEKUM/VIDEO IMAGE Nuke the joint...and get out! Delighted with his own genius, MEKUM smiles triumphantly from the video screen as RUBRICK, SLOAN, and CHURCH exchange stunned looks and we... CUT TO: INT. MEETING ROOM - NIGHT WHUMP! TODD's bloodied head is slammed on the floor. His eyes are almost swollen shut as he looks up at CAINE 607 kneeling on top of him. Both men are bloody and exhausted their breath coming in gasps, but it's CAINE 607 who's on top, beating the last bit of resistance out of TODD who struggles desperately one more time...before he slumps unconscious. Horrified, NATHAN sees CAINE 607 smash the unconscious TODD with the last of his strength, "finishing him off." NATHAN can't stand it. He toddles toward CAINE 607, who's still on all fours, and attacks, his tiny fists raining blows on the amazed monster's bloody face. The frightened CHILDREN see CAINE 607 ignore NATHAN's ineffectual blows and struggle with enormous effort to his feet. Once standing, he looks down at NATHAN beating at his knees. For a moment he's confused. What's this? Then he sees the frightened CHILDREN and orients himself. When he looks down at NATHAN again, tiny NATHAN is an enemy as good as dead. One blow and... But just then big hands close around CAINE 607's ankles, tackling him. As the giant topples, TODD lets go of the ankles and crawls on top of the fallen man. As CAINE 607 looks up into TODD's fierce face, the fight goes out of his eyes. He knows he's beaten, he knows TODD will never quit. He's helpless as TODD grips him in a terrible hold and as TODD puts the pressure on, CAINE 607 whispers... CAINE 607 It hurts! TODD (sympathetic) I know. SNAP! TODD breaks CAINE 607's neck and watches the life go out of him. In the sudden silence as TODD, panting, stares at his defeated enemy, he hears a VOICE...her VOICE...very weak... SANDRA Sergeant... TODD turns and sees SANDRA slumped against the wall where Caine 607 threw her. There's a trickle of blood coming from a nostril, more blood in her hair. Her eyes don't look right. SANDRA Nathan! TODD sees NATHAN looking at his mother with fear in his eyes. Struggling to his feet, TODD picks up NATHAN and puts the boy down close to his mother. SANDRA reaches out and takes NATHAN's hand. She holds NATHAN's hand toward TODD. TODD looks confused. There are tears in SANDRA's eyes as she pushes NATHAN's little hand into TODD's huge left paw. TODD looks down at the joined hands, then he looks into SANDRA's flooded eyes. Does TODD understand her gesture? His face is impassive. Maybe he doesn't. Just then a hand touches his shoulder. TODD turns to see JOHNNY face him, trembling but valiant, to ask the question the others are fearful of asking. JOHNNY S-sir...sir, are you our friend? (indicating Sandra) Sh-she said you were our friend. TODD sees all the CHILDREN looking at him, their eyes big with hope and fear as we... CUT TO: INT. DINING COMMONS Blackened with soot, JIMMY PIG still has the axe in his hand as SLADE manages, with a supreme effort, to hold the door of the root cellar up enough to allow EMMA and JUDITH to push the FOUR CHILDREN out of the cellar and then to scramble after them. Exhausted, SLADE lets the door fall back, picks up his rifle and turns toward the exit. And freezes. Dumbfounded. Standing in the doorway is TODD, laden with CHILDREN, on his shoulders, in his arms, surrounding him, clutching at his garments. SLADE You! JIMMY PIG Thank God! CUT TO: INT. CORRIDOR/"DADDY" - NIGHT CRUDE LETTERS scrawled on the metal skin of the bomb say "LOVE FROM DADDY." The heavy bomb is lugged along a long narrow corridor. SLOAN (O.S.) Well, Riley, you wanted a weapon, right? Now you got one! A real biggee! We see that RILEY and three other VETERANS -- GREEN, CHESLEY, and MOORE -- are struggling to maneuver the heavy bomb along the narrow corridor and down a ladder hatch as SLOAN follows on their heels and CHURCH and RUBRICK, fretting, follow her. RUBRICK What good'll it do just setting it outside? We don't know where the enemy is. CHURCH