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Past Perfect
by Dean Peterson (blowphly@yahoo.com)

Rated: PG-13   Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy   User Review: ***
You can't change the past, but after the find of a lifetime, Eddie Poole discovers the burden of being able to examine and re-examine any earthly event that has ever happened.


This screenplay is copyrighted to its author. All rights reserved. This screenplay may not be used or reproduced without the express written permission of the author.



FADE IN:

EXT. ALLEN TELESCOPE ARRAY - CALIFORNIA - DAY
                                                            
Dozens of antennas point toward the sky. Silence except for
an occational bird or wind blowing through the trees.
                                                            
                                         CUT TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. SOLAR SYSTEM - DAY
                                                            
We see the inner planets MERCURY, VENUS, EARTH, and MARS
making their orbit around the SUN. Suddenly the PROBE, a
dull grey, multi-faceted metalic sphere, comes into view
taking almost the entire screen. Slowly the sphere travels
toward Earth, becoming smaller and smaller as it moves from
the camera. Now just a spec compared to the nearby planets.
                                                            
                                         CUT TO:
                                                            
 
INT. ALLEN TELESCOPE ARRAY CONTROL ROOM - DAY
                                                            
We pan across the SETI control room while five or six
scientists are casually performing their daily routine; one
is carefully studying a print out, SCIENTIST 1 who seems to
be the leader of the bunch is looking over the shoulder of a
colleague who is clicking through data on a computer, one is
checking equipment monitors, another is adjusting his
fantasy football roster on the internet.
                                                            
                                         CUT TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. SOLAR SYSTEM - DAY
                                                            
The camera follows the probe as it travels through a
star-filled background. Suddenly, each facet of the probe
LIGHTS UP with a brilliant white light. After a few seconds
the light slowly fades out, then after a few seconds it
suddenly LIGHTS UP again. The pattern repeats as the camera
angle moves to show the probe traveling directly toward
earth.
                                                            
                                         CUT TO:
                                                            
 

2.

INT. ALLEN TELESCOPE ARRAY CONTROL ROOM - DAY
                                                            
The scientists and lab workers continue their routine,
suddenly we hear a BING. Everyone stops in their tracks.
Again, BING. Finally after the third BING, chaos ensues.
                                                            
                       SCIENTIST 1
Everyone calm down! It's either a
telecommunications satallite or
military radar.
                                                            
                       SCIENTIST 2
Element 14 is getting the
strongest signal. Its coming from
xx degrees, xx azimuth, blah,
blah, blah. Too far to be in
earth's orbit. Seems to be about
3.2 millian miles out - about 13
times the distance to the moon.
                                                            
                       SCIENTIST 1
Stuart, check with West Virginia.
In the mean time, let's point all
elements in the same direction as
element 14.
                                                            
                                         CUT TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. ALLEN TELESCOPE ARRAY - DAY
                                                            
All of the antenna move in synchronisity to point in one
direction.
                                                            
                                         CUT TO:
                                                            
 
INT. ALLEN TELESCOPE ARRAY CONTROL ROOM - DAY
                                                            
Everyone is focused and multi-tasking now, including the
fantasy football geek.
                                                            
                       SCIENTIST 3
Sir, West Virginia has confirmed.
All of our elements confirm also.
We'll continue to track, but so
far it seems to be coming directly
toward us.
                                                            

3.

                       SCIENTIST 1
Holy shit! I never thought first
contact would be something from
our own solar system! What's the
speed?
                                                            
Scientist 3 types a few commands into his computer.
                                                            
                       SCIENTIST 3
Approximately 90,000 miles per
hour, holding steady. Estimated
time to arrive at Earth in 36
hours.
                                                            
                       SCIENTIST 1
Everybody! Post-detection
protocol is in order. Let's
confirm this with the
international space agencies. I'll
notify Washington.
                                                            
Scientist 1 picks up a land line and makes a call.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. SOMEWHERE IN THE MOUNTAINS OF ARIZONA - DAY
                                                            
We follow EDDIE POOLE (42), in good physical condition,
dressed in camo, rifle in hand, as he hikes up a steep
incline. He pulls out his binoculars and scans the oposite
side of the canyon.
                                                            
                                         CUT TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. SOMEWHERE IN THE MOUNTAINS OF ARIZONA - DAY
                                                            
We follow LARRY (42), also dressed in camo and holding a
rifle, but not quite as physically fit as his pal Eddie.
Larry is picking his way through thorny mesquite bushes and
quietly hopping over manzanitas.
                                                            
                                         CUT TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. SOMEWHERE IN THE MOUNTAINS OF ARIZONA - DAY
                                                            
Eddie is sitting on a large boulder. He pulls out his
canteen and takes a swig. He pauses to enjoy the silence.
These are the moments that he waits all year for. Hunting
season! A chance to get away from all the pressures of

4.

day-to-day life. He puts away his canteen and resumes
scanning through his binoculars.
                                                            
                                         CUT TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. SOMEWHERE IN THE MOUNTAINS OF ARIZONA - DAY
                                                            
Larry pulls out his binoculars and scans. We see through
the binoculars as he pans across a canyon. Suddenly, we
stop as we see a HUGE BUCK. It is about 100 yards away.
Larry stalks a little closer, and puts down his gear. We
see the buck through Larry's lense. The lense settles and
focuses. CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! The deer hesitates for a
moment, then splits. We see Larry smiling as he pulls down
his camera. He picks up his rifle and grabs his
walkie-talkie.
                                                            
                       LARRY
      (through
       walkie-talkie)
I just shot the most amazing buck!
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (through
       walkie-talkie)
Please tell me you shot it with
your gun!
                                                            
                       LARRY
Sorry Eddie, but it was a great
shot. It'll look great hanging on
my wall!
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (disappointed)
Well where did he go? Any chance
he's headed my way?
                                                            
                       LARRY
Sorry man, he's probably halfway
to Phoenix by now.
                                                            
Larry glances at his wristwatch.
                                                            
                       LARRY
      (CONT'D)
That's enough excitement for me.
I'm going back to camp and start
in on the beers.
                                                            

5.

                       EDDIE
Larry...It's openning day and
you're giving up an hour before
sundown?!
                                                            
                       LARRY
Hey, we've got the whole weekend.
And besides, I've been hunting
with you for the last ten years.
You know I'm only in it for the
beer!
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Whatever. I'll see you at camp a
little after sundown.
                                                            
Eddie gets off the boulder, gathers his gear, and resumes
his climb up hill.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. SOMEWHERE IN THE MOUNTAINS OF ARIZONA - NIGHT
                                                            
Eddie enters the campground. Larry has just finished
raising the tent. Larry sees Eddie and smiles. He opens
the cooler and tosses Eddie a beer.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (jokingly)
Loser!
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
INT. EDDIE'S HOUSE - DAY
                                                            
Freshly showered MARCIE POOLE (40) walks from her bathroom,
toothbrush in mouth, and sits at the end of her bed. She
grabs the remote off a nearby dresser and turns on the t.v.
She changes the channel a few times, then realizes that
there is a breaking news story on all the channels.
                                                            
                       TV ANCHOR
Again, we have confirmed with NASA
that SETI scientists have detected
a signal from an object in the
solar system. This object is
traveling toward earth at a speed
of approximately 90,000 miles an
hour. The projected time of
impact is in 22 hours.
                                                            

6.

Marcie goes into the bathroom and quickly spits out her
toothpaste. She returns to the end of her bed to watch
more.
                                                            
                       TV ANCHOR
Steve, do we know anything about
what this object is? The size of
the object? Or where it came
from?
                                                            
                       TV REPORTER
Bob, NASA's next news conference
is scheduled for 11 a.m. eastern.
So far we do not know the answers
to those questions. NASA has been
very forthcoming in the preceeding
events and I would expect them to
answer those questions as soon as
they know the answers. They have
all their scientists working on
this.
                                                            
                       TV ANCHOR
Steve, what about the signal? Any
word on what the signal is? And
is there any clue of intellegent
life coming from the signal?
                                                            
                       TV REPORTER
Bob, the signal has been said to
be just a steady repeating on/off
signal repeating every three and a
half seconds. As far as
intellegent life, the mood that I
gather from the scientists that I
have talked to is that the very
fact that there is a signal at all
is a sign of intellegent life.
                                                            
Marcie picks up the phone and calls Eddie. After a few
moments she leaves a message on his voicemail.
                                                            
                       MARCIE
Hi Eddie, it's me. I don't know
if you've heard anything, but
there's a big news story on t.v.
today. Some object headed toward
earth transmitting a signal.
Please call me as soon as you get
this. They don't know where its
going to hit, but it's supposed to
hit tomorrow morning. I don't
want you to panic or anything, but
            (MORE)

7.

                       MARCIE (cont'd)
please call. Love you.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. SOMEWHERE IN THE MOUNTAINS OF ARIZONA - DAY
                                                            
Eddie and Larry are sitting together on rocks on the egde of
a hill. Eddie pulls down his binoculars, grabs his sandwich
from his lap and takes a bite. He reaches in his bag and
grabs an apple. He extends it to Larry. Larry has just
finished his sandwich and shakes his head. Larry resumes
looking through is binoculars.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
INT. EDDIES HOUSE - DAY
                                                            
Marcie is nervously folding laundry on the couch with her
sister, NICKI (35) while listening to the news.
                                                            
                       TV ANCHOR
Scientists are saying that there
is no need to panic. The object's
trajectory will lead it to an
impact point in the middle of the
Atlantic Ocean. While they are
unsure of the nature of the
object, every effort will be made
by the U.S. military as well as
other state militaries to secure
and quarantine the landing site.
                                                            
RUSS POOLE (9) comes in through the front door.
                                                            
                       MARCIE
Russ, why are you home so soon? I
thought you were going to play at
the park for a while with Tim.
                                                            
                       RUSS
His mom made him go home. She
said something is coming from
space and its going to crash into
the earth.
                                                            
Marcie looks back to the T.V. Presently there is a reporter
covering the large crowds at a grocery store.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 

8.

EXT. SOMEWHERE IN THE MOUNTAINS OF ARIZONA - DAY
                                                            
DUSK
                                                            
Eddie and Larry are walking the final hundred feet to camp.
Eddie pulls his phone out of his pocket. Larry sees Eddie
pull out the phone. Larry's mission is to help Eddie get
away from the out of control stress in his buddy's life.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Come on, Eddie. Just tell her
that there's no coverage up here.
What's the point in getting away
from it all if you don't get away
from it all.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
The coverage is fine. And
besides, maybe I WANT to know
whats happening back at the home
front.
                                                            
Eddie looks at the phone and considers what Larry said, then
puts it back into his pocket, as Larry walks ahead.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. OUTSIDE OF EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE - NIGHT
                                                            
The sphere suddenly losses all 64 tiles. The sphere now
resembles a spherical honey comb. Simultaniously, out of
each hole, a smaller sphere is ejected. The mother sphere
breaks apart and disintigrates into the atmosphere as the 64
individual spheres continue on their way.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
INT. EDDIE'S TENT - NIGHT
                                                            
CONTINUOUS
                                                            
Larry is sleeping. Eddie is staring at the ceiling. Eddie
rolls over and turns on his phone. He turns it on and
muffles the start up tone inside his sleeping bag. Once it
is on, he looks at the screen. We see 5 MESSAGES. Eddie
punches the appropriate buttons, then listens. He looks
puzzled and concerned. He sits up and turns on the battery
operated lantern. Larry wakes up.
                                                            

9.

                       EDDIE
      (while still
       listening)
Larry, go to the truck and turn on
the radio.
                                                            
Eddie tosses Larry his keys. Larry is confused, but grabs
his pants, puts them on, takes the flashlight, and exits the
tent. Eddie puts on some pants too. As Eddie walks to the
truck he closes his cell phone and listens to the radio.
                                                            
                       LARRY
What is it?
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Something is headed toward earth
and its supposed to hit the
Atlantic Ocean in a few hours.
                                                            
                       RADIO NEWS MAN
We are urging people not to panic.
Earlier scientists projected the
impact site as the Atlantic Ocean,
scheduled to arrive at 6:17 a.m.
eastern time. We now have learned
that the object has broken up in
the atmosphere and may have
separated into several smaller
objects that could either burn up
in the atmosphere or land in
several undetermined parts of the
globe. These objects are
considered to be small enough that
damage will be minimal, depending
on where or if they land. When
the objects will land are
dependant on the individual object
trajectories and we do not have
accurate information as of yet.
The best we can say is that we
should begin to see evidence of
their arrival within the next few
hours.
                                                            
Larry looks at Eddie with a stunned look. Eddie calls
Marcie on his cell phone.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (on the phone)
Honey. Sorry to wake you up, I
just heard. We're going to pack
up and head home right now. Is
everything okay?
                                                            

10.

