Voam activates a control and a red digital countdown appears on a display in front of him. The count runs backwards from thirty hours.
VOAM
All indicators show normal.
INT. RINGSHIP - CONTROL ROOM
Weung paces in front of a control panel.
EAMAX
Isomer spectral analysis reads good. We've done it!
EXT. TIMBERWOLF LAKE - DAY
Colonel Dotson turns to Perkins who has his hand on the detonator.
DOTSON
Hit it!
Perkins twists the detonator and the peaceful lakeside scene is rocked by a violent EXPLOSION.
INT. UNDERGROUND TUNNEL
The roof of the connecting tunnel rips open. Chunks of broken rock and dirt spray through the corridor.
The sound and pressure waves BLAST into the processing chamber. ALARMS sound. Red lights flash on Voam's control panel.
In the tunnel, a half-dozen repelling cables are thrown into the gapping hole and Marines quickly descend.
Six men charge down the tunnel, machine guns at the ready. They pass a sharp curve and come face-to-face with a robot with multiple arms.
The soldiers open FIRE! Sparks fly as bullets strike home, sending off splinters of metal. The robot's arms dissolve into a thousand flying insects that dart forward and impale the men.
The Marines collapse in a SCREAMING pile. Behind them is a single soldier with a flame thrower. He hits the trigger and the mechanical insects, along with the robot, are engulfed in flame.
INT. MINERAL PROCESSING CHAMBER
Voam struggles to control the mini wormhole. The neat funnel of ore disintegrates, spraying outward. The spherical black shape distorts. Loose equipment goes flying into the vortex with a shower of sparks.
EXT. SPACE - FAR SIDE OF THE MOON
The stream of orange ore coming out of the wormhole evaporates.
INT. RINGSHIP - CONTROL ROOM
Eamax looks up from his control panel at a scowling Weung.
EAMAX
Transfer terminated.
INT. MINERAL PROCESSING CHAMBER
The marines charge into the processing chamber and stop dead in their tracks, stunned by what they see. Dotson emerges from the tunnel and fixes his eyes on Voam.
Voam throws his arms up in the air.
VOAM
Wait! Stop!
Jagged black edges jump outward from the unstable wormhole. One of the inky shapes thrusts at the soldiers. The railing rips apart in front of the Marines.
Voam dives for his control panel, frantic to control the black monster. The force of the wormhole rips at Dotson's uniform.
DOTSON
Fire!
A barrage of bullets cut into Voam, some bouncing off the heavy bone chest plates beneath his skin. Voam goes flying back against his control panel. More bullets pound into the instruments behind him.
The wormhole mouth distorts into a jagged shape and shrinks into nothingness, leaving behind a smoldering mass of equipment and an unconscious alien.
INT. ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE - CAFETERIA
Patricia slides a tray with a small salad and a glass of water toward the cashier.
CASHIER
That's it?
PATRICIA
Don't have much of an appetite.
She pays and sits down at a table by herself. The cafeteria is deserted except for a couple of Airmen on the other side of the room.
Patricia manages to chew through a fork-full of salad before a blonde woman in her early forties sits down across from her.
Patricia stares at her, questioningly. A wave of recognition sweeps over her face.
PATRICIA
(gasp)
Sandy?!
ADULT SANDY
Sandra.
Patricia stands and reaches across the table for her. Sandy puts her hands up.
ADULT SANDY
Don't.
PATRICIA
My, God. I just kissed you good night two days ago.
ADULT SANDY
If you say so. I'm not sure I buy the whole... time jump thing. If you're really my mother.
PATRICIA
Sandy, it's me.
ADULT SANDY
I vaguely remember us playing and taking walks. Then, it was just staring at your pictures and hoping you would come back... some day.
PATRICIA
I'm here now.
ADULT SANDY
Too late. I'm all grown up. Older than you are now. Whatever that means.
PATRICIA
Where is your father?
ADULT SANDY
Dad spent ten years looking for you. He mortgaged the house to pay for an expedition after the cops gave up.
PATRICIA
Where is he?
ADULT SANDY
Lung cancer. Four years ago.
The tears begin to flow down the radio astronomer's face.
PATRICIA
Sandy, I'm sorry. I never meant any of this to happen.
ADULT SANDY
I don't think you cared about what could happen, as long as you got your way.
PATRICIA
That's not true.
ADULT SANDY
Isn't it? Dad said you always had to know the truth, whatever the cost.
She leans forward.
ADULT SANDY
Was it worth it?
INT. RINGSHIP - CONTROL ROOM
Weung scowls at Eamax.
WEUNG
That was an order.
EAMAX
Annihilating the Earthlings is against our directive.
WEUNG
The situation has changed. The termination of ore transfer and loss of communication can only mean one thing. The humans have invaded the processing complex.
