They run for shelter. The fiery object careens through the
atmosphere, bouncing off bushes before making a spectacular
crash landing in the woods behind the cabin.
HAL
What the hell you wish for?
As the dust settles Mikey, followed by the other two,
cautiously approach the smoldering craft.
MARION
Wh-what is it?
HAL
Duh, weather balloon. Happens all the
time.
MIKEY
Those markings again. A pattern?
Hal approaches, putting his hand in a depression the shape of
hand twice his size.
HAL
Whoa, check this out.
When contact is made, the strange craft starts WHIRRING. HE
moves back when a huge mechanical door starts to open.
MARION
Now you've done it.
Stick at the ready, Mikey enters. Hal and Marion hang back.
MIKEY - O.S.
Well I'll be...
He emerges carrying a small, plump "Winnie-The-Pooh-ish" type
character with GREEN skin and no body hair. It's light as a
feather and appears lifeless. Bunches of GLOWING GOLDEN HEMP
LEAVES stick from its hands and mouth.
HAL
Dude! That kid's got serious skin
problems.
MIKEY
I don't think it's a kid.
HAL
Yeah, like an ET maybe? Boo-ga, boo-ga.
MARION
Grow up.
That one cuts. Hal tries to regain his "cool".
HAL
Like, on this TV show, like there's no
such thing as aliens.
MIKEY
Whatever it is, it may be hurt. Marion,
take it to the mine; Hal and I'll see
what else is in here.
Marion is far from cool at the idea.
MARION
But? Why me?
MIKEY
I'll explain later. Move!
INT. US AFSC MISSION CONTROL ROOM
People are busily trying to reestablish SDI.
TECHNICIAN 1
We're coming back online sir.
MAJOR ARMSTRONG
Bout time. Can somebody tell me what
happened to that UFO? Anybody?
TECHNICIAN 1
Looks like it landed in Canada sir. Out
of our jurisdiction.
MAJOR ARMSTRONG
I don't give a goddamn who's jurisdiction
it's in. I want a squad in there to
retrieve whatever the hell just took out
our entire global defense system. Do I
make myself clear?
TECHNICIAN 1
Perfectly sir. But since the Gulf
invasions all international treaties are
suspended. Right now, the only way we can
deploy is if the Canadian's invite us.
Should we call Washington?
MAJOR ARMSTRONG
No. Keep the politicos out for now. I
want to know what dealing with before
they screw it up. Get on the horn to DIA.
See if we can get some RV recon.
TECHNICIAN 1
Remote Viewers? I thought you didn't
trust that division. Too flaky, I
believe...
MAJOR ARMSTRONG
Yeah, but until I get some men on the
ground they're the best we got.
INT. MIKEY'S VAULTED CAVERN
Mikey and Hal enter with a heavy box. Marion moves back after
depositing the creature on a huge COMMAND CHAIR. It's skin
glowing slightly.
HAL
Damn, this shit's heavy.
MIKEY
Oomph...over here.
(to Marion)
How's it doing?
MARION
I'm fine, thanks for asking.
Hal checks out the GLOWING ALIEN HEMP.
HAL
Whoa. Looks like pot. Smells like pot.
It's got this weird-ass glow to it.
MIKEY
You're the pro. Roll one up.
While Mikey works to open the box, Hal produces rolling
papers and sets down to business.
HAL
Don't mind if I do.
MIKEY - O.S.
Well I'll be...
ANGLE ON MIKEY
holding a large gold bar, the light illuminating a
hieroglyphic seal embossed on one face.
MIKEY
Damn, looks like solid gold. Must be
worth millions.
MARION
And those markings again...
Hal finishes rolling two and offers one up.
HAL
Takers?
Everyone declines.
HAL (CONT'D)
I'll save you for later.
He puts one in his pocket and cracks the Zippo. A super long
toke sends him drifting into a psychedelic wonderland.
HAL'S POV
The sound of TEARING VELCRO accompanies a swirling of lights
and colors as his CONSCIOUSNESS LEAVES HIS BODY. Like a
balloon, he floats to the top of the cave.