Doesn't matter. For once Mekum's on the ball. This is a very dirty bomb! That wind will churn the radioactivity around like soap in a washing machine. This is gonna be one clean place in a very short time... CUT TO: INT. BOWELS OF THE SHIP - NIGHT THE TIMER on the bomb CLICKS into action, ticking off seconds and blurring off the tenths. ANGLE ON SLOAN, punching a code into the device as she addresses the four VETERANS. SLOAN Okay, fellas, take it about a hundred yards, then get back on the double...unless you wanna fry. RILEY, his face impassive, opens a hatch, revealing the darkness outside where the wind SCREAMS. As RUBRICK and CHURCH watch, the four VETS stagger into the darkness with the bomb, RUBRICK has to shout to CHURCH to be heard over the wind outside. RUBRICK THIRTY MINUTES IS AWFUL TIGHT! WE HAVE TO LAUNCH AND GET CLEAR OF THE ATMOSPHERE. CHURCH IT'S ENOUGH. IF WE LEAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH, THE ENEMY MAY GET CLEAR SOMEHOW AS WELL. As SLOAN shuts the hatch, she checks her watch. EXT. SPACESHIP/"DADDY" Carrying the heavy bomb in a sling, RILEY, CHESLEY, MOORE, and GREEN stagger past the work-lights into the darkness while the wind rages around them. Holding the sling one-handed, GREEN is illuminating the ground ahead with a flashlight. INT. COCKPIT/"DADDY" Flick! Flick! Flick! Flick! SLOAN is flicking switches as RUBRICK reads off a check list and she responds to each item on the list with "Roger." CHURCH is punching buttons on the control console, causing lights to light up reading "Port Power Cluster," "Starboard Power Cluster," "Vertical Stabilizer Unit," and so on. EXT. TERRAIN Darkness! Buffeted by the wind, RILEY and his COMPANIONS lower the bomb to the ground and release it gently. They're just turning to go back, fighting the wind, when RILEY senses something. He takes the light from GREEN and points it. The four VETERANS axe astonished at what they see. CRAWLER ONE, battered and motionless, is abandoned only ten yards away. The flashlight beam probes the blown out windshield, the scarred chassis, pans across the back seat...and pans back urgently, glimpsing tiny EYES. The EYES disappear behind the back seat. RILEY, CHESLEY, GREEN and MOORE exchange glances. The light probes again, this time revealing the frightened faces of CHILDREN cowering in the back seat, hiding from the wind. Suddenly RILEY whirls. Out of the darkness beside him, TODD looms. RILEY looks into the face of a man he saw killed! TODD has a CHILD in each arm and another hanging on to his leg for dear life. He's wearing the scarf Jimmy Pig gave him. In the shadows behind TODD, JIMMY PIG, SLADE, EMMA, JUDITH and more CHILDREN are watching anxiously. RILEY's stone face comes as close to expression as it ever will...astonishment! The other VETERANS stare too, amazed. Suddenly RILEY gives TODD a smart military salute. ANGLE ON JIMMY PIG and SLADE exchanging a look of wonder. What's going on here? They haven't a clue! And we... CUT TO: INT. COCKPIT/"DADDY" - NIGHT The countdown clock is TICKING away, showing ten minutes, as CHURCH, RUBRICK, and SLOAN complete their pre-launch prep. CHURCH Right horizontal? RUBRICK Roger. Right horizontal checks green. CHURCH relaxes, looks up at the clock, satisfied. CHURCH All right we're "go." I'm allowing us three minutes to clear the atmosphere and get out of range. That means we can wait seven more minutes. SLOAN Fuck 'em! Let's just go! RUBRICK She's right! Four more casualties aren't gonna mean anything to anybody, especially when they're already obsolete. CHURCH considers for a moment, then shrugs. CHURCH I guess they wouldn't want to get old anyway. (to Sloan) Go ahead, lock the hatch. (to Rubrick) Rube, punch up the port power cluster and -- SLOAN (interrupting urgently) What was that? CHURCH Huh? What was what? SLOAN Sssshhhh! Listen! SLOAN is listening intensely. All they hear is the HUM of the air system and miscellaneous WHITE NOISE. CHURCH and RUBRICK exchange a glance and are about to speak when