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The main characters are introduced, also hard science, political and religious intrigue. |
| FADE IN: INT. RUSSIAN MEDICAL LAB Medvedev is again putting away his equipment as Mike dresses on the examination table. MEDVEDEV You are healthier this morning than any human has a right to be. Your samples are still in perfect balance; there is no sign of any infection anywhere in your body. Your immune system appears to be working against every pathogen I know of, including HIV. The full test on the air and water are also back. There is nothing whatsoever alive in that water. It is pure hydrogen hydroxide. There is no deuterium oxide, no contaminants, nothing. It is as if it was synthesized from pure hydrogen and oxygen. There is nothing alive in the air samples either. However, there is a trace of some chemicals that we cannot identify. It is not a carbon-based chemical, so it is not what we call 'organic'. I am detecting traces of silicon and copper, but nothing that I can put my finger on. I would need a full laboratory to analyze completely what it is. I suspect, though, that this may be what has improved your health. You no longer appear to have your old allergies, either. I find no trace of them in your skin or blood. Right now, you are from the textbooks. I do want to examine Ms. Ivanova before we leave today, however. MIKE ANGEL Is there a problem? MEDVEDEV No, but there is something in her medical records I want to confirm before we leave and then check when we return. It seems that she has had a heart murmur all of her life. This is not a danger by itself, but may give trouble with the thin air. However, if what I am now suspecting is true, I want to document for myself her condition before we leave and when we return. 261. MIKE ANGEL What is it you're thinking? MEDVEDEV I think if you are correct in your dates and your theory, that the old fairy tales about Methuselah and people living 600 years may actually be true. I am thinking that whatever is in the air in that chamber, or in the light, or in the water, or whatever, has perfected your body to be what it should be. You were correct to warn me against telling anybody about this. If my theory is correct, the benefits to health and medical science alone will be worth a Nobel Prize or two. I thank you for asking me to accompany you here. I did not know what to expect and this is certainly something that is the most exciting discovery since Pasteur discovered germs! MIKE ANGEL It is I who am honored by your participation. This is why I chose you. Discoveries you make here are yours. I knew when I read your history, that your really should have practiced your MD degree. Vesna, would you ask Oksana to come by Dr. Medvedev's laboratory? Mike pulls his shirt on and leaves the lab. He passes a worried looking Oksana by the elevator. MIKE ANGEL Don't worry. We're just making certain everyone is in top condition. Ivan wants to make sure that your heart murmur won't give you trouble in the thin air. The girl nods and turns toward the laboratory. Mike enters the elevator and goes up to make some breakfast. CUT TO: INT. GALLEY Lana is in the galley with Mikhail just finishing a meal of herrings and something that Mike doesn't recognize right off. SVETLANA (Very sarcastically) I see you are still walking around. MIKE ANGEL Ivan gave me a very clean checkup, thank you. SVETLANA Nothing we should worry about, then? MIKE ANGEL No, quite the opposite. Her journalistic red flag goes up. SVETLANA How do you mean, the opposite? MIKE ANGEL You know, I really enjoy getting your goat. Let's just say you will be pleasantly surprised after today. Dr. Medvedev and I have several experiments planned. If they turn out as predicted, not only will you be pleased, but also the results for the rest of the human race could be revolutionary. Watch for Jim and Ivan to be nominated for this year's Nobel in medicine. Now she is getting angry. Surprises are not one of Svetlana's strong points. Lana finishes cleaning up after herself and her son and places their dishes in the washer. SVETLANA How is it, that since water is so precious on this trip, we can do laundry and wash dishes? MIKE ANGEL I'll ask Oksana to explain it to you if you like, but basically, all water is recycled here, including your breath. We maintain 20% humidity. Anything over that returns to the main water system. All fluids are distilled first. That part which comes out pure goes back into the main water tanks. Any that is contaminated runs through an electrolysis system that breaks it down to hydrogen and oxygen where it's cycled through the fuel cells to recharge the power system. The fuel cells recombine it to pure water and put it back into the main water supply. Contaminants and crud are kept in storage until we hit space again, and then jettisoned. There are diminishing returns, but we should have close to a six-month supply of water and air. Actually, probably more air, now that Vesna has begun acclimatizing us all to what we'll find in the pyramid. SVETLANA I have not noticed any difference. MIKE ANGEL You shouldn't. Vesna is very good at what she does. She has been gradually dropping the pressure and mixture that we're breathing here so that our bodies can become accustomed to it. It was kind of a shock to me yesterday. Today, I