BEAT
                                                            
                       EDDIE
No I insist that I be there with
you, I'll hurry but It'll still
probably be a good two hours
though. You guys hang tight.
                                                            
BEAT
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Okay. Love you. Bye.
                                                            
By the time Eddie ends his phone call, Larry has already had
half the campsite thrown into the back of Eddie's truck.
Eddie quickly helps with the rest.
                                                            
                                         LATER:
                                                            
 
EXT. SOMEWHERE IN THE MOUNTAINS OF ARIZONA - NIGHT
                                                            
In the darkness, Eddie is driving wrecklessly down a narrow
dirt road. They listen quietly to the news on the radio.
                                                            
                       RADIO NEWS MAN
Reports are now coming in of the
objects entering the atmosphere in
the form of large fireballs. So
far we have reports of such
fireballs arriving near San
Francisco and Montreal Quebec.
                                                            
A BRIGHT LINE appears high in the sky, moving east. Eddie
stops the truck. The two men get out and watch as the line
disappears over the horizon. They turn around to return to
the truck when suddenly from the west a lower FIREBALL
passes over their heads and CRASHES into a hillside about a
mile away.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Holy Shit!
                                                            
We see a small brush fire where the object landed.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Let's go check it out!
                                                            
Eddie grabs his back pack from the back of the truck. Larry
grabs a water jug. The two men head quickly toward the fire
as dawn approaches.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 

11.

EXT. MIAMI, FLORIDA - DAY
                                                            
A fireball SCREAMS down from the sky. It plows into a
parking lot, turning over cars and creating a crater 20 feet
wide. Car alarms are BLARING. Once the ejected rubble
subsides, a dozen people slowly approach the crater. Some
of them make calls on their cell phones. One takes a photo
with her phone.
                                                            
                                         CUT TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. SOMEWHERE IN THE MOUNTAINS OF ARIZONA - DAY
                                                            
The two men are nearly out of breath as they approach the
smoldering, smokey impact crater. They pick tentatively at
the hot rubble. Eddie grabs a large stick and digs at the
center of the crater. Soon they work to uncover a black
metalic sphere, 12 inches in diameter.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Whoa! Is that thing safe?
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (out of breath)
Too late to worry about that.
                                                            
Eddie reaches to pick up the sphere, but it is too hot to
the touch.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Larry, pour some water on it.
                                                            
Larry uncaps the jug and pours half the water on the sphere.
He moves the sphere around with his boot, then slowly pours
the remaining water. Eddie touches the sphere. It's still
hot, but doesn't burn his skin.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Guess we should report this.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Yeah, but now that we've been in
contact with it, they'll put us in
quarantine. I'm going to call
Marcie.
                                                            
Eddie pulls his phone from his pocket.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Eddie! Look!
                                                            
Larry points to the sphere.
                                                            

12.

                       LARRY
      (cont'd)
There's a hairline crack running
perfectly around it's
circumference.
                                                            
Eddie sees the line and puts away his phone. Larry is
stroking the line with his fingers.
                                                            
                       LARRY
      (cont'd)
That line wasn't there just a few
minutes ago. I think it's
openning up. Look, the crack is
getting wider.
                                                            
The two men squat over the sphere looking closely. Suddenly
the crack widens at an increasing rate. Eddie, with a
little effort prys the two halves apart. Each half appears
to be solid black metal. Molded between the two halves is a
disc shaped object that falls out as the halves are
separated.
                                                            
                       LARRY
      (cont'd)
Wow! Alien technology! Do you
realize what this means Eddie?
                                                            
                       EDDIE
It means we got this far so lets
try to find out what it is!
                                                            
Eddie picks up the disk. The object is seven inches in
diameter and one and a half inches thick. The inside five
inches contains a glass lense. The outside portion is made
of a silver-colored metal with openings on oposite sides.
One of the openings is small, the other large opening is
large enough for a person to insert four fingers and grasp
the outer ring. The grasp is made of eight metal segments.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Where in the hell did this come
from?
      (beat)
What do you suppose it does?
                                                            
Eddie carefully fingers the segments. He rotates the top
segment. It makes a click.
                                                            
                       LARRY
      (cont'd)
Can I hold it?
                                                            

13.

Eddie hands it over.
                                                            
                       LARRY
      (cont'd)
Whoa!
                                                            
                       EDDIE
What?
                                                            
Larry is speechless.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (cont'd)
What is it man?
                                                            
                       LARRY
I can't see my feet through the
lense!
                                                            
Eddie looks through the lense.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
You're shitin me! No way!
      (beat)
and look at the ground. Where is
the crater?
                                                            
Through the lense we see an udisturbed ground where their
feet should be. As they pan the lense there is no crater
where the crater should be.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (cont'd)
Earlier I rotated the top segment
away from me. Try rotating the
top segment back toward you!
                                                            
Larry rotates the segment toward him until it clicks.
Suddenly, we see his feet through the lense as if it were a
normal glass lense.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Wow, that returned it back to
normal.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Let me try something.
                                                            
Larry hands the lense to Eddie. Eddie holds up the lense
and looks across the valley toward where they parked. He
rotates the first segment. The truck is no longer visible.
He rotates each of the other segments once. Larry and Eddie
OOH and AHH as we see through the lense. Clouds appear and

14.

disappear, it becomes spring, then winter, then summer.
Eddie continues to rotate each of the segments away from
himself. Time is moving backwards through the lense.
Electrical overhead lines near the dirt road disappear. The
road disappears and is replaced by trees. The trees begin
to shink and new larger trees appear, and then they shink.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (cont'd)
We've got some kind of time
machine here.
                                                            
Eddie hands the object over to Larry. They look through the
lense and scan the entire valley.
                                                            
                       LARRY
      (pointing)
Look! Over there by that hillside!
                                                            
They see a herd of five woolly mammoths, slowly moving along
and munching on the grass of the hillside.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Woolly mammoths!
                                                            
                       LARRY
The bottom segments seems to move
back in time quicker than the top
ones. Let's go back all the way!
                                                            
Larry keeps rotating the bottom segment. The sun moves
around randomly, either just above, or just below the
eastern horizon. A forest forms, a lake forms. The scenery
becomes completely different than the present scene. Then
everything through the lense is black.
                                                            
                       LARRY
      (cont'd)
Wow, what a trip! Did you notice
that it was always early morning?
It's capturing the past at the
same time of day, but during
differnt times of the year.
                                                            
Eddie takes the lense and rotates the segments toward
himself. This time they see everything happen in forward
instead of reverse. Finally the lense arrives at the present
time. Eddie continues to rotate the segments toward himself.
Eventually, nothing changes further.
                                                            

15.

                       EDDIE
Damn! I was hoping it would go
into the future, but it only goes
up to the present.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Yeah, but do you realize what we
can do with this? Past mysteries
can now be solved. We can find
treasures that have been lost - we
can even find out how life began.
      (beat)
Let me try.
                                                            
Larry holds the lense toward the road and rotates one of the
middle segments several clicks.
                                                            
                       LARRY
      (cont'd)
Look, some campers.
                                                            
Through the lense we see a '76 Ford pickup and a tent near
the dirt road. There are two men eating breakfast at their
campfire.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Come on, lets go down for a closer
look!
                                                            
Eddie and Larry gather the two halves of the sphere. Eddie
puts one of them into his pack. Larry carries the other.
They head down the hill toward the road.
                                                            
                                         LATER:
                                                            
Eddie and Larry arrive at the road. Larry is carrying the
lense. As they stand 10 feet away from the pickup, Larry
holds up the lense. We see through the lense two middle
aged men, JAKE and DAN setting up camp. Dan pulls off the
tab of an "old school" can of Coke.
                                                            
                       LARRY
      (amazed)
Eddie, you can hear through this
thing! Listen...
                                                            
We hear from the truck radio, Linda Ronstadt singing "Blue
Bayou". And then...
                                                            

16.

                       DAN
      (through the lense)
Jake, I just think the country's
going to hell in a handbasket
since Carter got elected.
                                                            
                       JAKE
      (through the lense)
Hey its better than George Bush.
The day we have Bush running the
country is the day I leave.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Wow, I was only ten years old when
this conversation took place.
      (yelling)
Hey guys! Jake! Can you hear me?
                                                            
After getting no reaction from Jake and Dan, Larry gets up
to within a few feet of Jake.
                                                            
                       LARRY
      (cont'd)
Hello! I can hear you. Can you
hear me?
                                                            
No reaction.
                                                            
                       LARRY
      (cont'd)
We can see and hear through it,
but they can't see or hear us.
                                                            
Eddie and Larry begin walking back to the truck.
                                                            
                                         DISSSOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. MIAMI, FLORIDA - DAY
                                                            
The parking lot where the fireball landed is cordoned off.
Police officers are keeping curious people away. Military
vehicles arrive.
                                                            
                                         CUT TO:
                                                            
 
INT. EDDIE'S TRUCK - DAY
                                                            
Eddie and Larry arrive at Eddie's truck. They toss the
backpack and empty water jug in the back and enter the truck
with their artifacts.
                                                            

17.

                       EDDIE
So what's your theory? Where do
you think this came from?
                                                            
                       LARRY
Don't know. And this isn't the
only one. It's got to be
extra-terrestrial, but the
question is why? We'll have to
keep up to date on the news, see
what we can find out.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
What do you say, let's keep this
to just the two of us?
                                                            
                       LARRY
Not even Marcie?
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Just until we decide what to do
with it.
                                                            
                       LARRY
What to do with it? I've already
thought of a dozen things I want
to do with it. Think about it
man. We can see the assasination
of JFK, Stonehenge...hell, we can
see the whole process of human
evolution!
                                                            
Eddie put the truck in gear and drives. As they drive off,
Larry sings a bad falsetto version of "Blue Bayou".
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
INT. EDDIE'S HOUSE - DAY
                                                            
Marcie is fixing a glass of chocolate milk for their three
year old son ERIK, and shouting to Russ who is in his
bedroom down the hallway.
                                                            
                       MARCIE
Russ, I just heard on the news
that there aren't any more objects
falling to the earth. I bet
school's still on for tomorrow.
                                                            

18.

                       RUSS
Aw man. No more fireballs coming
down? That was cool. When's dad
going to get here?
                                                            
Marcie puts the glass of chocolate milk in front of Erik. We
follow Nicki as she takes some folded laundry down the hall
toward Russ's room.
                                                            
                       MARCIE
Since the fireballs hit sooner
than they expected, there was no
point in him hurrying home. He
told me that they were going to
stop somewhere for breakfast
before they get here. I feel bad
that I had to drag him away from
hunting now that its all over.
                                                            
                       NICKI
      (to Russ)
Your Dad told me that next year
you will be old enough to go
hunting with him!
                                                            
                       RUSS
That's tight! I can't wait until
I'm ten.
                                                            
We hear the front door open and close.
                                                            
                       NICKI
That must be your dad.
                                                            
Marcie walks into the living room and sees Eddie and Larry
carrying in sleeping bags and a tent.
                                                            
                       MARCIE
Hi Honey. How many fireballs did
you see? We saw three of them.
One of them was really close!
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Yeah probably the same three. One
went right over our heads.
                                                            
                       MARCIE
I feel bad that you came home
early now that its all over...I'm
just glad you're safe.
      (beat)
Sorry to ruin your weekend.
                                                            

19.