AELLA
We aren't even supposed to have the Omega weapon on board.
WEUNG
(to Aella)
Do you want to stand by and watch our entire race destroyed? Either of you?
Aella just shakes her head.
WEUNG
I will overlook your insubordination.
(to Eamax)
Proceed to Earth orbit.
EAMAX
Yes, sir.
AELLA
What about Voam?
WEUNG
The Earthlings probably killed him.
INT. ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE - OBSERVATION ROOM
General Stewart and Patricia look through a one-way glass panel into a holding cell where Voam is strapped to a table. Electrodes attached to his head and body run to racks of equipment, where lab-coated personnel monitor the readouts.
The General is a happy man.
STEWART
This is the best possible outcome. We have the alien and the hafnium isomer. We can even back-engineer the saucer technology. By stopping the Earth-side wormhole you eliminated a threat from a superior race. You've done your country a great service.
PATRICIA
Then, why do I feel like shit?
Patricia watches through the glass as a technician connects another electrode to Voam.
PATRICIA
Is he alright, physically?
STEWART
The doctors say his wounds have completely healed, not that he's said anything.
Patricia turns suddenly to face the General.
PATRICIA
(alarmed)
You're not going to torture him?
STEWART
I'd prefer not to.
PATRICIA
General!
STEWART
He's not human. The Geneva convention does not apply.
PATRICIA
That doesn't mean you have to be a bastard.
STEWART
I'd rather he cooperate. He could even make a decent life for himself here, on Earth. Why don't you explain it to him?
PATRICIA
Me?! What makes you think he'd talk to me?
STEWART
The devil that you know...
(beat)
Doctor, thousands of scientists and engineers are going to make their careers with this new technology. I think you should be leading the effort. Who else has experience traveling through a wormhole?
Patricia just glares at him.
STEWART
You can spend the rest of your life doing cutting edge science.
PATRICIA
If I cooperate?
STEWART
I have to find out what I need to know, one way or the other.
INT. ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE - HOLDING CELL
Patricia enters. A man in a lab coat gives her a quick nod and returns to monitor his equipment. Voam rolls his head to stare at the radio astronomer.
VOAM
Why?
PATRICIA
Those two people you killed on the hill back in nineteen sixty-five. They were my parents.
VOAM
You would murder a hundred billion to avenge an accident?
PATRICIA
Everything you've done proves we are a low priority.
VOAM
I have done everything possible to protect humanity.
PATRICIA
Until we get in the way. At least you didn't kill me. You just destroyed my life. My husband died looking for me. My daughter can't stand my face.
Behind the one-way glass in the observation room, General Stewart listens in.
PATRICIA
(observation room speaker)
General Stewart is right. The danger is too great. A race of super beings so close to Earth would dominate humanity. We would be nothing better than your pets.
Back in the holding cell.
VOAM
In attempting to protect your world, you have also sacrificed billions of human beings.
PATRICIA
What are you talking about?
VOAM
The Earth-side wormhole already exists. Our job was to widen it. It is only one mile in diameter. When Mopelia tries to pass through, a titanic explosion will result.
PATRICIA
You said the opening was ten million miles closer to the sun.
VOAM
The entire mass of a planet-sized body will be converted into energy. The sun-facing side of the Earth will be hit with an intense burst of gamma radiation. Half the world's population will die.
In the observation room, the General grabs onto a table top to keep from falling over.
Back in the holding cell.
PATRICIA
No! It can't be.
Voam looks past her, doing a quick calculation in his head.
VOAM
I believe the densely populated areas of Asia and the Middle-East will be exposed at the time.
PATRICIA
We have to get back to the cavern and upload the ore.
Voam turns to the mirror. In the observation room, on the other side of the glass, Stewart glares back.
VOAM
(observation room speakers)
Your General Stewart won't allow it.
Back in the holding cell.
VOAM
Besides, the transfer equipment is damaged.
PATRICIA
We can repair it.
VOAM
There isn't time. Both our worlds are out of time.
EXT. SPACE - NEAR EARTH
The Ringship approaches Earth. The northern hemisphere rotates into view.
INT. RINGSHIP - CONTROL ROOM
Weung looks over Eamax's shoulder as he activates a countdown clock. The digital readout starts counting backwards from sixty minutes.
EAMAX
Omega weapon energizing.
WEUNG
Very well.
EAMAX
Detonation altitude set for ten miles.
WEUNG
The EM pulse will destroy any human electronic systems within a thousand miles.
EaMAX
Estimated causalities?
AELLA
Approximately one million.
WEUNG
Unavoidable.
INT. RINGSHIP - LOADING DOCK
The three-foot cylinder that Weung extracted, rests in a cradle. Imbedded in its surface is a similar digital display that counts down.
INT. RINGSHIP - CONTROL ROOM
WEUNG
Once we have neutralized the human threat, I will descend to the mine and directly extract the hafnium isomer.
