Wormholes Page 2
INT. PATRICIA'S RESIDENCE - entryway
Patricia manages to drag one suitcase through the front door before, SANDY SULLIVAN, eight, rushes up.
SANDY
Mommy!
Patricia scoops her up.
PATRICIA
I missed you sooo much!
She plants several kisses on her daughter.
BRIAN SULLIVAN, thirty-five, blonde hair, enters the foyer and kisses his wife.
BRIAN
Welcome back.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. PATRICIA'S RESIDENCE - DINING ROOM
The family finishes off a pizza.
BRIAN
I was a little surprised when I got home and you were at work.
PATRICIA
Things are really backed up. Thanks for grabbing dinner.
BRIAN
Somebody has to.
PATRICIA
How's your AP class going?
BRIAN
It's alright. The students that sign up for Advanced Placement math actually want to be there.
SANDY
Mommy, I'm full.
PATRICIA
Okay, put your plate in the sink.
The couple remains silent until Sandy leaves the room.
PATRICIA
I'm sorry I've been away so much, but you know how important the work is.
BRIAN
So is your family.
PATRICIA
I know.
BRIAN
Anyway...
Brian gets up with his plate.
BRIAN
Things should settle down for a while.
PATRICIA
Settle down?
BRIAN
You said the conference panned your ideas.
PATRICIA
I'm not giving up.
Brian let's his plate BANG into the sink.
BRIAN
You always do exactly what you want to do don't you? To hell with everybody else. I couldn't even get you to take my last name.
PATRICIA
What's that got to do with anything?
BRIAN
I thought you were just paying tribute to your parents, but it's more than that, isn't it?
PATRICIA
I have no idea what you're talking about.
BRIAN
You told me you had a feeling about what happened, that it was more than just a physical phenomena. You said there was an intelligence behind whatever killed them.
PATRICIA
(quietly)
It felt that way.
Brian kneels beside her and grabs both her hands.
BRIAN
Don't you see? This obsession with SETI. You're just using these radio signals to try and get closure with your parents.
She lets go of him and stands up.
PATRICIA
So, now you are a psychiatrist?
Brian stands up.
BRIAN
When a child experiences a traumatic event it affects them later in life.
PATRICIA
Having your parents sucked down a black hole isn't exactly the same thing as a... a traffic accident.
BRIAN
Who knows what actually happened? A ten-year-old girl is going to twist the memory into something she can deal with.
PATRICIA
I knew you didn't believe me!
BRIAN
SETI isn't going to bring back your dead parents.
PATRICIA
Go to hell!
She charges out of the room.
EXT. ALASKA - HILLSIDE - EVENING
Patricia's father, Edward, spins the steering wheel on his jeep and comes face-to-face with a spherical black void.
The ten-year-old Patricia SCREAMS as her parents are sucked inside.
Two orange eyes and a gapping mouth with pointed teeth form, turning the black void into a hideous face. It rears up and thrusts itself onto Patricia.
Her scream penetrates the utter blackness.
INT. PATRICIA'S RESIDENCE - bedroom
Patricia bolts upright in bed, covered in sweat. Brian sleeps soundly next to her.
EXT. GREEN BANK RADIO TELESCOPE - MORNING
A car's headlights cut through the morning mist enveloping the Green Bank facility. It parks next to the only other vehicle in the tiny parking lot, a beat up station wagon.
INT. GREEN BANK RADIO TELESCOPE - CONTROL ROOM
Leonard Baldwin enters to find Patricia surrounded by computer printouts. Crumpled paper litters the floor around her.
LEONARD
Have you been here all night?
A distant-eyed Patricia looks up at him. She blinks twice.
PATRICIA
I couldn't sleep.
(beat, snapping to reality)
Leonard, you've got to see this.
The manager warily approaches.
PATRICIA
I couldn't understand why the echoes suddenly stopped.
LEONARD
Patricia...
PATRICIA
Hear me out. The aliens intercepted what they thought were radio signals, so they sent out a recognizable star group. They were waiting for a response, but all they picked up were more random signals. Last night I transmitted the twenty-four-thousand year-old star pattern they sent us.
LEONARD
I gave you specific instructions-
PATRICIA
I got a response.
LEONARD
What?!
She grabs a piece of paper.
PATRICIA
It took me a while to figure it out. For some reason it is in base eight instead of base ten.
She hands the paper to Leonard.
PATRICIA
They sent ground coordinates, longitude and latitude.
INSERT: A map of the world. Two dark lines cross in the middle of Alaska. A series of numbers are written next to the intersection.
LEONARD
Alaska? These numbers are not longitude and latitude.
PATRICIA
They are base eight. The aliens picked a prime meridian that doesn't run through Greenwich.
Leonard tosses the paper down on her desk.
LEONARD
You could massage these numbers to point anywhere. This is just more radio echoes.
PATRICIA
No, Leonard. The results are completely consistent.
Josh and Gloria enter the room.
GLORIA
I don't care what Carl Sagan says.
JOSH
Exobiology is a fact. There's all kinds of evidence in the spectral data.