Eddie gives Marcie a big hug and a kiss, he greets Erik
sitting at the kitchen table with a rub on the head, then
proceeds to get some coffee from the kitchen. Larry
follows.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
You didn't ruin my weekend. But I
think I'll call it a season.
      (beat)
Oh well, no venison this year.
                                                            
                       MARCIE
You can go back out if you want
to, Eddie. You took the next two
days off so you could hunt.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Naw, I'm just not into it this
year. Besides, Larry said he
would help me design the deck. I
can use my vacation time to
finally get that buttoned up so
that we can build this spring.
                                                            
Russ enters and sits down at the table. Eddie and Larry sit
down with their coffees.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Hey Russ! Was that cool or what?
                                                            
                       RUSS
Yeah, I'm bummed that I didn't get
to see it in person. Mom just
lucked out because you called and
woke her up.
                                                            
                       LARRY
They say the aliens are trying to
talk to us!
                                                            
                       RUSS
Well then, I think we shouldn't
have school tomorrow!
      (beat)
See any bucks?
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (jokingly)
Larry had a chance to bag a nice
one, but decided to take pictures
of it instead - dork.
                                                            
Larry shrugs.
                                                            

20.

                       MARCIE
Hey Larry, I got a freind I want
you to meet. I think it's time we
married you off.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Never! Not going to happen!
                                                            
Nicki enters and sits down to join the conversation.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (to the kids)
Hey guys! What are the plans for
today?
                                                            
                       ERIK
Aunt Nicki is going to take us to
see a movie, then we're going to
the McDonalds with a play place!
                                                            
                       MARCIE
Nicki, thanks so much for coming
down this weekend.
                                                            
                       NICKI
No problem, I'll just hang out
with my cool nephews today, but
since Eddie's home now I think
I'll go home tonight and try to
get some studying done.
                                                            
                       MARCIE
Okay but remember, your welcome to
stay in the guest room whenever
you like.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Larry, do you want to stay in the
guest room tonight? We can get
started on the deck design in the
morning.
                                                            
Eddie gives a secretive slight nod to Larry.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Sure, ... but take me home first
so that I can shower and grab my
laptop.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 

21.

INT. OVAL OFFICE - DAY
                                                            
PRESIDENT MORRISON is meeting one-on-one with his national
security advisor, BOYD BRANTON. Sitting across the desk
from each other, these two could pass for old
sixty-something military buddies.
                                                            
                       PRESIDENT MORRISON
What happened Branton? I thought
it was supposed to land in the
Atlantic. And I thought it was
supposed to land an hour later
than it did.
                                                            
                       BOYD BRANTON
We don't know sir. From what we
have pieced together so far, it
appears the object broke into
several pieces as it entered
earth's atmosphere. At that point
it accelerated. Both of those
events were probably defense
mechanisms...Not that we had the
time to attack.
                                                            
                       PRESIDENT MORRISON
And what have we found in Miami?
                                                            
                       BOYD BRANTON
We found a black metallic sphere
that eventually broke in two as it
cooled. What was inside was not
something that you would expect to
find from nature, sir.
                                                            
Branton hands over photo printouts to the president.
                                                            
                       PRESIDENT MORRISON
Let's get it to Washington
A.S.A.P. We need our top
scientists to evaluate it.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
INT. EDDIE'S HOUSE - NIGHT
                                                            
Larry, Eddie, and Marcie are sitting on the couch watching
the news. An Evangelical minister is speaking to a reporter
outside of a church house as parishiners exit.
                                                            

22.

                       MINISTER
Of course there is life elsewhere!
This only underscores the love
our father has for all his
children! That he would give his
other children the means to reach
out and communicate with us!
Remember, Jesus told us that he
has other sheep, not of this fold!
Truly there must be so much more
that we will learn about the
nature of God from our brethren
from across space!
                                                            
Larry stands up, flabergasted.
                                                            
                       LARRY
That's about all I can handle.
Nobody knows anything. We'll just
have to wait and find out what the
experts say.
                                                            
                                         DISSOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
INT. GUEST ROOM - NIGHT
                                                            
Eddie enters, closes the door and hands Larry a beer. Larry
is studing the lense at a desk. His laptop is open.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (quietly)
So do you have any more ideas
about what this might be?
                                                            
                       LARRY
I have no clue about the science
behind it, but my guess is that it
somehow uses quantum mechanics. I
need to brush up on it, but I read
that physisists have speculated
that we are surrounded by all
sorts of past events, but they are
comming at us at different
frequencies - like an FM radio.
Our humman bodies just happen to
be tuned into the frequency of our
present reality with no way to
tune into the other frequencies.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
So our little disk is like a radio
tuner?
                                                            

23.

                       LARRY
Yeah.
      (beat)
I still can't figure out why. Why
did the aliens find the need to
give us this?
                                                            
Eddie holds out his hand to recieve the lense. Larry hands
it over. Eddie studies it closely.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
I wonder if the other objects are
all like this. So far they
haven't said anything about them.
Only that there were between 50 to
100 of them.
      (beat)
Hey, I'm beat. I'm going to bed
now. Be thinking of what we
should do with this.
                                                            
Eddie hands the lense back over to Larry.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (cont'd)
See you tomorrow.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Good night.
                                                            
Eddie leaves the room. Larry playfully looks around the
room through the lense. He suddenly gets an idea and perks
up. He rotates the top segment once. We see Nicki
undressing. Larry smiles.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
INT. EDDIES BEDROOM - NIGHT
                                                            
Eddies tosses and turns, looks at the clock - 1:53. He
turns to his back and stares at the ceiling.
                                                            
                                         DISSOLOVE TO:
                                                            
 
INT. EDDIE'S KITCHEN - DAY
                                                            
Eddie is fixing breakfast. Russ is sitting at the table
eating breakfast.
                                                            

24.

                       RUSS
That sucks that we still have to
go to school today.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
There's no reason not to. Larry's
been following the news pretty
closely. They're saying that the
things that fell all have symbols
on them, but they're harmless, and
they don't expect anything else to
come anytime soon, if ever.
                                                            
Larry walks into the room.
                                                            
                       LARRY
I've been up all night on the
internet. So far, they have
accounted for 12 objects. All of
them are the same, just symbols,
some kind of map. No lense!
                                                            
Russ continues eating without noticing the mention of
"lense". Eddie gives Larry a "shh" look.
                                                            
                       LARRY
      (cont'd)
Oh, I've also been getting some
ideas about our project. After we
take Russ to school, maybe we can
go over them.
                                                            
Eddie puts a plate of pancakes in front of Larry.
                                                            
                                         DISSOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
INT. EDDIES TRUCK - DAY
                                                            
Eddie pulls to the curb after dropping off Russ at school.
Larry is sitting in the passenger seat.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Okay. So what do you want to do?
                                                            
                       LARRY
I'll get to that later. First,
what I've learned. They say that
between 50 to 100 of these things
landed. They were just strewn
randomly all around the world.
Most of them landed in the ocean.
They're trying to locate all of
them, so I'd imagine it'll only be
            (MORE)

25.

                       LARRY (cont'd)
a matter of time before they find
where ours landed. There's a
chance they might piece together
evidence to find us. They're not
saying much about the objects
other than that they are confirmed
to be from beyond our solar system
and expect to learn a lot about
life in the the universe from
them.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
So where do you think it came
from?
                                                            
                       LARRY
Your guess is as good as mine, but
think about if we lived on earth
thousands of years in the future,
and we had the technology to
explore the galaxy and visit other
planets. The speed of light
limits us to sending probes
instead of traveling in person -
it would take too long to get
anywhere. Well, what if we found a
young planet that looked like it
could support life? As
scientists, we'd be curious to see
how it happens. Obviously we would
have better technology than
setting up hidden cameras
everywhere, but we would put
something there to record the
events of that planet without
having to interfere with the life
on the planet.
                                                            
Larry is clearly enjoying the hell out of this. He opens
the glove compartment and helps himself to some of Eddie's
gum.
                                                            
                       LARRY
      (cont'd)
And the popular opinion is that
the symbols on the other objects
are a map of where the senders are
located. As to why ours has a
lense? We're the lucky ones.
Maybe they knew it would be a bad
idea to have too many of them.
                                                            

26.

                       EDDIE
So what your saying is that
someone from another planet placed
this recording device so that
someday they could come back and
check in on their little
scientific study?
                                                            
                       LARRY
That's it in a nutshell.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
So when are they coming back?
And...are they pissed that we have
it now?
                                                            
                       LARRY
Ha! Ha! This is all speculation.
I don't know Eddie. Maybe we'll
both get vaporized. All because
you talked me into going hunting
with you. But in the meantime,
let's have some fun with it. I've
already started a list of things
we can do with this.
                                                            
Larry shows Eddie a NOTEBOOK with a list of about ten things
that Larry wants to do with the lense. Eddie takes the list
and reads.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (incredulously)
Number one on the list is to find
lost gold?
                                                            
                       LARRY
      (Laughing)
I know it's not the most earth
shattering mystery in the world,
but hey, we can get rich off this
thing too, ya know.
      (beat)
And like I said, they're going to
find us sooner or later.
                                                            
Larry reaches into his shirt pocket and unfolds a sheet of
paper containing notes that he copied from the internet. He
shows it to Eddie.
                                                            
                       LARRY
This is a local legend that I
remember hearing about a long time
ago. I was researching it last
night.
            (MORE)

27.

                       LARRY (cont'd)
      (beat)
What happened was back in 1882, on
Christmas day, a stage coach was
traveling up to Prescott from
Phoenix with ten gold bars. There
was a storm, and while they were
crossing Lynx Creek, the stage
coach overturned. Only four of
the gold bars were ever recovered.
I looked at some maps of the
roads of that time and I think I
know where to look. As far as the
time of day, it was some time
during the middle of the day, so
if your with me, we can go stake
this out.
                                                            
Eddies opens his cell phone.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (to Marcie)
Marcie, Larry and I are going into
town to price materials. We'll be
back after lunch.
                                                            
                                         CUT TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. DOWNTOWN PRESCOTT - DAY
                                                            
Eddie pulls his truck into a parking garage next to the old
courthouse.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
This better pan out. It won't
take too long for Marcie to figure
out that we're not working on the
deck.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Let's get started. But first,
let's have a little fun.
                                                            
Eddie and Larry climb to the top floor of the parking
garage. Larry starts clicking the middle segments. We see
car styles become more old fashioned. Then the floor beneath
them disappears. As Larry continues clicking, the buildings
and roads disappear, until there is nothing but the natural
original setting. Eddie and Larry are amazed.
                                                            

28.

                       LARRY
Whoa! Amazing! Now let's go back
to what looks like 1882.
                                                            
We see Larry discreetly hold up the lense and click several
different segements. He goes back far enough that he thinks
its around 1882. Through the lense we see horses and
buggies.
                                                            
                                         CUT TO:
                                                            
 
INT. COURTHOUSE - DAY
                                                            
Eddie and Larry walk into the lobby of the courthouse. Larry
looks around at the walls with the lense. They walk down a
hallway, and then Larry stops.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Bingo! A calendar, look.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Yep, 1871. You were off by
eleven years.
                                                            
Larry fiddles with the upper segments and looks at the
calendar. The calendar changes from year to year until we
see December 1882.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Okay December 1882. Now we need
to get to Christmas day.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Come on.
                                                            
Eddie and Larry walk through the public areas of the
building. Larry sees an employee, through the lense,
sitting at his desk. There is a small advent calendar on
the wall next to him. The marker on the calendar indicates
that it is December 19th. Eddie clicks the top segment five
times and sees the marker go from 19 to 24. He clicks one
more time.
                                                            
                                         CUT TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. PRESCOTT COURTHOUSE - DAY
                                                            
Eddie and Larry walk down the courthouse steps. Larry with
the lense tucked inside his jacket.
                                                            

29.

                       LARRY
Let's go. It's about five miles
out of town.
                                                            
                                         CUT TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. LYNX CREEK - DAY
                                                            
Eddie pulls over to the side of the road. The two men step
out.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Okay the creek crosses the old
roadway down here.
                                                            
They walk a short way down to the creek.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
You didn't bump those buttons on
the way did you?
                                                            
                       LARRY
No, look.
                                                            
Larry holds up the lense. We see a rainy day through the
lense.
                                                            
                       LARRY
It was raining back at the
courthouse, it's raining here, and
that matches the story.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
So now we sit and wait?
                                                            
                       LARRY
Now we sit and wait.
                                                            
We see Eddie and Larry sitting and waiting. Time passes and
we see them still sitting and waiting. Looking through the
lense we see the storm with the creek running at a high
level. More time passes then:
                                                            
                       LARRY
Look, this might be it!
                                                            
They look through the lense and we see a stage coach stop at
the creek. The driver gets out to assess the creek.
                                                            
                       STAGECOACH DRIVER
      (yelling into the
       stagecoach)
It's pretty high, but hell, this
            (MORE)

30.