INT. ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE - HALLWAY
General Stewart intercepts Patricia. Shock and dismay play across the astronomer's face.
STEWART
Don't believe a word of it.
PATRICIA
Why would he say it?
STEWART
To get back in that lab. To save all his alien pals.
PATRICIA
I need some air.
Patricia moves past the general, heading for a door with an exit sign. Stewart calls after her.
STEWART
Even if he is telling the truth, the US and Europe won't be hit.
She stops and turns around.
PATRICIA
Billions of people could die! You can't possibly be that callous.
STEWART
Of course not! It's my job to look at worst case scenarios.
Colonel Dotson brushes past Patricia.
DOTSON
Sir, Radar is picking up something really big settling into orbit.
STEWART
(to Patricia)
Go to the hafnium cavern. Survey the damage. See what can be done.
Stewart and the Colonel hightail it down the hallway.
EXT. ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE - FROZEN POND
Patricia walks in the brisk afternoon air toward the frozen pond where her parents took her to ice skate, so many years ago. She sits down on a park bench.
The ice is deserted except for a teenage BOY SKATER and GIRL SKATER. The young man does a leap into a single 360 and executes a perfect landing. The girl begins to rotate and pulls her arms into a tight twirl.
As Patricia watches from the bench, the scene blurs into a memory. The image of ten-year-old Patricia is superimposed on the frozen surface. Her father speaks to her.
EDWARD
You've got to trust us.
TEN-YEAR-OLD PATRICIA
I'm scared, Daddy.
Patricia shakes her head clear, bringing her back to the present. The Boy Skater calls out to his girlfriend.
BOY SKATER
You've got to trust me.
The girl hesitates...
GIRL SKATER
Okay.
She accelerates toward him, reaching out her arms. They twist as their hands clasp. Both teens spin rapidly around a common center of gravity.
Screams of delight float across the ice.
INT. ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE - HOLDING CELL
General Stewart charges in with Colonel Dotson and two armed guards. Bound to the table in the center of the room is a prostrate Voam.
STEWART
Get out!
The technicians drop what they are doing and quickly exit.
STEWART
That giant mothership of yours just went into Earth orbit. It will pass overhead in less than thirty minutes. What are they doing?
VOAM
Weung is going for the isomer.
STEWART
The other alien? Cromwell said he was the aggressive type.
VOAM
A lot like you.
Stewart stares long and hard at Voam. Then, he reaches over and unstraps him.
STEWART
I want you to negotiate a peaceful transfer of the ore.
Voam sits up and rubs his wrists.
STEWART
Then, you can rejoin your comrades.
VOAM
Why the change in strategy?
STEWART
I can't risk the destruction of
Earth.
Voam climbs off the table. His seven-foot form towers over the general.
STEWART
Walters!
One of the guards jumps forward.
WALTERS
Sir.
STEWART
You and Lewis escort Voam to the radio room. Give him whatever assistance he requires.
WALTERS
Yes, sir.
VOAM
Thank you, General.
After Voam and the two guards leave the room.
DOTSON
You're just going to give the ore away?
STEWART
That isomer is the key to interstellar travel. As soon as that mothership touches down, I want you to hit it with everything we've got.
INT. RINGSHIP - CONTROL ROOM
Eamax reacts to an indicator on his display panel.
EAMAX
Sir, I am detecting our call sign on a radio frequency transmission.
WEUNG
Radio frequency? Establish communication.
Eamax manipulates a couple of controls and listens intently.
EAMAX
It's Voam!
WEUNG
On speaker.
VOAM
(over radio)
Voam, to Weung, respond.
WEUNG
Voam, report status. Why are you transmitting over this spectrum?
INT. ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE - RADIO ROOM
Voam talks into a microphone that extends from a rack of radio equipment.
VOAM
Neutron transmission equipment damaged in human ground assault.
INTERCUT AS NEEDED
Weung slams a fist into an open palm.
WEUNG
I knew it! We should have eliminated the humans from the beginning.
VOAM
Negative. The attack was a mistake. The commanding general has agreed to let us take the hafnium isomer.
In the Ringship control room, Weung glances over at the countdown clock. There are less than four minutes left.
WEUNG
We can't trust them.
EAMAX
Weung has an Omega bomb on board.
WEUNG
Crewman!
EAMAX
The Captain has a right to know.
VOAM
Are you out of your mind?
WEUNG
Watch yourself, Voam.
VOAM
Our mission is to get the isomer with as little human disruption as possible. Not to obliterate them.
WEUNG
Our mission is to survive. How do I know the humans aren't holding a gun to your head?
AELLA
Voam would never betray us.
EAMAX
(to Weung)
Sir, the Captain's right. Our mandate is not to harm the humans unless absolutely necessary.