Leonard leans toward Patricia and lowers his voice.
LEONARD
You have a lot of vacation time on the books. I want you to take a week off.
PATRICIA
I don't need a damn vacation!
SILENCE. All eyes are on Patricia.
PATRICIA
You have to authorize an expedition to Alaska.
LEONARD
Are you out of your mind!
PATRICIA
It's the opportunity of a lifetime... of world history.
LEONARD
Go home. I don't want to see you again for a week.
PATRICIA
Leonard, please.
LEONARD
That was not a request.
Patricia stuffs the tracking map in her purse and stomps out.
EXT. LIBRARY - DAY
A majestic public building labeled: Green Bank Public Library.
INT. LIBRARY
Patricia sits at a microfiche projector reading old newspapers.
On screen is an article about a new mineral deposit at the Timberwolf mine in Alaska, dated 1965. Patricia scrolls the article to a map of Alaska showing the mine's location.
She grabs her tracking map.
INSERT: The map of Alaska, with the coordinates she calculated. Her map matches the on screen version.
Patricia scrolls the microfiche
projector until a picture of a gray-haired man in his sixties is revealed. The text under the image reads, 'William Burwell, CEO of Timberwolf industries, discovers vast zinc deposit.'
Surprise and puzzlement mix as she shifts her gaze back and forth from the screen to her map.
EXT. ALASKA - TIMBERWOLF MINE - DAY
FADE UP TITLE:
Timberwolf Mine, Alaska
A vast open-pit mine stretches into the distance. Various pieces of heavy machinery travel along numerous horizontal levels carved into the ground.
A three-hundred ton mining truck climbs up a ramp and drives past a construction shed that butts up against the top level. Watching the leviathan roll by are CHARLES BURWELL, early thirties, and an Eskimo Foreman, YUTU.
BURWELL
I don't want to talk about it anymore, Yutu.
YUTU
Mister Burwell, I've been working this dig since your father filed the first claim. We're still hitting zinc in the pit.
BURWELL
This deposit is finished. I want everything moved to Pine Gulch by the end of the week.
YUTU
But-
Burwell raises his hand.
BURWELL
No buts. Just do it.
YUTU
Yes, sir.
Burwell turns and enters the shed.
INT. TIMBERWOLF MINE - CONSTRUCTION SHED
Burwell locks the door behind him. Soil samples, mono-colored computer monitors and test tubes cover several tables. Burwell walks past a table-top centrifuge and stops, facing the back wall.
A fly crawls in front of him at eye-level.
CU. This is no ordinary fly, it's mechanical. The machine takes flight and hovers a few inches from Burwell's face.
Laser light emerges from the device and does a retinal scan. Satisfied, the fly buzzes off.
A gash of light suddenly appears in the back wall of the shed. Other lines of light appear at the top and bottom, forming a door.
The door swings open and Burwell enters. The section closes behind him, seamlessly blending back into the wall.
EXT. PATRICIA'S RESIDENCE - DAY
A car pulls into the driveway. Josh gets out and pops the trunk. It's filled with boxes.
INT. PATRICIA'S RESIDENCE - FOYER
DING. Patricia opens the door and Josh losses his grip on a pile of boxes, dumping them into Patricia's arms.
PATRICIA
Careful! This equipment is fragile.
JOSH
Sorry.
They move inside and close the door.
JOSH
I can't believe you're really going through with this.
PATRICIA
All the data points to Alaska. I can't ignore it because of some narrow-minded, bean-counter.
JOSH
When Baldwin finds this stuff missing you'll get canned. Shit! I'm gonna need a new thesis advisor.
PATRICIA
Just tell him I borrowed the Geiger counters and the rest to do some surveys.
JOSH
It's your funeral.
EXT. PATRICIA'S RESIDENCE
A plain clothes government agent sits in an unmarked car down the street from Patricia's house. He snaps a picture of Josh backing out of the driveway.
INT. PATRICIA'S RESIDENCE - SANDY'S BEDROOM - EVENING
Patricia tucks her daughter into bed and kisses her on the forehead.
SANDY
Night night, Mommy.
PATRICIA
Good night, sugar-pop.
Patricia hesitates.
PATRICIA
Even though I'm gone a lot, you know Mommy loves you?
SANDY
I know, Mommy. I love you too.
Sandy rolls over and snuggles into her pillow.
INT. PATRICIA'S RESIDENCE - LIVING ROOM
Brian looks at a family portrait above an unlit fireplace when Patricia enters.
BRIAN
You're all loaded up.
PATRICIA
Thank you.
BRIAN
Are you sure you don't want me to drive you to the airport?
PATRICIA
I don't want Sandy up late. It's a school night. Josh and Gloria can pick the car up tomorrow.
BRIAN
How long will you be gone?
PATRICIA
I don't know... a week?
Patricia studies his worried face.
PATRICIA
It will be alright.
BRIAN
This isn't like going to a conference in Boston. You could get yourself killed up there.
PATRICIA
I'm staying in a hotel, not an igloo.