                       STAGECOACH DRIVER (cont'd)
ain't my first circus. I've
crossed it when it was higher!
                                                            
The driver gets back onto his stagecoach and begins to
proceed across the creek. About halfway across, a log
floats and CRASHES into a wheel, shattering it. The stage
coach tips down to that side. Three occupants bail out and
splash their way to the destination shore. The driver
unhitches the horses and wades to the shore also. Suddenly
the stage coach tips over and SHATTERS into pieces. The
main body of the stagecoach remains, but several pieces
float away.
                                                            
PRESENT TIME
                                                            
Eddie and Larry run over to the location of the stagecoach.
The present creek is barely a trickle and there is no water
where they stand. Larry marks the location by making an X
in the sand with his boot. They look around.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
I don't see any signs of anything.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Let's look through the lense.
                                                            
He sees water knee high through the lense although it is dry
in present time. He is directly over the wrecked
stagecoach.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Look! I see the safe.
                                                            
We see the safe which is broken in half, through the cracks
we can see the gold bars. Water is rushing trough the
wrecked safe.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Okay, but I still don't see
anything here.
      (pointing to the
       present ground)
                                                            
                       LARRY
Okay, let's go forward a day.
                                                            
Larry clicks the top segment once. We see through the
lense, the broken safe almost completely buried in sand
beneath a foot of water.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Let's get the shovels.
                                                            

31.

                                         CUT TO:
                                                            
LATER
                                                            
Larry and Eddie are inside a hole about ten feet wide and
four feet deep. There is a pile of watermelon sized
boulders that they have removed from the hole. Suddenly:
                                                            
                       LARRY
Eureka!
                                                            
Larry tosses his shovel and brushes sand away from a gold
bar.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (excited)
We did it! I don't believe it!
                                                            
LATER
                                                            
Larry and Eddie finish up filling in the hole they created
and walk back to the truck. They look into the back seat
and take a towel off the three bars of gold they recoverd.
They look admiringly.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
We only found three.
                                                            
                       LARRY
That leaves three more as still
being a mystery. Maybe someday
we'll find the rest, but this
should be enough money for me to
quit my job for a while.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (joking)
Quit your job, yeah right. You're
a freelance photographer. You
couldn't stop taking pictures if
they paid you to stop.
      (beat)
I think I could use a leave of
absence though.
                                                            
Eddie's mood turns serious, as he picks callouses on his
hand.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (cont'd)
If you don't mind, I'd like to use
the lense this afternoon by
myself.
                                                            

32.

Larry scratches the stubble on his chin wisely.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Just let me give you one piece of
advice though.
      (beat)
Don't delve into things you wish
you could change, but can't
alright?
                                                            
                       EDDIE
I know. I'm just curious about
something.
                                                            
Eddie starts the engine. Larry looks skeptical.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (cont'd)
Don't worry. I'll call you
tomorrow.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. EDDIE'S OLD FRONT LAWN - DAY
                                                            
Eddie walks nervously onto his old front lawn, a well-kept
middle income home. He figits with the lense as he
approaches the home. There are no signs of anyone being at
home. He checks his watch. He clicks a few of the middle
segments. Through the lense, we see vehicles coming and
going to and from the driveway. He stops clicking, then
clicks the top segment once. Finally we see many vehicles in
front of the house. Relatives are entering the house,
dressed in funeral clothes. Eddie clicks the top segment
five more times. He walks to the side of the house and uses
the lense to peer over the fence to the back yard. He sees
his middle son, then four year old, GABE. Gabe is playing
on his big wheel on a small concrete patio. Eddie smiles
widely and chuckles. After about 15 seconds of happily
watching his son, he looks at his watch and suddenly has a
sad expression on his face. He continues to watch, half
happy and half sad. Gabe gets off of his big wheel and
walks through an unlatched gate to the swimming pool.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (worried)
Gabe, get out of there.
                                                            
Obviously Gabe can't hear. Eddie opens the gate to the back
yard to get closer.
                                                            

33.

                       EDDIE
      (now yelling)
Get away from the pool son!
                                                            
Gabe gets on all fours and reaches for a floating ball in
the pool.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (yelling at the
       top of his voice)
Gabe Please!
                                                            
Gabe reaches for the ball, but loses his balance. He falls
into the pool.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (yelling)
No!
                                                            
Eddie drops to his knees and drops the lense to the ground.
He kneels and sobs. After a while, he looks up with a
question on his mind.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (sobbing)
Why was that fucking gate
unlatched!
                                                            
Eddue picks up the lense and clicks the top segment to go
back one additional day. He purposely avoids looking at the
pool again, instead he looks at the gate to the pool. It
was latched the day before the tragedy. Eddie looks around
to make sure no one is looking, then he finds a plastic
chair to sit on, and he waits, looking at the gate through
the lense.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
INT. EDDIE'S TRUCK - DAY
                                                            
Eddie parks his truck in his driveway. He dials Larry on
his cell phone.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Hey buddy, where did you go?
                                                            
                       EDDIE
My old place.
                                                            
Long silence.
                                                            

34.

                       LARRY
      (gently)
Eddie, don't do that. You know no
good can come from seeing that.
The lense can't change the past.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
I know. I know. I just had to
see. You don't understand.
      (beat)
I'll meet you tomorrow afternoon
around one at your place?
                                                            
                       LARRY
Sure. I've got more information I
want to talk about.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
See you, bye.
                                                            
Eddie shuts the phone and walks into his house.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
INT. WHITE HOUSE - DAY
                                                            
President Morrison is being briefed by his staff, sitting at
a conference table. Among those are science advisor, ALBERT
REYNOLDS (60), and national security advisor, Boyd Branton.
                                                            
                       BOYD BRANTON
At least 50 known fireballs have
been reported throughout the
globe, 16 have been recovered.
                                                            
                       PRESIDENT MORRISON
Do we know if they are all objects
similar to the one we have?
                                                            
                       BOYD BRANTON
No confirmation as of yet sir.
Some of them must have landed in
remote areas. Most of them in the
oceans. We're continuing to track
the likely landing area from the
satalite data that we have.
                                                            
                       PRESIDENT MORRISON
Is the object that we have safe? I
know several people have been in
contact. Is there any danger of
any kind of outbreak or radiation
            (MORE)

35.

                       PRESIDENT MORRISON (cont'd)
from this?
                                                            
                       ALBERT REYNOLDS
Sir, we were unable to achieve
adequate quarantine at the site
when it landed. Since then we
have been using all precautions.
So far there is no indication of
any danger coming from the object,
and no credible reports of any
danger from the other objects.
                                                            
                       PRESIDENT MORRISON
Okay, so tell me about the object.
What is it? Where did it come
from? and why?
                                                            
Albert Reynolds motions for an aid to turn on the projector.
Everyone looks up to the screen. The first slide shows a
sphere in a lab setting. It appears identical to the one
Eddie and Larry found.
                                                            
                       ALBERT REYNOLDS
Sir. I don't know how to put this
in any other way.
      (beat)
This is the most important
discovery in human history. Our
first written communication from
other-worldly intelligence! What
we have found is that this sphere
opens up into two hemispheres.
Each side contains symbols.
Clearly intending to communicate
something!
                                                            
Albert motions for the next slide. It shows the two halves
opened up. Both sides are smooth, polished black with
silver markings. One side contains simple circles, arcs,
and dots. The other half contains more complicated markings
- random squiggles, hatch marks and geometric shapes. The
room erupts in discussion.
                                                            
                       BOYD BRANTON
Albert! This has hoax written all
over it. Do we REALLY know that
it comes from another planet?
                                                            
                       ALBERT REYNOLDS
I can assure you this is
extra-terrestrial. Preliminary
testing is showing a chemical make
up of elements found on earth, but
            (MORE)

36.

                       ALBERT REYNOLDS (cont'd)
with a unique arangement that is
completely foreign to us. It is a
type of metal that we have no
known examples. Incredibly strong!
If nothing else, we may be able
to duplicate the chemistry and
produce the next super metal! I
would like to invite Mr. President
to see the object for himself
after this meeting.
                                                            
                       PRESIDENT MORRISON
I will certainly want to see it in
person. For now try to explain to
me what the symbols might mean.
                                                            
                       ALBERT REYNOLDS
We have a team of astronomers
deciphering the simpler code.
                                                            
The next slide is displayed, showing a close up of one half
of the sphere which shows two sets of simple symbols.
                                                            
                       ALBERT REYNOLDS
      (cont'd)
We believe it to be a map. Think
of these two sets of symbols as
both a plan view and a side view
of the solar system. The symbols
associated with this first set of
arcs matches our solar system with
each elipse representing each
planet's orbit around the sun.
                                                            
Albert begins using his laser pointer to help illustrate his
ideas.
                                                            
                       ALBERT REYNOLDS
      (cont'd)
What we suspect is that if we
follow this line from the sun at
this angle in plan view, and this
line at this angle in side view
until we reach the end point -
that tells us where in the galaxy,
in relation to Earth and sun, the
object comes from.
                                                            
Albert motions for the next slide. We see an array of
photos showing similar spheres and symbols.
                                                            

37.

                       ALBERT REYNOLDS
      (cont'd)
At last count, we have 16
preliminary confirmations
indicating that each of the other
objects are the same as this one.
                                                            
The room is alive with discussion. President Morrison
stands.
                                                            
                       PRESIDENT MORRISON
      (authoritatively)
People. What we need to
understand here is that this is a
matter of highest security. Until
we fully understand the
implications of this find, and
until we have a clearer
understanding of what other
countries are finding, we are to
protect the object as well as any
information that we have learned
about the object.
      (beat)
I think at this point the public
understands that the object is
extra-terrestrial, and indicates
that intellegence exists outside
of our solar system. We do not
need to hide that. If we happen
to find out anything from the
symbols, other than the obvious
map representation, we will not
divulge that information at this
time. Also, Branton, make sure we
have recovered every object that
has fallen onto U.S. soil.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
INT. LARRY'S HOUSE - DAY
                                                            
Larry is sitting at his cluttered computer desk. Eddie
pulls up a chair to see the screen.
                                                            
                       LARRY
      (quoting)
"Officials say they have good
evidence that one of the objects
landed in Central Arizona. If you
have any information, please call
the the number listed below. A
$10,000 reward has been posted for
            (MORE)

38.

                       LARRY (cont'd)
information leading to the
recovery of this object."
                                                            
                       LARRY
      (cont'd)
$10,000 reward? Go fuck yourself!
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Aw, don't worry. They won't find
us.
                                                            
Larry begins ticking items off with his fingers.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Tire tracks, foot prints, the fact
that we had hunting permits for
that area...It's only a matter of
time, my friend. They're
motivated!
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Well, we've got it now, so let's
make the most of it. What more do
you know about it.
                                                            
Larry picks up the lense from his desk top to illustrate the
point he is about to make.
                                                            
                       LARRY
First of all, we know that the top
notch takes us back one day,the
second notch takes us back eight
days, and the third notch takes us
back 64 days. There are a total
of eight notches. Following that
pattern, we can assume that each
notch increases exponentially,
base eight, as you go down the
handle.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Meaning...
                                                            
                       LARRY
The aliens are an eight-based
civilization! No way to easily
prove my hypothesis, but it fits
with what we've seen. One click
of the last notch takes us back
almost 6,000 years. We humans are
ten-based, only because of the
evolutionary throw of the dice
            (MORE)

39.

                       LARRY (cont'd)
that gave us ten fingers each.
                                                            
Larry puts down the lense and holds out his hands, fingers
splayed.
                                                            
                       LARRY
      (cont'd)
When we learn to count, we use our
fingers. We have therefore based
all of our numbering systems on
the magic number ten. The aliens
have eight fingers...or whatever
they use to count with when they
learned how to count.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
So that's what we know about them.
What does the government know?
                                                            
                       LARRY
Well, the other objects had that
map symbol on them. It's a pretty
easy to decypher symbol.
                                                            
Larry types in a web page showing the symbol.
                                                            
                       LARRY
They seem pretty certain that the
object came from the star Orlius
Centari-A, The OCA's, or "Oaka's"
- that's what they're already
calling the aliens. 600 light
years away. The star is similar to
the sun, but they can't tell if
there are any planets yet.
                                                            
Larry types and brings up a science news website.
                                                            
                       LARRY
      (cont'd)
SETI is pointing and sending
messages of several varieties to
them. You know, letting them know
what we're like and that we got
their packages.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Is that a good idea?
                                                            
                       LARRY
Well, there are the paranoids.
"What if the OCA's attack us?" But
really, it'll take the messages
            (MORE)

40.

