ACT ONE
5 – EXT. Moon Surface with Caption: Moonbase Alpha, Plato Impact Crater, 10 September 2029
The Eagle approaches the landing platform. It is an octagon made out of red metal just big enough to hold the eagle. Hatches iris open in the underside of the craft and four legs extend. The craft touches down and the platform vanishes down a shaft. As the camera zooms out, we see that there are eight landing platforms in a circle at forty-five degree intervals. These are the only parts of the redesigned Moonbase Alpha that are above ground. The scene cuts to…
6 – INT. BOTTOM OF THE EAGLE SHAFT
The Eagle arrives at the bottom of the shaft. Markings on the side of the shaft show that this location is about one-hundred and fifty meters below the surface. The platform slides into a receiving bay and a heavy duty door comes door, allowing the area to be pressurized. One of the airlocks open and a flight of stairs – like the ones found on a private jet – comes down and Carter and Koenig leave the Eagle. The camera follows them as they walk out of the bay and into an elevator with a large window.
We pass through the window and get our first view of the remainder of Moonbase Alpha. At the center of the base in a white dome with black letters saying 'Main Mission.' Over this is a larger transparent dome, which has large lights mounted to its frame. This is the original hydroponic dome, which can be seen from wear, repairs and dust. Four tunnels connect this original Moonbase to the first expansion of the base, a large ring-shaped building. This is in turn connected to an outer ring by six tunnels.
Finally, there are smaller buildings – including several hydroponics domes – scattered outside the outer ring. These are connected to the base by means of snaking tunnels. They end at a final tunnel that circles and connects all the Eagle bay exits. The whole base is located in a cavern that has clearly been carved out. The elevator vanishes into the outer ring and begins travelling vertically. Cut to…
7 – INT. MAIN MISSION
Establishing shot of Main Mission. It is a big, round chamber that is like an air traffic control room with consoles against the outer wall. Each console has a different function and different color. These match the uniform colors for the departments. Between the consoles are windows that allow for a view of the hydroponic gardens beyond the dome. It is currently 'day', which means that the garden is lit up by the large lights.
There are two series of consoles that begin at the twelve o'clock position and meet at the six o'clock position. The consoles are: Recon – Orange, Red – Security, Blue – Science, Purple – Engineering, Green – Medical. In the middle of the room of is the Commander's station. It's a control console/desk hybrid that covers two-hundred and seventy degrees, with its color being black. There are doors at three o'clock and nine o'clock and six o'clock. These open into a round corridor where the tunnels connecting the Moonbase end.
The room is buzzing with activity as Koenig and Carter enter. Paul Morrow is in the commander's seat, wearing the purple of engineering. Morrow notices the two arrivals and goes to meet them.
[Morrow]
"Commander, Captain, welcome to Moonbase Alpha."
[Koenig]
"Thank you, Mister Morrow." [Morrow and the new arrivals shake hands.] "Rumor has it that you have a pair of commlocks for us."
[Morrow]
"Indeed I do." [Morrow hands Koenig and Carter their commlocks.] "Now, I've you'll follow me, I'll take you to Doctor Bergman's corner of Alpha."
[Koenig]
"Lead the way."
Morrow leads the way out of Main Mission, while Koenig and Carter put their commlocks on their belts. The commlocks are a hybrid between a smart phone and a remote control. They are unlocked by means of a thumbprint.
8 – INT. ASTRO PROBE CONSTRUCTION BAY
A tubular section of craft sits in scaffolding. The front end is open, allowing us to get a glimpse of the rooms and machinery inside. The rear end has five engines like the ones used by the Eagles. This is clearly not the entire craft. And the bay is a repurposed Eagle Receiving Bay. Bergman is sitting behind a console, working on a calculation, as Doctor Hendrick "Hank" Russell walks in. Russell looks up as he approaches.
[Russell]
"Morning, Victor."
[Bergman]
"Morning, Hank."
[Russell]
"Rumor has it that Joan Koenig arrived on Alpha today. So…" [Pauses] "….do you think Simmons knows that he reason you gave him is complete nonsense ?"
[Bergman]
"If he does, he's playing dumb in order to find out the truth. What did the latest medical tests reveal ?"
[Russell]
"The same as the last three batches of tests and examinations. Nothing." [Grabs a nearby stool and sits down] "We have eight dead, Victor. And that fool McKinley is still refusing to let me report anything." [Pause] "So, why Koenig ? She has a PhD in astrophysics, not biology or medicine."
