Act 1, Scene 20

Space, the asteroid. The shuttle has landed safely. Chang and Stevens are outside in their spacesuits, bouncing around in the low gravity. John Jameson remains in the shuttle operating controls.

JOHN: Talk to me, guys. How's the weather out there.

STEVENS: A little chilly, John. Might need a sweater.

CHANG: There's some kind of localised node of those signals – two hundred yards east.

JOHN: Houston will be back in radio contact in two minutes, guys. Let's wait for confirmation on any off-route trips.

CHANG: Loosen up, John.

STEVENS: Yeah remember – you're the soldier boy. We're the scientists. You're just here to steer and make sure we don't blow ourselves out an airlock by accident.

We cut to where the two scientists are headed – toward the strange pool we saw briefly earlier. Its surface lies still and unbroken…until it twitches. A ripple spreads out along its surface, then another…

JOHN: Just be careful out there…we're a long way from home.

The ripples have run together now, to the point where the pool almost seems to have facial features…a nose, eyes, and a gaping, grinning mouth…

END OF ACT ONE