                       LARRY (cont'd)
600 years just to get to them, and
I think they already know a lot
more about us then we do about
them anyway.
                                                            
Eddie stands up and grabs his keys from the desk top.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Well you get it tonight. Don't
solve the meaning of life while
I'm gone. I go back to work
tomorrow, but if you don't mind
I'd like another crack at it in
the afternoon. I'll call you
tomorrow.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
INT. EDDIE'S TRUCK - DAY
                                                            
Eddie drives a short ways out of town, all dressed for
work. He parks his truck at a scenic rest stop. After
pondering for a moment he opens his cell phone and calls
Marcie.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Hey Honey, I'm afraid I'm going to
have to go out to Lake Havasu
tonight.
      (beat)
Just one night. Something came up
on my project. I'll be home in a
little while to pack up, then I
gotta hit the road.
                                                            
                                         CUT TO:
                                                            
 
INT. EDDIE'S BEDROOM - DAY
                                                            
Eddie is eating a sandwich while packing his overnight bag.
Marcie is sitting across the bedroom with a glass of water.
                                                            
                       MARCIE
So what's so important about this
project that you have to stay
overnight.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
The contractor said there is a
bust in the construction staking.
So I have to go check it out. It's
            (MORE)

41.

                       EDDIE (cont'd)
a three hour drive to Lake Havasu,
and this type of problem isn't
normally solved in just a few
hours.
                                                            
                       MARCIE
I just hate it when your gone
overnight.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
I know, me too.
                                                            
Eddie finishes his sandwich and slings his bag over his
shoulder. He walks over to Marcie and kisses her on the
head.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Love you.
                                                            
                       MARCIE
Love you too. Bye honey.
                                                            
                                         CUT TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. EDDIE'S HOUSE - DAY
                                                            
Eddie gets into his truck, drives off.
                                                            
                                         CUT TO:
                                                            
 
INT. EDDIE'S TRUCK PARKED AT AN APARTMENT COMPLEX - DAY
                                                            
Eddie parks his truck in an empty parking space. He sits in
the truck, nervously playing with the lense, looking
slightly distressed.
                                                            
FLASHBACK
                                                            
 
INT. EDDIE'S APARTMENT - NIGHT
                                                            
Younger Eddie looks at the clock on the wall - 1:21 am. He
paces in the living room. The door opens and Marcie walks
in.
                                                            
                       MARCIE
      (surprised)
You didn't have to wait up for me.
                                                            

42.

                       EDDIE
Where have you been? You're
usually home by 11:15 at the
latest!
                                                            
                       MARCIE
Some people at worked talked me
into renting a movie. We all went
over to the Jennifer's house and
watched it.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (angrily)
Why didn't you call me? Didn't
you think I would be concerned?
                                                            
                       MARCIE
I thought you might have been
asleep! I didn't want to wake
you.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Bullshit! You know I wait up for
you! What really happened? I
always hear you talking about this
Ryan person. Is that who you were
with tonight?
                                                            
                       MARCIE
He was there, but there were five
of us. Nothing happend! We just
watched a movie!
                                                            
                       EDDIE
I'm going over to Larry's.
                                                            
Eddie walks out the door and slams it shut.
                                                            
                                         CUT TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. EDDIE'S APARTMENT - NIGHT
                                                            
Eddie walks up to his little Ford Currier pickup and in
anger, kicks the tailgate, leaving a nice dent. He gets in
and drives off angrily.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 

43.

EXT. EDDIE'S APARTMENT - DAY
                                                            
Young Eddie drives into the parking lot and parks his
Currier. He hesitates calmly for a moment, then gets out
and walks to the apartment.
                                                            
                                         CUT TO:
                                                            
 
INT. EDDIE'S APARTMENT - DAY
                                                            
Eddie walks in. He sees Marcie doing dishes in the sink,
her back is to him.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (sheepishly)
I...I'm sorry about last night.
                                                            
Marcie doesn't speak and doesn't turn, but stops washing
dishes and towells her hands.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
You know...You're the best thing
that has ever happened to me. I'd
be a fool to throw that away.
                                                            
Marcie turns, tears running down her face.
                                                            
                       MARCIE
No, I'd be a fool if I ever let
you go. I love you so much.
                                                            
They embrase.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE OUT OF
FLASHBACK:
                                                            
Eddie gets out of his truck and discreetly holds up the
lense to the place where he used to park. He clicks some of
the middle segments. He checks the tags on the vehicles in
the lot. He needs to go back a few more years. He clicks a
few more segments. He looks at the tags again. It's the
right year, but he can't see his Currier. He clicks the top
segment a few times. He sees his Currier with the dented
tailgate. He keeps clicking the top segment until he sees
his Currier without the dent in the tailgate. This is the
day he wanted.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 

44.

EXT. HAL'S GROCERY STORE - DAY
                                                            
Eddie pulls into a parking spot with a good vantage point of
the entrance to the store. He rolls down the windows and
turns off the engine. He looks at his watch - 4:45. He
holds the lense up to the front of the store and waits.
                                                            
LATER
                                                            
Through the lense, Eddie sees younger Marcie reporting for
work. He looks at his watch - 5:00 sharp. He puts the
lense down on the passenger seat and reclines his seat for a
nap.
                                                            
                                         CUT TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. HAL'S GROCERY STORE - NIGHT
                                                            
Eddie is awake and looking through the lense again. He
looks at his watch - 11:05. Finally he sees Marcie walk
out. Not with a group of five, but with one guy, RYAN (20),
a confident good looking lady's man. They get into the
Ryan's Pontiac. Eddie starts up his truck and drives over
to Marcie and Ryan. The Pontiac pulls out of it's space and
up to the street with it's signal blinking for a right turn.
Eddie pulls up behind the car, although in present there is
no car there. The Pontiac pulls into the street and Eddie
quickly follows. A present car has to swerve into the next
lane in order to avoid hitting Eddie. They blow their horn
at Eddie. Eddie ignores the angry driver and continues to
follow the Pointiac. The Pontiac travels through a green
light. Of course, the light is red for Eddie. Finally it
turns green. He can still see the Pontiac, but there are
two cars in between through the lense and three cars between
in present time. Eddie weaves through present traffic and
drives straight through past traffic, all the while holding
onto and looking through the lense. The Pontiac turns left
and Eddie follows. Finally, no cars between them. The
Pontiac comes up to a four-way stop with three cars in front
of it. In present time there is no stop sign, instead there
is a traffic light and it's green. Eddie slows to a stop.
Cars whiz by, one honks at him. Finally the Pontiac makes
it through the intersection. In present time, the light is
switching from yellow to red. Eddie guns it through the
intersection before cross-traffic starts. The Pontiac makes
a right turn into a subdivision. Eddie finally can easily
follow the car. After a few turns, the Pontiac pulls into a
driveway. Eddie drives one house past the Pontiac and parks
his truck at the curb. He gets out and runs up to the
driveway which currently has a Ford Mustang parked in it.
Through the lense, he sees Marcie and the Ryan get out and
head into the house.
                                                            

45.

                                         CUT TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. THE RYAN'S HOUSE - NIGHT
                                                            
Eddie puts the lense up to the front window of the house.
Although its presently dark, through the lense he can see
through the blinds. He sees Ryan give Marcie a beer and
they sit on the couch. Ryan moves a little closer as they
talk. Suddenly he makes his move and begins making out with
Marcie.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (whispering
       angrily)
Get your hands off her you
bastard!
                                                            
Through the lense Eddie sees Ryan and Marcie get up from the
couch. They hold hands as they walk down the hallway and
turn right. Eddie moves around the right side of the house.
He climbs over a fence to get into the back yard. He looks
through a window with the lense. He can't see anything -
curtains are drawn. He sees another window with a light
coming from it around the corner of the house. Through the
lense, he sees curtains again, but this time there is a one
inch gap through the curtains that he can see through. He
looks, then moves to a different angle and sees it - Marcie
having sex with Ryan!
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (shouting)
Bitch!
                                                            
A present light comes on from the room. Eddie pulls down
the lense and runs around the house, jumps over the fence
and gets into his truck. He drives away quickly before
anyone notices.
                                                            
                                         CUT TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. SHOPPING CENTER - NIGHT
                                                            
Eddie pulls his truck into a shopping center featuring a
variety of retail stores, most of them closed for the night.
He drives around the back of the buildings into the loading
area, wanting to be as secluded as possible. He parks his
truck near a garbage bin.
                                                            
                                         CONTINUOUS
                                                            
 

46.

INT. EDDIE'S TRUCK - NIGHT
                                                            
Eddie turns off the engine. He is distraught. He GRABS the
lense from the pasenger seat and exits his truck quickly.
                                                            
                                         CONTINUOUS
                                                            
 
EXT. BEHIND SHOPPING CENTER - NIGHT
                                                            
Eddie SLAMS the door shut. He looks at the lense and HEAVES
it againts a cinder block wall. He grabs his head with both
hands and walks around in a small circle.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Augh!...No!...No!...Shit!
                                                            
Eddie calms down slightly and looks over at the lense laying
on the asphalt 20 feet away. He slowly walks toward it,
inadvertently kicking a soda can. He is curious as he picks
up the lense and inspects it.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (whispering)
Not a scratch!
                                                            
Eddie walks back to his truck and tosses the lense back onto
the passenger seat. He locks the door and walks to the
front of the shopping center.
                                                            
                                         CONTINUOUS
                                                            
 
EXT. MR. BIGGY'S BILLIARDS - NIGHT
                                                            
Eddie looks up at the sign, "Mr. Biggy's Billiards". The
dark windows have the usual neon beer signs buzzing and
blinking. There are only a few vehicles parked at this
low-rent bar. Eddie walks in.
                                                            
                                         CONTINUOUS
                                                            
 
INT. MR. BIGGY'S BILLIARDS - NIGHT
                                                            
The bar is sparcely occupied. Two thirty-something men are
playing pool on one of the ten tables. A few men and women
are sitting at the bar, engaged in dull conversation. Eddie
walks up to the bar and has a seat away from the other
patrons.
                                                            
                                         DISSOLVE TO:
                                                            

47.

LATER
                                                            
Eddie is drunk. He puts down his empty shot glass and looks
around to see who he can talk to. He spots two guys in
their 40's dressed in dirty work clothes. Typical folk who
just came down for a few drinks to forget their troubles for
a few hours. Eddie sits next to the guy with long
grey/brown hair and several tattoos.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (slurring)
Hey guys. Guess what I found.
                                                            
                       BAR GUY 1
      (thinking he's
       funny)
What? My wallet? I had ten
thousand bucks in it! Been
looking everywhere!
                                                            
Bar guy 2 laughs.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
No. I found a lense that you can
use to see into the past. You
ever wonder if your wife cheated
on you? Well, I can find out for
ya!
                                                            
                       BAR GUY 1
      (annoyed)
Yeah, no thanks I already know she
cheated on me. I cheated on her
too. That's why we divorced, so
you can keep your crystal ball.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
No, No, It's not a crystal ball
it's a lense you can hold up and
look through. It came from the
aliens. I got it out in my truck.
Let me go show you.
                                                            
Eddie begins to walk out the front door, but the bartender
stops him.
                                                            
                       BARTENDER
That'll be 17.20 please. I can
call a cab.
                                                            

48.

                       EDDIE
No, I'm just going to get
something to show my friends. I'll
be right back.
                                                            
Eddie reaches for a twenty from his wallet and hands it to
the bartender. He then exits the bar.
                                                            
                                         CONTINUOUS
                                                            
 
EXT. BACK OF SHOPPING CENTER - NIGHT
                                                            
Eddie staggers up to his truck and fumbles with his keys. He
unlocks the door.
                                                            
                                         CONTINOUS
                                                            
 
INT. EDDIE'S TRUCK - NIGHT
                                                            
Eddie scoots into the driver's seat.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Wait til they see this.
                                                            
Eddie picks up the lense and stares at it. He stares and
stares, a glazed look on his eyes.
                                                            
                                         DISSOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
INT. EDDIES TRUCK - DAY
                                                            
Eddie wakes up to the sound of a GARBAGE TRUCK gathering
trash on the other end of the lot. Disoriented, he looks
down at the lense in his lap.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Ahh, man...
                                                            
                                         CONTINUOUS
                                                            
 
EXT. BACK OF SHOPPING CENTER - DAY
                                                            
Eddie slowly drives his truck out of the shopping center and
onto the street.
                                                            
                                         CUT TO:
                                                            
 

49.