BRIAN
Doesn't it strike you as strange that all your data leads you right back to Alaska, to the same area where your parents got killed?
PATRICIA
Don't start that again. This is a scientific expedition. My reasons for going are perfectly rational.
BRIAN
Rational? You cash out all our savings, put your job at risk and abandon your family. Is that rational?
PATRICIA
I need to do this. Please... I need to know that you've got my back.
BRIAN
I always do.
INT. LEWISBURG WEST VIRGINIA - AIRPORT - CHECK IN
The attendant hands Patricia her ticket.
ATTENDANT
Anchorage.
(she smiles)
Keep those earmuffs handy.
Patricia heads for her gate. The same government agent from her street watches from a distance. He makes a quick entry in a notebook.
EXT. LEWISBURG WEST VIRGINIA - AIRPORT - EVENING
A commercial jet accelerates down the runway and lifts into the evening sky.
INSERT: A map of North America. A dashed line traces the path of an airplane as it curves across the map from West Virginia to San Francisco. A second dashed line emerges from the city by the bay and traces upwards to Anchorage.
EXT. ANCHORAGE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - DAY
Patricia watches a baggage handler cram a suitcase into the back of a Cessna. She swallows hard and climbs aboard.
INSERT: The same map. A further dashed line grows from Anchorage to a spot on the west coast of Alaska labeled, Kotzebue.
EXT. KOTZEBUE - FROM HIGH ABOVE - DAY
The single engine Cessna cruises over a spit of land that juts out into Kotzebue Sound.
INT. CESSNA
Patricia is the only passenger. She looks out a window at her destination, below.
Back outside, the plane dips toward a landing strip. In the distance a few dozen small buildings dot the landscape. Beyond that, sunlight reflects off the deep blue waters of the Bering Sea.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. CHARLES BURWELL'S OFFICE - DAY
Charles Burwell stands looking out his office window at the water in the distance.
BURWELL
So what brings the National Radio Observatory to our little corner of Alaska?
Patricia sits in front of Burwell's desk.
PATRICIA
We've measured a series of radio echoes that triangulate to this area.
BURWELL
You're looking for a phantom radio station?
PATRICIA
No. I.. we suspect some sort of magnetic, or soil anomaly is causing the problem. I'd like to see the area and take some measurements.
Burwell sits down behind his desk.
BURWELL
There's nothing going on out there. That site is completely shut down.
PATRICIA
Then, I won't disturb your operations.
Burwell sizes her up for a moment before reaching a decision.
BURWELL
I suppose the sooner you see for yourself, the quicker your scientific curiosity will be satisfied.
EXT. TIMBERWOLF MINE - DAY
Patricia walks along the top level of the open-pit mine with Mr. Burwell's Foreman, Yutu. At her waist is a boxy piec
e of equipment hanging from a strap. She also carries a camera.
YUTU
I thought we closed this site too soon, but the Burwell's have a nose for zinc.
Patricia stops and snaps a couple pictures. Water is being pumped into the lowest level of the mine.
YUTU
This whole area will be reclaimed. I plan on doing a lot of fishing.
PATRICIA
I've read that the Burwell family suffers from bouts of amnesia?
YUTU
I wouldn't know.
PATRICIA
Come on, Yutu.
She smiles sweetly at him.
PATRICIA
What does Yutu mean, anyway?
The Foreman smiles back at her.
YUTU
To claw.
PATRICIA
I'm betting you spent a lot of years clawing your way up in the company. You didn't get to be Foreman by wearing blinders.
YUTU
Mister Burwell's father had some kind of brain fart twenty years ago. Just up and forgot three months of his life. God made up for it though.
PATRICIA
How's that?
The Foreman waves an arm at the open pit.
YUTU
He found this deposit right afterwards. Not a bad trade.
They approach the spot where the construction shed butts up against the top level, directly below them.
TICK TICK TICK.
YUTU
What's that?
Patricia extracts a Geiger counter from the box at her waist and points it down one level at the shed.
PATRICIA
There's something radioactive in there.
YUTU
Burwell does a lot of mineral tests. It's probably just a trace element.
They walk on and the TICKING stops. Patricia turns around for another quick look.
EXT. KOTZEBUE - KAHPOONGAH HOTEL - EVENING
A two story hotel with a couple dozen rooms. The sign outside reads, Kahpoongah Hotel. It is translated in smaller print below: "I am Hungry".
INT. KAHPOONGAH HOTEL - LOBBY
The HOTEL MANAGER is at the front desk. On the wall behind him is a portrait of a Russian explorer shaking hands with an Eskimo.
The caption reads: City Founder - Otto von Kotzebue
Captain Stewart, dressed in civilian clothes, walks in and sets down a suitcase.
HOTEL MANAGER
May I help you?
STEWART
One single, please.
HOTEL MANAGER
How long will you be staying?
STEWART
Can you just make it open-ended?
The manager breaks into a wide grin.
HOTEL MANAGER
No problem.
INT. KAHPOONGAH HOTEL - PATRICIA'S ROOM