[Bergman]
"Because the part about us needing somebody who thinks outside the box wasn't nonsense. And twenty-eight years ago, her father Alexander commanded the Astro Probe Three to Mars. I applied to the mission, but because issues with my ticker…." [Taps his chest.] "….the medical board refused to give me clearance. Alexander Koenig pulled some strings and your mother replaced it by the current mechanical ticker in yours trulies chest. Two weeks later, I was on my way to Mars."
[Russell – Happy]
"Helena was very good with a scalpel."
[Bergman]
"Yes, she was. But she deserved her retirement. I also know that she was extremely proud when you were appointed CMO of Alpha."
[Russell – Angry]
"Appointed my backside. That asshat Simmons had me drafted from a refugee camp in Afghanistan. I was helping people. I was making a difference, Victor."
[Bergman]
"You're making a difference here as well, Hank. Before you took charge, the Alpha Medical department was a mess. Doctor Farrell was an idiot and his management skills were even worse. If he was still been running the department today, the death count would probably be in the forties." [Pause] "Now, if Joan is half as sharp as her old man, the two of you will break this thing wide open soon."
[Russell]
"I hope so. Because otherwise…"
Russell is cut off by the main entrance opening and Morrow, Koenig and Carter entering. Bergman spots Carter and looks pleasantly surprised. The Carter and Koenig join them at the console, while Morrow leaves.
[Bergman]
"Alan, good to see you."
[Carter]
"Victor, nice spaceship you've got going there."
[Bergman]
"Thank you." [Gestures to Russell] "Doctor Hank Russell, meet Captain Alan Carter and Commander Joan Koenig. Doctor Russell is Moonbase Alpha's Chief Medical Officer." [Pause] "Captain Carter was the First Officer and Chief Pilot aboard Astro Probe Three during the trip to Mars. He also commanded the Astro Probe Five when it tested my artificial gravity generators in November 2010. And he's the best pilot I've ever seen."
[Carter]
"You only believe that because you haven't seen Joan in action."
[Koenig]
"I have my moments. Nice to meet you, Doctor Bergman." [Koenig and Bergman shake hands] "My father wrote some pretty interesting things about you in my diary."
[Bergman]
"Knowing him, it's probably all true."
[Russell]
"Victor ? I hate to break this up, but I think it's time we tell them why they are really here."
[Carter]
"Victor, what's going on here ?"
[Bergman]
"Hank, I think it's better to show, not tell."
Cut to…
9 – INT. MORGUE
The group stands over an open drawer containing remains. A black body bag has been zipped open and folded back to reveal a Caucasian male. Koenig is examining the eyes of the corpse. Both are milky and white. Koenig finishes the examination and closes the body bag back up. Russell puts the corpse back into the drawer and closes it.
[Russell]
"We've run every test, every exam, tried every drug known to medicine. And then we invented several new ones. We found nothing." [Sighs] "Eight people have died because of whatever this is. We need help and McKinley and Simmons are keeping us from getting it."
[Carter]
"He's probably trying to keep the whole thing under wraps until after the meeting of the Lunar Finance Committee on the fifteenth. If they found out, they'd pull the plug on Astro Probe Nine immediately."
[Koenig]
"Asshat." [Pause] "So, what do you have ?"
[Russell]
"The information is in my office. But there is a lot of information, so you might want to pick up some coffee first."
[Carter]
"Sounds like a plan."
Koenig and Carter follow Russell out of the morgue. Cut to…
10 – INT. RUSSELL'S OFFICE – Caption: Dr. Russell's Office, 13 September 2029
A redress of Simmons' office. The walls are white, the bookshelves are now filled with samples in preservation liquid and medical instruments. There is a desk with an vintage reel-to-reel tape recorder next to a state-of-the art laptop. Two chairs face the desk. Russell is reading a paper folder, which is marked – in red letters – Astro Probe Two disaster report. The doctor has clearly not shaved the last three days. Nor is he up on his sleep. Koenig comes in.
[Koenig]
"You look horrible, Doctor."
[Russell]
"You can blame Captain Carter, he got me access to this file. Thirty years old and still classified."
[Koenig]
"What did you expect ?" [Sits down across from Russell] "The entire Venus probe crew got sick with an unknown disease and died. They had to drop the ship into the sun to prevent contamination."
[Russell]
"That's was while your dad was on Astro Probe One, exploring Uranus, right ?"
[Koenig]
"You did your homework. So I returned the favor and was quite impressed. You're generation number eight in a very impressive line of doctors." [Pause] "Is that why you went to those refugee camps ?"
[Russell]
"No, I went there because I could help people. So, how many generations of Koenig have been astronauts ?"
[Koenig]
"I'm the third one. It started with my grandfather John, who I was named after. He was part of the astronauts who tested the technology that went into Astro Probe One. But enough chitchat, was there anything useful in the report ?"