EXT. EDDIE'S HOUSE - DAY
                                                            
Eddie, still disheveled, and groggy, exits his truck and
walks slowly into his house. He pauses at the the doorstep
for a moment, then enters.
                                                            
                                         CONTINOUS
                                                            
 
INT. EDDIE'S LIVING ROOM - DAY
                                                            
As Eddie walks through the front door. Marcie, dressed in a
robe and sipping coffee at the dining room table stands in
surprise.
                                                            
                       MARCIE
Eddie, what are you doing home so
soon?
                                                            
                                         CONTINOUS
                                                            
 
INT. EDDIE'S BEDROOM - DAY
                                                            
Eddie moves quickly to the bedroom closet. He grabs a
suitcase and throws it on the bed. Marcie enters the
bedroom
                                                            
                       EDDIE
I'm packing. I can't stay here.
                                                            
Eddie opens his drawers and throws clothes into his
suitcase, pausing only slightly to decide what to take.
                                                            
                       MARCIE
      (surprised)
What? Why? Talk to me Eddie!
                                                            
Eddie goes back to the closet to get more clothes.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (angrily)
I found out that you haven't been
honest with me!
                                                            
                       MARCIE
What are you talking about?
                                                            
Eddie throws some shoes from the closet into his suitcase.
                                                            

50.

                       EDDIE
Back when we were first married.
You cheated on me then lied about
it!
                                                            
Marcie is shocked into silence. Eddie grabs some hanging
clothes from the closet and throws them into the suitcase.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (cont'd)
And how many times have you
cheated on me since then?
                                                            
                       MARCIE
You're right. I did cheat on you
that one time. Just that one
time, I swear! I felt like I was
too young to be married. I hated
myself for what I did. I don't
excuse what I did but since then I
have learned from my mistake. I've
been more committed to us!
                                                            
Eddie closes his suitcase.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Save it. I'm checking into a
hotel.
                                                            
Eddie grabs his suitcase and leaves the room. The front
door SLAMS shut as Marcie sits on the bed and cries with her
hands on her face.
                                                            
                                         DISLOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
INT. HOTEL ROOM - DAY
                                                            
Eddie sits on a chair in a mid-range hotel room with one
double bed, staring at the wall. The lense is lying on the
bed along with his suitcase and duffle bag. He barely
manages enough energy to open the suitcase and grab some
comfortable clothes.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
LATER
                                                            
Eddie is now clean, shaven, and dressed in fresh clothes. He
spits out his toothpaste into the sink and rinses his brush.
He goes back over to his chair and puts on his shoes. He
sighs and reaches over for the remote on the adjacent table
and turns on the tv. The tv is showing local news. He

51.

leaves it on that channel, but turns it down. His cell
phone RINGS on the table. Eddie picks it up and looks at
the caller id. He answers.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Hey Larry, what's up?
                                                            
                       LARRY
I've been trying to call. What's
up with you? The other day you
sounded like you had a big mystery
to solve.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Oh I solved a mystery, alright.
Marcie cheated on me.
                                                            
                       LARRY
And you found this out with the
lense?
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Yeah, I've checked into a hotel.
Why don't you come take this thing
away from me before I find out
that I was adopted or something.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Eddie, I'm sorry about that. Sit
tight and I'll be right over.
We'll go out and talk over steaks.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Alright, I'm at the Holiday Inn on
69, room 112.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Hang tight, bro. See ya in a few.
                                                            
Eddie flips his phone closed, slumps into his chair, and
watches tv.
                                                            
                       TV REPORTER
The last time anyone saw Amanda
was as she was walking home from
Laverdy Middle School yesterday.
Now, Amanda lives just four blocks
from school and never made it
home. Police have indicated that
they do not suspect that she ran
away, and they're asking for
assistance with any information
that the public might think would
be helpful in solving this
            (MORE)

52.

                       TV REPORTER (cont'd)
apparent child abduction. Again
the Middle School where she was
last seen is Laverdy Middle School
on 51st Avenue and Camelback in
Glendale. Here is a recent photo
of the 11 year old girl. She was
last seen wearing a red sweatshirt
and bluejeans.
                                                            
The screen shows a school photo of cute, blond, 11 year old
Amanda. Eddie reaches for the complementary pen and note
pad from the nightstand and scratches down the information
he just heard. He looks at the lense lying on the bed and
grabs his cell phone. He dials Larry on his speed dial.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Larry, can we make that steak
dinner for tonight? I've got one
more thing I want to do with this
lense.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Eddie, You're making yourself
miserable with that! Give it a
break. Let me come get it. We'll
find out who built Stonehenge or
something.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (upbeat)
No, don't worry. I think
something good might come out of
it this time. I'll call you
tonight.
                                                            
                                         DISSLOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. LAVERDY MIDDLE SCHOOL - DAY
                                                            
There are two news vans parked in the school parking lot
along with three cop cars. School is still in session.
Eddie parks along the curb across the street and exits his
truck. He walks over to a chain link fence and looks at the
school. He needs to get close enough to recognize Amanda
without looking suspicious himself. He reaches into his
jacket which is zipped halfway up. He holds the lense up.
He quickly looks through it then stuffs it back into his
jacket, and returns to his truck.
                                                            
                                         CUT TO:
                                                            

53.

LATER
                                                            
Finally a few kids are leaving the school building and walk
over to cars with waiting parents. Parents are extra
cautious today, picking up their kids. Eddie holds up the
lense. Through the lense we see several 10-12 year old kids
leaving the building. Eddie pans over to a blond girl, but
she is wearing white. Finally, Eddie spots a girl that
matches the description. She is walking alone down the
sidewalk on the right side of the road.
                                                            
                                         CONTINUOUS
                                                            
Eddie turns on his truck and begins driving. He follows
while holding his lense. He has to wait as present day
children cross a crosswalk. The crossing guard signals that
it is okay to proceed and Eddie follows alongside the girl,
lense in hand. He follows two blocks when suddenly, through
the lense we see an old Chevy Malibu pull up to the girl.
The girl stops. Eddie stops his truck. He tries to hear
the conversation, but he is too far to hear through the
lense. A tall skinny man with a faded black tee shirt and
long stringy hair steps out of the Malibu. He grabs the
girl by the wrist and while looking around, shoves her into
the car through the driver's side. The car drives away
quickly, but not too exagerated. Eddie follows the Malibu.
The car leads him a few more blocks away to a small house in
a lower income neighborhood. The car parks in the carport
and we hear Amanda SCREAM as the man leads her into the
house by the arm. Eddie puts down the lense and we see the
car parked in the same place. Eddie parks a few houses away
and grabs his phone. He dials nine, then pauses while
trying to think of something to say to the 911 dispatcher.
Suddenly, Eddie looks up and sees the man get into his car
and drive away. Eddie perks up and puts away his phone. He
exits his truck and jogs over to the house. He knocks on the
door. No answer. Then he hears a THUMPING noise. He bangs
louder.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (shouting)
Amanda! Are you in there?
                                                            
Louder THUMPING. Eddie jiggles the door handle. It is
locked. He goes around to the back of the house and tries
the back door. It is locked. Eddies backs up a few paces
and gives the door a running kick. Enough of the door
breaks to allow him to force the door open.
                                                            
                                         CONTINOUS
                                                            
 

54.

INT. ABDUCTOR'S HOUSE - DAY
                                                            
Eddie quickly runs from room to room until he sees Amanda in
a bedroom lying on the floor. Her mouth, wrists, and ankles
are taped up. Eddie reaches for his pocket knife.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Amanda, I'm here to help you. Stay
still.
                                                            
Amanda looks at Eddie, her glistening eyes widen as her gaze
turns toward the knife. Eddie quickly cuts the tape away at
Amanda's wrists and ankles, then gently pulls the tape from
Amanda's mouth.
                                                            
                       AMANDA
      (untrusting)
Who are you?
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Don't worry. I'm going to take
you home.
                                                            
Eddie quickly leads Amanda out the back door and over to his
truck. Amanda is scared and crying the whole time, but runs
along with Eddie to the truck.
                                                            
                                         CONTINUOUS
                                                            
 
INT. EDDIE'S TRUCK - DAY
                                                            
Amanda makes no attempt to get away, but sobs in her
confusion.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Okay Amanda. I'm going to need
you to show me where you live.
You'll be home soon.
                                                            
Amanda momentarily stops crying and looks around at the
neighborhood.
                                                            
                       AMANDA
I live a few streets from here ---
Go that way.
                                                            
Eddie drives and turns down a few streets as Amanda points
the way. Eddie stops the truck, as they approach Amanda's
street. He sees news vans and police cars parked around
Amanda's house.
                                                            

55.

                       EDDIE
Okay, you need to get out and go
home from here.
                                                            
                       AMANDA
Why can't you drive to my house?
Who are you?
                                                            
                       EDDIE
It doesn't matter. The main thing
is you are safe now, so go see
your family. They're worried
sick.
                                                            
Amanda pauses a little, then opens the door and steps out.
                                                            
                       AMANDA
      (timidly)
Thank you.
                                                            
                                         CONTINOUS
                                                            
 
EXT. EDDIE'S TRUCK - DAY
                                                            
Eddie nods. Amanda closes the passenger door, still
standing. Eddie slowly pulls away and heads away from the
commotion at Amanda's house. Amanda turns and runs toward
her house.
                                                            
                                         DISSOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
INT. EDDIE'S HOTEL ROOM - DAY
                                                            
Eddie quickly enters the room, throws his keys on the table,
and turns on the t.v. with the remote.
                                                            
                       TV ANCHOR
Coming up next, the incredible
rescue of 11 year old Amanda
Burns, and the quest for the
anonymous hero who rescued her.
                                                            
The t.v. scene fades to a commercial. Eddie goes to the
mini-refrigerator and grabs a bottled water. He sits in his
chair and drinks the water while waiting for the evening
news to begin. After the commercial, the news begins:
                                                            
                       TV ANCHOR
This is the scene live at the home
of 11 year old Amanda Burns.
Amanda was rescued this afternoon
by an anonymous man after missing
            (MORE)

56.

                       TV ANCHOR (cont'd)
for 24 hours. Micheal Martinez is
live at the scene, Micheal what do
we know so far about this unusual
rescue.
                                                            
                       TV REPORTER
Well Patty, We know that shortly
after three o'clock this
afternoon, young Amanda suddenly
appeared, seemingly out of
nowhere, running up the sidewalk
toward her house. She then told
police that she had been held
captive at a house a few blocks
away. She led the police to the
place where she had been held and
nobody was home. Police searched
the house, then cleared the area.
After about 30 minutes of waiting,
42 year old Ray Gordon showed up.
Police then apprehended Gordon and
are holding him for questioning.
Now the most unusual part about
this whole story is that when
questioned about how she escaped,
Amanda told police that she had
been taped up inside the house
when suddenly a man broke into the
house and untaped her. He then
drove Amanda close to her home and
let her out of his vehicle. We do
not at this time know who this
rescuer is, or if he was involved
in the abduction. The preliminary
description is that he has black
hair, about 6 feet tall, medium
build, and drives a dark grey late
model truck.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Good. No licence number.
                                                            
                       TV ANCHOR
Michael, do we know anything about
the physical condition of Amanda?
                                                            
                       TV REPORTER
Patty, Amanda appears to be fine
physically, but she has been taken
to Goreman Hospital for an
examination. Certainly this young
girl has been through an awful
            (MORE)

57.