MARION
(echo/surreal)
Just like Hal. Okay. What's with all this
cloak and dagger shit?
EXT. US DIA REMOTE VIEWER FACILITY - MORNING
A dirty late-model minivan pulls into a gravel driveway off a
dirt road. It parks beside two wood buildings standing in the
trees.
INT. EXTENDED REMOTE VIEWING ROOM/CONTINUOUS TIME
TED BUKSTER helps JUD STAPLES into the Extended Remote
Viewing [ERV] Chair, a strange couch-like object. The room is
absolutely sound and light proof. Everything is gray; carpet,
walls, fixtures, desks and chairs. Electrodes go on the head,
followed by belts and wires. The last step is a set of
headphones with a boom microphone.
TED
This is an ultra-high priority target.
Don't forget to stay humble.
JUD
Humble? I'm about to float through the
ether encountering god knows what and you
want me to think about being humble?
TED
When you're soaring through time and
space, you can start thinking you're a
fucking god. Well you're not. You're a
DIA remote viewer with property of the US
Government stamped all over you.
The MINIVAN DRIVER enters, handing Ted a SEALED MANILA
FOLDER. Ted gives a thumbs-up and heads to the
MONITORING ROOM
placing the folder on the TARGET PODIUM at the back of the
room. He jumps into the middle of three chairs facing a large
electronic panel of closed-circuit monitors, mics, patch
bays, tape machines etc. With headphones on, he throws
switches and twiddles a joystick zooming a camera in the
viewing room. Through it we see Jud dimming the lights with a
control panel beside his chair. Ted punches a button.
TED
Coordinates are six, five, seven,
four...eight, nine, three, one. Clear
your mind and start your countdown.
ANGLE ON EQUIPMENT
showing bleeps and blurps of heartbeat, respiration and brain
waves. As Jud silently counts down, these slow significantly
until the BRAINWAVE MONITOR shows THETA.
WHAT JUD SEES
He floats in a sea of BLACK. After a BEAT, spots of sparkling
light break through. They swirl - slowly at first, then
accelerate to the point of vertigo. The mass of lights and
eerie sounds give the feeling of drugged confused. After a
BEAT, there is a sound like TEARING VELCRO.
ANGLE ON JUD
His Astral Body rises from his physical.
JUD'S POV
He shoots into space at overwhelming speed, riding like on a
psychic roller coaster. He stops suddenly, suspended in the
darkness of space gazing on Earth below.
After a BEAT, he descends into a TUNNEL. Falling faster and
faster, surrounding stars blur into horizontal streaks of
light, then a cylinder of energy.
It's like traveling through a tube of neon light at blinding
speed. The sides of the tunnel dance by hypnotically until
ANGLE ON
his astral body lands on all fours on a membrane gelatin-like
substance. A sticky haze permeates as he looks around the
target area, somewhere between time and space.
ANGLE ON TED
listening anxiously.
JUD - O.S.
Honey, I'm home.
TED
Good. What do you see?
ANGLE ON JUD'S ASTRAL BODY
JUD
A forest. I'm quite high. Top of a
mountain I think. Oregon maybe?
TED - O.S.
Do you see anything unusual?
JUD
Damn Ted, you've been in the ether.
Everything's unusual here.
TED - O.S.
You know what I mean. Any unusual
equipment, construction?
JUD
An abandoned truck...no, wait, there's
scoring in the ground. I'm moving toward
it now.
TED - O.S.
What is it?
JUD
I'm getting there...looks like something
hit real hard. Skidded into the forest.
He approaches the alien craft.
JUD (CONT'D)
Damn, I've been doin this for 20 years
and I've never seen a contraption like
this.
TED - O.S.
Explain.
JUD
It looks like some type of vessel. It's
putting out a strange energy signature.
I'm moving closer.
Jud moves to the door.
JUD (CONT'D)
Markings look like something from ancient
Egypt. You know, pictures and symbols.
There are boxes inside with...gold bars
and something that...it's hard to...there
are leaves everywhere glowing with a
brilliant phantom aura.