they all hear it... A sound like a CHILD CRYING somewhere in the ship! All three of them stare at each other in utter amazement. RUBRICK It sounds... SLOAN Like a kid! Just then they hear it again, closer. CHURCH frowns. What the fuck? CUT TO: INT. BUNKS/"DADDY" - NIGHT - MOMENTS LATER EMMA, JUDITH, SLADE and JIMMY PIG are settling most of the CHILDREN in the cramped crew quarters, pulling off hats and coats, when a COMMOTION causes them to look toward the open door to the corridor in time to see... a glimpse of RUBRICK being shoved roughly along the corridor by MOORE, his loud protests clearly audible. RUBRICK Are you crazy? You can't do this, soldier! You're going to be in trouble. Then, as RUBRICK is pushed out of view, CHURCH appears, indignant and panicky, as CHESLEY hustles him past. CHURCH I'm your superior officer, don't you understand that? ANGLE ON THE PIONEERS, exchanging glances. INT. CORRIDOR/"DADDY" As CHESLEY shoves him along, CHURCH continues to protest... CHURCH Don't you realize you're violating the chain of command? I'm giving you a direct order to...to...to... CHURCH breaks off, suddenly speechless at the sight ahead of him. Here comes TODD, laden with more CHILDREN, the tattoo on his cheek clearly visible. His eyes meet CHURCH'S. CHURCH S-sergeant? S-sergeant T-todd? It... You...! How...? How...? Weak at the knees, CHURCH is still stammering as CHESLEY shoves him ahead. And then SLOAN, in the grip of GREEN, is hustled by. She looks wide-eyed at TODD and the CHILDREN. SLOAN Sergeant Todd! CUT TO: INT. BOWELS OF THE SHIP - NIGHT - SECONDS LATER RUBRICK, CHURCH, and SLOAN are still protesting as the VETERANS hustle them down the ladder toward the main hatch. RUBRICK Listen, you don't understand! That bomb is triggered! It's on a timer! CHURCH We have to get out of here! All of us! You need us! You need us to operate the ship... SLOAN YOU'RE FUCKING MORONS! CAN'T YOU DIMWITS GRASP THAT YOU'RE KILLING US ALL! YOU'RE KILLING YOURSELVES! THERE'S ONLY A FEW MINUTES LEFT! RUBRICK NO! NO! NO! RUBRICK is shoved out the door into the night! EXT. SPACESHIP/"DADDY" - NIGHT RUBRICK desperately clutches at the hatch entrance as the savage wind tears at him...but he can't hold on. As SLOAN and CHURCH are shoved out the hatch, they see RUBRICK blown off into the night, screaming. CHURCH DOWN! LIE DOWN! FLAT! And CHURCH dives for the ground as the wind tumbles him. SLOAN does the same thing as the hatch door slams behind them, shutting them out of the ship.. SLOAN NO! NO! NO! PLEASE! NO! INT. COCKPIT/"DADDY" - NIGHT The countdown clock shows four minutes and twenty seconds as it CLICKS off the seconds. Their soldier faces inscrutable, TODD and RUBRICK consider the various lights winking on the control panel. RILEY points to a row of switches and looks at TODD. Their eyes meet. TODD considers the switches, then nods. RILEY throws the switches. A row of red lights goes on and the ship seems to hum with life. Still communicating wordlessly, TODD points to another switch, RILEY throws it! EXT. SPACESHIP/"DADDY" BLAST OFF! Big engines belch fire, illuminating the bleak landscape as the ship rises into the night. Brightly lit by the ignition, SLOAN, still on her belly, sees the ship taking off. SLOAN OH, MY GOD! OH, MY GOD! CHURCH THERE IT IS! I SEE IT! The bomb is clearly visible ten yards away in the dying glow of the takeoff. CHURCH bumps madly along the ground on his belly. EXT. SPACESHIP/"DADDY" The NAF ship "Daddy" climbs off into space, getting smaller and smaller, the light from the takeoff diminishing. EXT. THE BOMB/TERRAIN The countdown timer on the bomb is faintly visible in the dying light. It reads twenty seconds. CHURCH (V.O.) Twenty seconds. Hurry. CHURCH and SLOAN are hunched desperately over the bomb in near darkness, the wind tearing at them. SLOAN tries to punch a code into the keys... SLOAN Oh, my God, I can't remember if it's six-seven or seven-six... CHURCH Try one! Try it! SLOAN punches the keyboard blindly. SLOAN There! I did it! Did it