                       TV REPORTER (cont'd)
lot.
                                                            
                       TV ANCHOR
Indeed she has. Thank you
Michael. We will bring you
updates as they happen regarding
this story.
                                                            
Eddie turns off the t.v. and dials Larry on his cell phone.
                                                            
                                         DISSOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
INT. STEAKHOUSE - NIGHT
                                                            
Larry is waiting at a table, sipping a beer, looking over
the menu. Eddie enters the restuarant, looking upbeat.
Larry waves him over.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
You'll never guess what I did
today.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Oh, let me see...you rescued an
abducted girl and almost gave away
our secret before I even got to
number two on my list?
                                                            
                       EDDIE
You heard huh? Sorry, I'll let
you use it next. We'll take
turns. I just finally feel good
about this, ya know?
                                                            
                       LARRY
Hey, at least your not beating
yourself up with it. Just be
careful, we still don't want
others to know about it right?
                                                            
A waitress arrives.
                                                            
                       WAITRESS
Good evening, can I start you out
with something to drink?
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Yeah, Arrogant Bastard, please.
                                                            
The waitress leaves.
                                                            

58.

                       EDDIE
      (cont'd)
So what are you going to use it
on?
                                                            
Larry pulls a folded notebook page from his shirt pocket,
unfolds it and puts it on the table for Eddie to read.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Well my list has now grown to 20
items. I think I'll start off
with Jesus and go from there.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
That's great, and while you're
solving the mysteries of mankind,
I can be researching missing
children. I've got a plan. I'll
look into the missing children
database and try to solve them one
by one. And next time, I promise
I'll be more careful. I'll just
call in anonymous tips and let the
police take care of the rest.
                                                            
                       LARRY
So...you and Marcie. What are you
going to do?
                                                            
The waitress comes back with Eddie's beer.
                                                            
                       WAITRESS
You all ready to order?
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Yeah, I'll have the prime rib.
Medium.
                                                            
                       WAITRESS
Okay, and you?
                                                            
                       LARRY
I'll have the tenderloin, medium
rare.
                                                            
They hand they're menus to the waitress. She walks away.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
I don't know. I just can't
believe what a fool I was to not
realize earlier. She made me look
like a fool Larry.
                                                            

59.

                       LARRY
Eddie, we all make mistakes and we
all have secrets.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
I know. But I never cheated on
her. Never even been tempted.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Exactly. You love her and she
loves you.
      (beat)
Ya know. You may find this hard
to believe, but I would give up my
single life in a second for what
you have, just never found the
right one. I just think you would
be throwing away something really
special if you don't give it a
second chance.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Hey, I was in a good mood when I
walked in here. Tonight let's
celebrate. Now let me have a look
at that list.
      (laughing)
O.J. Simpson is ahead of the great
pyramids?
                                                            
                                         MONTAGE
                                                            
 
EXT. JERUSELEM - DAY
                                                            
Larry is discretely taking pictures through the lense as
prisoners are being tied to crosses. None of the men look
like the traditional Jesus.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
INT. EDDIE'S HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT
                                                            
Eddie has his laptop on the table with papers and pre-paid
cell phones spread out. He busily writes down places, dates,
and times in a notebook. Going back and forth from his notes
to the information he reads on his laptop.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 

60.

EXT. STONEHENGE - DAY
                                                            
Larry joyously looks through the lense as stone age people
create stonehenge using a complicated system of pulleys and
counterweights.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. A PARK - DAY
                                                            
Eddie witnesses another abduction through the lense. A
child is pushed into a vehicle parked in the parking lot of
a child care center. Eddie puts down the lense and writes
down a licence plate number. He opens his cell phone and
calls the tip line.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. AFRICA - DAY
                                                            
Larry looks through the lense in amusement at prehistoric
man climbing up and down trees in the savanah.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. THE WOODS - DAY
                                                            
Eddie walks through the woods, looking through the lense. He
is following a man dragging a beaten child. Suddenly Eddie
stops, and looks in horror. He has to turn away. After a
few moments, he collects himself and calls the tip line with
his cell phone.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. THE GRAND CANYON - DAY
                                                            
Larry watches the grand canyon being formed, then watches
the process in reverse, then forward again. He has a big
smile on his face.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
INT. EDDIE'S HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT
                                                            
Eddie is standing in front of the t.v., watching the news.
                                                            

61.

                       TV ANCHOR
Yet another missing child case has
been solved by an anonymous
tipster...
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. SUPERSTITION MOUNTAINS - DAY
                                                            
Larry drives past a sign reading "Welcome to the
Superstition Wilderness Area - Home of the Lost Dutchman
Gold?".
                                                            
                                         CUT TO:
                                                            
Larry hikes to a spot, and puts down the lense. He moves a
few rocks with his pick and uncovers the Lost Dutchman's
gold.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
INT. EDDIE'S TRUCK - DAY
                                                            
Eddie finishes a chase and parks his truck at an apartment
building. He sees a shady character enter one of the units.
Eddie makes another phone call.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. WHEAT FIELD - NIGHT
                                                            
Larry looks disappointed as he sees through the lense two
guys making a crop circle with wooden planks and ropes.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
INT. EDDIE'S HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT
                                                            
Eddie has a newspaper opened up with several house rental
ads circled. He makes a call for one of the ads.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 

62.

EXT. TOP OF A HILL - DAY
                                                            
Larry sees dinasaurs roaming the earth and a huge flood
comes and drowns them. We see debris churning underneath
the water through the lense while the present time scene
outside of the lense is bone dry.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. RESIDENTIAL STREET - DAY
                                                            
Eddie pulls up his truck and parks it along the curb. He
looks across the street through the lense at a house. An
angry man pulls up the driveway in his truck and yells for
two children to get out of the car and into the house. Eddie
puts down the lense and makes a phone call.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. ROSEWELL NEW MEXICO - NIGHT
                                                            
Larry looks through the lense as a millitary balloon smashes
into the ground in front of him. He gets closer to
investigate. He sees nothing unusual. Off to the side in
present time is a tacky souvenir shop selling alien toys.
                                                            
                                         DISOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. EDDIES RENTAL HOUSE - DAY
                                                            
Marcie is waiting, leaning against her car as Russ and Erik
walk out to her. Eddie leaves the front porch and goes back
into the house for a moment. When he comes out he holds up
Russ's forgotten backpack and motions for Russ to come get
it. Russ returns and grabs the pack. Eddie rubs Russ's
hair, then Russ runs back to Marcie's car. Marcie has a
gentle smile as she walks around the car and climbs into the
driver's seat. Eddie waves good-bye with a small smile.
Marcie drives off with the kids.
                                                            
                                         END MONTAGE
                                                            
 
INT. EDDIE'S RENTAL HOUSE - NIGHT
                                                            
Eddie is picking up a few toys that Erik left on the floor
when the doorbell RINGS. Eddie tosses the last toy into a
bedroom and opens the door. Larry enters holding the lense.
                                                            

63.

                       LARRY
Hey Buddy! Our paths intersect
yet again!
                                                            
                       EDDIE
C'mon in! Have a seat.
                                                            
They walk into the sparsely furnished living room. Larry
sits on a couch. Eddie walks to the fridge to get beers.
                                                            
Eddie hands Larry a beer and Eddie grabs the computer chair
and turns it to face Larry. Eddie sits.
                                                            
Larry takes a drink.
                                                            
                       LARRY
So, I keep hearing all sorts of
news reports about anonymous
tipsters giving good information
about abductions. Sounds like
you're keeping busy.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Yeah, I sure have. The only
problem is that there is only one
of me. Don't get me wrong, I
think what you're doing is great
and important scientifically and
all. I just keep reading story
after story of abductions and
sometimes I'm too late. It can be
incredibly rewarding or incredibly
heartbreaking, either way, it's
exhausting.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Well here's to anonymous heros and
curious nerds!
                                                            
Eddie and Larry raise their beer bottles and have a drink.
                                                            
                                         DISSOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
INT. WHITE HOUSE SITUATION ROOM - DAY
                                                            
President Morrison is meeting one on one with Boyd Branton
regarding the fallen objects and the OCA's.
                                                            
                       PRESIDENT MORRISON
Boyd, I consider this a matter of
national security. Several
eyewitnesses have reported that
one of the objects landed
            (MORE)

64.

                       PRESIDENT MORRISON (cont'd)
somewhere in central Arizona. What
do we know?
                                                            
Boyd clicks a button on his laptop which is projected onto a
screen at the end of the table. A map of Arizona is shown
with an irregular shape covering a portion of the interior
of the state.
                                                            
                       BOYD BRANTON
We've narrowed the possible
landing area to roughly 10,000
square miles. We have teams
scouring the area.
                                                            
                       PRESIDENT MORRISON
Not good enough. What else do you
have?
                                                            
                       BOYD BRANTON
80% of the landing zone is within
National Forest land. Almost all
of the remainder is remote. On
the day of the landings, it just
so happens that it was opening
weekend for the deer hunting
season. Several of those who gave
us good information on the
possible landing site were deer
hunters. It seems likely that the
person who picked up the missing
object would have been a deer
hunter or some other outdoor
enthusiast.
                                                            
                       PRESIDENT MORRISON
That gets us closer. How many
hunters are we talking about?
                                                            
                       BOYD BRANTON
1,575 hunters held permits for
areas within the fall zone.
                                                            
                       PRESIDENT MORRISON
How can we narrow this down to
specific persons?
      (beat)
Wait, what makes you so sure it
has been picked up?
                                                            
Boyd clicks again on his laptop, bringing up a map with
several pinpoints in and around Arizona.
                                                            

65.

                       BOYD BRANTON
The missing child cases that are
being solved at an alarming rate.
Seven of the last ten solved cases
since the objects landed fall
within 500 miles of the landing
zone.
                                                            
                       PRESIDENT MORRISON
That is a damn interesting
correlation you got there, but I
don't see how these objects can
find missing children. What's
your hypothisis?
                                                            
                       BOYD BRANTON
Sir, to be honest with you. There
is good reason to believe that the
object we're looking for is
different than the other objects
that have been found. We haven't
even identified half of the fallen
objects and we can't assume
they're all copies of the same
message. What would be the point
in that? I can't rule out the
possibility that someone picked it
up and figured how to get some use
out of it.
                                                            
                       PRESIDENT MORRISON
What other use can that be, Boyd?
                                                            
                       BOYD BRANTON
I don't know, but these kind of
cases just don't get solved that
often. And on top of that, so
many of them are within driving
distance of the fall zone. This
one is different Mr. President.
This is the one we need to get our
hands on.
      (Beat)
I'm going to hand out assignments
to look at each and every one of
those hunters. I'm going to
personally see to it that I have
an accurate description of this
anonymous tipster. Sir, you have
my promise that we will identify
the possesor of the missing
object, and we will obtain said
object.
                                                            

66.

                                         DISSOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
INT. DINER - DAY
                                                            
Eddie is eating lunch at a bar. The news is playing on the
t.v. Eddie looks up while chewing.
                                                            
                       TV ANCHOR
With this morning's rescue, that
makes 7 anonymous tips that have
lead to the recovery of missing
children in the western United
States within the last two months.
                                                            
                       WOMAN AT DINER
      (to the waitress)
Man! That is incredible! There's
got to be some kind of psycic
involved in this.
                                                            
                       TV ANCHOR
Federal authorities continue to be
baffled yet pleased at this trend.
                                                            
                       WOMAN AT DINER
The OCA's! Don't you see? They're
helping us in ways that we have
only begun to realize!
                                                            
                       WAITRESS
They can't see us Jean. They live
600 light years away. How can
they know who's been kidnapped by
sending us a few fancy maps?
                                                            
Eddie listens in to the conversation.
                                                            
                       WOMAN AT DINER
Well, my pastor says that God
doesn't work under the laws of
physics. God's law overrules all
other laws. In my opinion, the
OCA's are helping usher in the
second coming of Jesus. They just
want to clean out the garbage so
as to make it nice for Him. How
they're doin it is none of our
concern. We just need to make
sure we're on the right side of
the fence. The time to be luke
warm has past.
                                                            

67.

                       WAITRESS
Well, I don't know what's goin
down, but people seem to know
something is happening. My
congregation's attendance has
doubled since those things landed.
                                                            
Eddie continues to eat.
                                                            
                                         DISSOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. EDDIE'S HOUSE - NIGHT
                                                            
Eddie pulls into his driveway and steps out. He looks down
the street and sees a black car park next to the curb a few
houses down. The car's lights turn off. Eddie unlocks his
door and walks into his house, holding the lense which is
tucked into his newspapers.
                                                            
                                         CUT TO:
                                                            
 
INT. EDDIE'S HOUSE - NIGHT
                                                            
As Eddie walks in he turns on a light and places his keys.
newspaper, and lense on his table. He walks over to his
front window and looks through his blinds. He sees the
mysterious car still parked on the street. Eddie's cell
phone RINGS. Eddie looks at the screen and sees that it is
Larry. He doesn't answer.
                                                            
                                         DISSOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
INT. WHITE HOUSE - NIGHT
                                                            
                       BOYD BRANTON
      (on the phone)
I know the description is vague,
but does it match both the subject
and his vehicle?
                                                            
                                         PAUSE
                                                            
Boyd looks satisfied.
                                                            
                       BOYD BRANTON
Good job. Thanks.
                                                            
Boyd hangs up, gets up from his desk, and walks out of his
office. His assistant follows.
                                                            

68.