[Russell]
"It gave me a couple of ideas…" [The rest of the sentence is lost as a loud alarm screams through the base.] "That's the impact alarm !"
Koenig and Russell bolt from the room.
11 – EXT. SPACE
An Eagle is headed towards the surface at speed. The craft hits the surface, doing major damage to the vessel. It comes to a stop. The camera zooms in as it swings around the Eagle. We see the pilot, his neck at an impossible angle and his eyes are milky white.
12 – INT. COMMANDER'S OFFICE
A redress of Simmons' Office. Like Russell's office, the walls are white. There are no bookshelves, instead there are glass panels with a light source behind them. The desk is the same as Russell's, but the reel-to-reel recorder is missing and the placement is different. The two chairs have been replaced by a couch.
McKinley is sitting behind his desk. In his sixties, he is obese and Caucasian. He is wearing the black of Base Commander Bergman and Carter are sitting on the couch. McKinley is tapping on his desk with his fingers, clearly very angry.
[McKinley – Angry]
"Did you really think I wouldn't figure out what you and Russell were up to ?" [Pause] "Chief Pilot, my backside."
[Carter – Cold]
"What we are trying to do, is clean up the mess you and your beloved uncle made."
[McKinley – Still angry]
"And how is that working out ?"
[Carter – Still cold]
"Well, it would go a lot faster if we weren't being distracted by a selfish, incompetent, arrogant Base Commander."
[McKinley]
"Start packing your bags."[Pause]"I want you both off this bay by the end of the day."
[Bergman]
"No."
[McKinley]
"Excuse me ?"
[Bergman]
"If you send them packing, I will resign the from the Mark Two Project. You say them goodbye, you kiss Meta goodbye. Speaking of which, you WILL be increasing Alan and Joan's security clearance to Level One."
McKinley gives Bergman an angry look, but then opens a drawer in his desk. He takes out two plastic cards with the words Level One Clearance on them. McKinley hands them to Bergman. The doctor takes them and walks out, with Carter following. Once the two of them are in the corridor…
[Carter]
"So, now what ?"
[Bergman]
"Now I can show you everything."
Cut to…
13 – INT. MORGUE
The pilot who died in the Eagle crash is on the table, covered in a sheet. A scan of his brain is on a lightbox, which Carter is studying. Russell is making notes on an electronic pad.
[Carter]
"I'm no doctor, but even I know major brain damage when I see it."
[Russell]
"And like all the others before, there are no indicators of what caused it. One moment, he was fine. The next…"
[Carter]
"Baked like a potato." [Pause] "What about the nuclear waste disposal areas ?"
[Russell]
"We checked both of them, three times. No radiation leaks, no problems with CO2 scrubbers, you name it…we checked it. We've also gone Moonbase Beta with a fine toothed-comb."
[Koenig – as she walks in]
"Moonbase Beta ? I thought that was cancelled in the design stage."
[Russell]
"The official one was. But construction of Alpha took three years and the construction crew had to life somewhere. So they build a temporary base, which was abandoned when Alpha was done. One of safety precautions Victor took, was to reactivate and upgrade it, so that we could build the FTL-Drive core outside of Alpha. It's been nicknamed Moonbase Beta by the crew."
[Carter]
"The core is done, right ?"
[Russell]
"Yes, but Alpha isn't big enough to house all of Astro Probe Nine's crew. So half of them are living at Beta. And it's where we'll put the ship together when the time comes."
[Koenig]
"What about the tests ?"
[Russell]
"Finished, we ran the last test two weeks ago."
[Koenig]
"I know it's a long shot. But it's one of the few things we haven't gone over."
[Carter]
"We can pull the data at Main Mission."
[Koenig]
"Let's go."
Cut to…
14 – INT. MAIN MISSION
Koenig and Carter are sitting behind one of the Main Mission science consoles. There is data scrolling across the screens while Carter is makes notes on an electronic pad. Bergman approaches.
[Bergman]
"How are things going here ?"
[Carter]
"We MIGHT have something, Victor." [Hands Bergman the pad] "Every time there was a test, the clocks at Moonbase Beta went out of sync." [Pause] "Until now, it's been written off as a software issue. But what if there was ACTUAL distortion of the space time continuum."
[Bergman]
"So we are seeing an effect, but we can't find the cause. Which is because the cause has not happened yet. It's a paradox."
[Koenig]
"So, how do we…"
The console short-circuits and shocks Koenig. Several of the lights explode overhead, followed by two of the consoles blowing up. Debris rains down and the lights cut out altogether.
END OF ACT ONE