stop? Did it -- ? BAHWHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! Everything is dazzling, blinding light! INT. COCKPIT/"DADDY" White light from the blast briefly floods the cockpit as TODD and RILEY stare at the video monitor where MEKUM'S VIDEO IMAGE is babbling frantically. MEKUM/VIDEO IMAGE ...I need a report, Captain. It's not just my ass, it's yours too! You've got to stand by me on this. I want you to come in right now... right now! Do you understand me? Right now! RILEY turns to TODD, looking a question at him. TODD meets his look and no words are necessary. RILEY reaches for the control switch as MEKUM continues babbling. MEKUM/VIDEO IMAGE This is important for all of us, for our careers. There's going to be a Board of Inquiry and -- MEKUM'S IMAGE cuts out mid-babble. SLADE'S VOICE (O.S.) That was the boss, huh? TODD and RILEY turn to see SLADE in the entrance to the cockpit addressing TODD and the VETERANS collectively. SLADE Well then, I guess you fellas are all right. I guess I misjudged you some. Where I said you were "a buncha no good killer robots," I mighta just overspoke myself. As of now, till it goes otherwise, you got my sincere approval and support. With that, SLADE turns and exits. TODD looks at RILEY, RILEY looks at TODD. What the fuck was that? INT. CORRIDOR/"DADDY" - NIGHT NATHAN wobbles along an empty corridor, stumbles, catches himself on a wall, keeps going. He passes a doorway, peers in, sees two SOLDIERS working at a console like robots. They don't look up. NATHAN keeps going, toddling toward a hatchway. INT. COCKPIT/"DADDY" Entering, NATHAN moves among the legs of big men, VETERANS. NATHAN keeps going. Then, backing against a wall, he looks up and VETERANS loom past him with blank faces. He is alone again. NATHAN totters onward. CLOSE ANGLE ON CHARTS, the same ones Church had on Christmas Eve, showing tiny dots in a vast sea of space. TODD and RILEY are poring over them, their eyes considering dot after dot. Finally, TODD points to a dot and looks a question at RILEY. RILEY considers the dot for a long moment...then he looks TODD in the eye. RILEY Cold. TODD looks back at the dot, considers it, looks back at RILEY. TODD Air? RILEY nods a yes. TODD is thoughtful...finally asks the next question. TODD Safe? RILEY (nodding yes) But very cold. TODD considers the dot on the map again, then looks at RILEY. TODD That one. RILEY Aye, aye, sir. RILEY turns toward a console, but something makes him look down toward his feat. Then he looks back at TODD. TODD follows the look. Tiny NATHAN is looking up at TODD who's towering over him. TODD looks down without expression, the scarf from Jimmy Pig still wrapped around his neck. NATHAN puts his arms out to be picked up. TODD considers the outstretched arms. RILEY looks from TODD to NATHAN and back to TODD. What's this? TODD hesitates a half second more, then leans down and picks NATHAN up in his arms, lifting the boy to his chest. RILEY looks on. Never seen anything like it. NATHAN is close to TODD's face, looking right into it, trying a little smile, a nervous one, looking for a response. TODD hesitates, takes a breath, moves the muscles of his face. All he can produce is an awkward grimace, the distortion of a smile, almost comical. NATHAN reads the intention successfully. His face collapses into a huge friendly grin. TODD tries again, making a clumsy sort of rubbery wince. RILEY watches. Totally amazed. TODD turns, takes NATHAN to a porthole, puts his face up to it. NATHAN stares out at the darkness punctuated by a billion stars, a sky full of hope. As NATHAN looks out, TODD works his face again, trying for a smile the way a weak man might try to lift a heavy weight. NATHAN looks at the stars outside, TODD looks with him and suddenly TODD's face relaxes into an awkward grin, almost by accident. RILEY watches the two of them for a moment, confounded by what he's seeing. Then he turns to the console and... THE CLOSING CREDITS ROLL.
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