                       BOYD BRANTON
      (to his assistant)
That's all we need. The Patriot
Act allows us to make the next
step. Give B Team the go ahead.
Check his internet usage. Anything
that sticks out about child
abductions or the OCA objects, I
want to know ASAP.
                                                            
                                         DISSOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. EDDIE'S HOUSE - DAY
                                                            
Eddie is dressed in sweat pants and a t-shirt. He walks out
to retrieve his morning paper and sees the F.B.I. car still
parked on the street. He goes back inside.
                                                            
                                         CONTINUOUS
                                                            
 
INT. EDDIE'S HOUSE - DAY
                                                            
Eddie walks into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. His
cell phone rings. He looks at the screen.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Hello Larry.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Hey, what's up? You haven't
returned my calls.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
They're on to me. I don't want
you to get involved so just stay
away and don't call for a few
days.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Who's on to you? Do you need
help?
                                                            
                       EDDIE
No, just stay put. I gotta go.
Bye.
                                                            
Eddie closes his phone and sits at the kitchen table,
contemplating his situation.
                                                            
LATER
                                                            

69.

Eddie is laying on his back on his couch, spinning the
lense. Someone KNOCKS on the door. Eddie gets up and puts
the lense under a couch cushion. He looks out the front
window and sees that it is Larry. Eddie opens the door.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
I told you to stay away, man.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Hey, we found this thing together
so if you need help, I'm going to
help.
                                                            
Larry walks in and sits on the couch.
                                                            
                       LARRY
      (cont'd)
So who knows about the lense?
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Listen, I don't know if we can
talk here. Let's go for a walk.
                                                            
                       LARRY
      (whispering)
Bugs?
                                                            
Eddie nods. Larry gets up and walks to the door. Eddie
grabs the lense from under the cushion that Larry was
sitting on. Larry smirks. Eddie grabs a backpack and puts
the lense inside. They leave the house.
                                                            
                                         DISSOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. CITY PARK - DAY
                                                            
Eddie and Larry are walking slowly on a sidewalk.
                                                            
Eddie motions subtly toward a well-dressed man with
sunglassing sitting on a park bench, reading a paper.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (cont'd)
I'm being watched like a hawk.
                                                            
                       LARRY
We need to create a distraction.
In the confusion, I'll take the
lense and make a run for it.
                                                            

70.

                       EDDIE
It's over Larry. Time to give it
up.
                                                            
                       LARRY
We can't let them have it! They'll
screw up everything! You can kiss
your privacy goodbye. Once the
government has this in their hands
all bets are off. They'll be
drunk with the power! If they
want to put someone away, all they
would need to do is follow that
person's life until they find
something juicy. Everybody has
something to hide.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Larry, what you described is
basically what I did with Marcie!
And I hate myself for it! If we
put it out there for the world to
see, I still have faith that
society can come up with an
acceptable use for it. It's just
too much for two guys to handle.
                                                            
                       LARRY
You know what? I'm a selfish
person and proud of it, but you're
right. Time to give it up - as if
we had a choice.
      (Beat)
We had a good run though. I still
don't know who wrote the Book of
Mormon, but hey, maybe it's time
for the government to have their
turn. I can't believe I just said
that.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
And besides, I almost got myself
killed in traffic half the time.
                                                            
They laugh. Eddie pauses then becomes serious. They stop
walking.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (cont'd)
There is just one more thing that
I'd like to do with it.
                                                            
Eddie looks at his watch.
                                                            

71.

                       EDDIE
      (cont'd)
Come on. Let's go get the truck.
                                                            
                                         DISSOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. TRAILHEAD - DAY
                                                            
Eddie pulls his truck into the parking lot to a popular
hiking trail. A few moments later, a black car pulls in and
parks. Eddie and Larry walk over to the trail register.
Eddie clicks some segements on the lense while Larry tries
to sheild the view from the black car. Eddie works the
lense for a few moments until he sees through the lense, the
entries for May, fifteen years earlier. Then he sees what
he was looking for. We see writen in the register: Eddie
and Marcie Poole, time started 1:10 p.m. Eddie looks at his
watch.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
We have a little while, here have
an apple.
                                                            
Eddie puts the lense back into the backpack and pulls out
two apples. He tosses one to Larry. They sit at a picnic
table and eat.
                                                            
LATER
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Okay let's get going.
                                                            
They start hiking the trail.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Can you give me a hint?
                                                            
                       EDDIE
It's personal.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Oh no.
                                                            
LATER
                                                            
Eddie and Larry reach a point in the trail with a lot of
boulders on each side.
                                                            

72.

                       EDDIE
Marcie and I hiked this trail soon
after we were married. We decided
it would be fun to climb some of
these boulders.
                                                            
Eddie sits on a rock 50 feet from the trail and looks down
the trail through the lense. After a while an obvious
F.B.I. agent wearing slacks and a button-down shirt walks up
the trail. Eddie puts away the lense.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Good afternoon.
                                                            
The man nods and continues slowly up the trail. Eddie holds
up the lense again.
                                                            
LATER
                                                            
We see through the lense Eddie and Marcie walking up the
trail, smiling and laughing. Eddie points to the boulders
and they go off the trail. Present Eddie follows closely
with Larry following.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
We didn't have Marcie's wedding
ring properly sized. The damn
thing kept falling off.
                                                            
Eddie continues to follow past Eddie and Marcie, paying
close attention to Marcie's left hand. Past Eddie and
Marcie climb up to the top of a 20 foot boulder. They start
up another one. Marcie grabs onto a branch with her left
hand as past Eddie helps her up with her right hand.
Suddenly the branch pushes the ring off Marcie's hand. Eddie
quickly turns the lense in the direction of the falling
ring. He sees it land between two smaller boulders. Eddie
quickly puts the lense back into his backpack and begins
searching between the rocks.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (cont'd)
I came here several times hoping
to find it. But it was like a
needle in a haystack. We didn't
know exactly where she lost it.
                                                            
Eddie and Larry are on their knees moving rocks and digging
in the ground with their fingers.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
      (cont'd)
After about five years, I was
finally able to afford a
            (MORE)

73.

                       EDDIE (cont'd)
replacement ring, but it just
wasn't the same.
                                                            
Eddie locates the ring and pulls it out of the ground. He
holds it up smiling.
                                                            
LATER
                                                            
Eddie and Larry are walking down the bottom of the trail and
reach the parking lot. Several agents are loosely
surrounding them. Eddie walks over to the parked car. The
driver's side window lowers.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
I'm ready to talk.
                                                            
                                         DISSOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
INT. SECURITY HEADQUARTERS - DAY
                                                            
Boyd leads Eddie and Larry to his office. Boyd sits behind
his desk and motions for Eddie and Larry to sit in chairs
across from him. They oblige.
                                                            
                       BOYD BRANTON
We can't over-emapsize how
grateful the government is to you
guys for being so cooperative.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Well Sir, there's only so much one
or two guys can do with this
thing. But I don't want to give
you the impression that we're just
giving it to you.
                                                            
                       LARRY
We want to know how do you plan to
use it.
                                                            
                       BOYD BRANTON
Well Larry, that's the reason I
wanted to talk to you today. I
really want to keep this secret.
Who knows what kind of circus
would be created if the general
public got wind of what this thing
can do.
                                                            

74.

                       LARRY
That's the part I have a small
problem with. With this new tool,
what's to stop the government from
infringing on individual rights?
                                                            
                       EDDIE
And how are people even going to
know their rights are being
infringed, if they don't know how
you're doing it?
                                                            
                       BOYD BRANTON
I know, I know. Believe me, we
have had endless debates about
this, and I've been overruled. The
consensus is, we simply can't keep
this to a select few who know
about it. Too many people know
already. Transparency is the only
option at this point.
                                                            
                       LARRY
So where do we go from here?
                                                            
                       BOYD BRANTON
We'll hold a press conference in a
half hour. The government is
prepared to offer you each six
figure incomes to be full time
consultants assigned to this
project. We have two teams
designated with equal use of the
lense. Larry, you would be part
of the history and scientific
research team. Eddie, you would
be part of the missing person and
crime team.
                                                            
Eddie and Larry look to each other.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
I don't know. I'd kind of like to
step away from it all. As long as
Larry is involved, I know it's in
good hands. Just tell them that
Larry found it on his own.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Excuse me sir. Can we have a
moment?
                                                            

75.

                       BOYD BRANTON
Sure. I'll be right outside the
door.
                                                            
Boyd leaves his office.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Eddie. You can't have it both
ways. Just like Branton said.
Transparency is the only option.
Sooner or later, you're going to
have to accept the past and the
role that you played in it.
                                                            
Eddie stands up and paces a little, deep in thought.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Hell, I need a job. I'm in.
                                                            
Larry gets up and slaps Eddie on the shoulder. Larry opens
the door.
                                                            
                       LARRY
Deal! We're both in.
                                                            
All three shake hands.
                                                            
                                         DISSOLVE TO:
                                                            
 
INT. MARCIE'S HOUSE - NIGHT
                                                            
Marcie is alone on the couch watching t.v. The kids are in
bed. We hear a KNOCK at the door. Marcie turns down the
t.v. and gets up from the couch to answer. After peeking
through the peephole, she opens the door. It's Eddie.
                                                            
                       MARCIE
Eddie! You told me you would pick
them up tomorrow.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
I'm not here for that. Can I come
in? I have something I want to
show you.
                                                            
                       MARCIE
Sure.
                                                            
Eddie walks in and sits on the couch. Marcie turns off the
t.v.
                                                            

76.

                       MARCIE
      (cont'd)
Would you like something to drink?
                                                            
                       EDDIE
No I'm fine. Sit down. I have
something important I want to say.
                                                            
Marcie sits on the same couch, but one cushion away from
Eddie.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Remember when we were first
married? I was always talking
about the big family we were going
to have?
                                                            
                       MARCIE
Yeah. Like I told you, I got a
little freaked out.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
I know. And do you remember the
day I took you hiking on Fat Man's
Loop?
                                                            
                       MARCIE
Of course. That's the day I lost
the ring.
      (beat)
Look. If your looking to make me
feel guilty about things, don't. I
already know. I screwed
everything up.
                                                            
Eddie looks down at his feet. A few moments of silence.
Eddie's eyes begin to water.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
Marcie, I'm the one who didn't
latch the pool before Gabe
drowned.
                                                            
                       MARCIE
We don't know that. Even if it
was you, I forgive you. It
happened. There's nothing we can
do to change that.
                                                            

77.

                       EDDIE
How can that be so easy for you to
say. Listen, I wasn't sure
before, but now I KNOW it was me
who left the gate unlatched!
                                                            
Marcie scoots a little closer to Eddie and grabs his hand.
                                                            
                       MARCIE
I don't care about the past
anymore. The past will always be
there for us to look back on, we
both had our fair share of screw
ups.
      (beat)
I forgive you, Eddie.
                                                            
The two hug. Eddie collects himself.
                                                            
                       EDDIE
I know we can't change the past,
and I forgive you too. I've been
such a jealous child.
      (beat)
But there are times when we can
learn from it, and by revisiting
the past, we can even correct
things.
                                                            
Eddie reaches into his pocket and pulls out Marcie's
original wedding ring. He holds it equally between himself
and Marcie.
                                                            
                       MARCIE
Oh my God! That's the ring?
                                                            
                       EDDIE
I've been revisiting our past a
lot these last few months, and you
know, I've found that there's a
whole lot more good than bad.
      (beat)
If you'll let me I can show you
that our future can be even
better.
                                                            
Marcie is crying. Eddie puts his arm around her and hands
her the ring. Eddie hugs Marcie and they kiss.
                                                            


FADE OUT.


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From lashawn anthony Date 6/25/2011 ***
I like it, it kept me interested the entire read.


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