TED - O.S.
Any life forms?
JUD
I'm leaving the vessel now. No signs of
life but a trail of that glowing stuff.
Jud follows the path to the mine. A strange glow comes from
deep within the mine/mountain.
JUD (CONT'D)
I'm following it now. It leads to a
tunnel. There's life inside. I'm in.
VELCRO TEARS as Jud presses hard against the rock, entering
INTO the mountain itself.
INT. HUGE VAULTED CAVERN
Mikey musters all his patience.
MIKEY
Never heard of Roswell?
MARION
I dunno...wasn't it about a UFO or
something?
MIKEY
And where did those UFO's come from?
MARION
Like, outer space?
MIKEY
Maybe at some point, but in '47 the one
that crashed was first seen around Mount
Baker.
MARION
But, like, we passed it on our way here.
MIKEY
Get the drift?
MARION
Yes. No. Huh?
MIKEY
The Government's been covering up UFO's
for years. We're told it's our
imagination.
MARION
...and...
MIKEY
...and here we are! Proof. In the flesh.
MARION
You're not seriously saying this is,
like, an alien?
The sound of VELCRO TEARING accompanies Mikey's frustration.
MIKEY
Sigh, remember Reagan? End of the cold
war? He said something about how easy it
would be if there was a threat from
another planet and Gorbe...
MARION
(looking past Mikey)
Oh my god...
Mikey looks around.
MARION (CONT'D)
They only come when I'm doing an out of
body, but...
He grabs a machine gun hidden off to the side.
MIKEY
What? Who? Where?
WIDER
Hal, floating high overhead in his ASTRAL BODY, notices the
commotion. Marion points to the hazy form of the REMOTE
VIEWER floating through the chamber below.
ASTRAL HAL
Whoa, totally trippy...
JUD
I've entered a large chamber. There's
light everywhere, and fruit-trees,
bushes...it's like a paradise.
TED - V.O.
What about the life forms?
JUD
I'm moving there now.
Marion freaks as he draws close.
JUD (CONT'D)
Two males, a female and a child. Weird. I
think they know I'm here.
TED - V.O.
What do you mean?
JUD
The female keeps pointing at me. And the
child...wait a minute, that's the
strangest looking kid I've ever seen.
TED - V.O.
Lets check if it's you they see. Stop and
move away.
Jud moves to one side. Marion's pointing follows him.
MARION
I-it's over there now. Can't you see it?
Mikey readies the gun as he squints.
MIKEY
I don't see a goddamn thing.
JUD
The females definitely tracking me.
TED - V.O.
You said the child looks odd. Can you get
a closer look? We're going to need a good
drawing when you get back.
As Jud moves toward Marion, she hides her face in her arms.
MARION
Shriek, it's coming for me...
Mikey lets loose, liberally pelting the area with spray from
his machine gun. Marion weeps, pensively rocking back and
forth.
JUD
I'm shot!
MARION
I knew they would come for me one day...
The bullets pull at Jud's astral matter, leaving temporary
holes that quickly fill.
TED - V.O.
Remember they can't hurt you. You're not
really there.
JUD
Easy for you to say.
Hal watches from a distance. As Mikey's gun runs out of
bullets the RV moves in on Marion. Hal intervenes, moving in
a flash and stopping between the two.
ASTRAL HAL
Duh, goin somewhere pal?
The agent stops.
JUD
Another phantom body just appeared. It's
blocking me.
ASTRAL HAL
Damn straight I am.
JUD
Oh my god.
TED - V.O.
What?
JUD
I think it hears me.
TED - V.O.
That's impossible. Can you go through it?
He tries, but Hal proves an impenetrable barrier.
ASTRAL HAL
Like the dude says, that's impossible.
He tries to go around, but Hal flattens and extends his body
in a circle around Marion. He takes a run at Hal who responds
by wrapping himself around the agent and spinning into a
tornado-like funnel. Jud SCREAMS as he's sucked into the
vortex and out of the scene.
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