shouldn't be out of breath quite so easily. We are still not at exactly the same mixture and it will take several days to get there and be used to it. But it should be better. SVETLANA Is this your experiment? Mike smiles and almost bursts out laughing when he recognizes the old reporter's trick of eliciting a response that wasn't prepared. MIKE ANGEL You don't give up, do you? SVETLANA You're impossible! MIKE ANGEL And you're beautiful. What can I say? Misha stares at them both, not believing this give and take. MIKE ANGEL You really need to learn to relax before you burn yourself out. Vesna can print out a copy of Lao Tsu's Tao Te Ching if you'd like. SVETLANA I am not religious. MIKE ANGEL No. Lao Tsu was a philosopher, not a religious nut. He just taught to let things unfold in their natural order, to go with the flow as it were. You will most likely have a heart attack before you hit 45 if you can't understand that the universe will do what it darn well pleases and you don't have a say in it! SVETLANA (Softening slightly) I will consider this. MIKE ANGEL Please do. I am enjoying the surprises every day. It is a joy that occasionally I can second- guess them, but it's not important that I do. Just relax and enjoy what's going on. I really think you'll start looking forward to it. SVETLANA But there are signs, signals; I can tell weather because of the rules of nature. MIKE ANGEL Misha, tell your mother the rules of games. That the meteor storm that appears from the side of your screen must be taken into account the same as the enemy spaceship you have been tracking. Get her to understand that there are too many variables in life and games for one person to comprehend them all. You just have to take them in stride and cope. The boy smiles for one of the few times on the trip. Lana walks out of the room, but the boy turns. MIKHAIL Spacibo, moi droog! Thank you my friend. MIKE ANGEL Nyet, ya blagodaryu vas! No, I thank you. Mike nods as mother and son leave. He finishes cutting up the peppers and ham for his omelet and settles in for a meal. CUT TO: INT. RUSSIAN SCIENCE SECTION Everyone assembles in the lower section and are getting into their Mars suits. MIKE ANGEL I'd like you all to understand that shedding your suits inside the pyramid airlock is totally optional. Dr. Medvedev has assured me that I suffered no ill effects from yesterday's encounter with the foreign atmosphere. The doctor nods. MIKE ANGEL (CONT'D) The initial analysis by our weather people has proven correct, the air is more than breathable by us, if a little thin. It will sustain life and extend the amount of time that we spend outside because we aren't using up the stored oxygen in the suits. Now I've added portable communicators to all of your suits that you can take with you if you decide to take them off inside. Unfortunately, ladies yours are somewhat bulky and are in the packs by your suits. If you decide to join me and the others, you'll still have to carry those backpacks and attach the cameras to your shoulder. SHARON MANSON Why can't we use the small transmitters my station provided? MIKE ANGEL (Smiling) We'll be over a thousand feet inside solid rock, insulated by a platinum passage. Standard radio waves won't penetrate that far. I haven't gotten around to the miniaturization of the subspace transmitters that Vesna uses yet, so you'll be burdened by model 1.0. Next trip, I promise to have them smaller. The women look at each other and shrug. The rest pick up their gear and the party departs out the airlock into the pyramid. CUT TO: INT. TUNNEL IN FRONT OF THE DOOR They had left the outer door to the airlock open the day before, so a repeat of the DNA insertion isn't necessary. They all enter and cycle the airlock. When the inner door opens, Mike says, MIKE ANGEL OK. As I said inside the ship, joining me is voluntary. We have not found any pathogens or anything else dangerous, but you may keep your suits on if you wish. Just be aware, that you will have to return within six hours if you do, while the rest of us can stay as long as we wish. Everyone looks around at the others, but the four young people step forward past the inner door and start removing their suits. MIKE ANGEL (To himself) God, I love the young! Mike drops his suit in a pile next to the kids' and noticed that the rest are hesitantly opening their faceplates and preparing to remove theirs. MIKHAIL I smell nothing different. MIKE ANGEL Wait a while. What you 'smell' is no smell. The air on Vesna was captured on Earth, complete with smells and allergens. From what our good doctors have been able to analyze, there is nothing of the sort in here. This is pure air. The lack of smells should become apparent in a few minutes. In fact, even after the exertion yesterday, I couldn't even smell myself. The microbiologists have both brought several vacuum air bottles to collect more samples. They release the valves and leave the tanks with the suits for their return. Mike is already about a hundred yards down the tunnel when he speaks into the microphone on his shoulder, MIKHAIL Follow me when you can, I'll meet you at the next door. The women hastily finish shedding their exploration suits and put the portable cameras on their shoulders while donning the backpacks containing the transmitters. They both trot off down the tunnel to catch up with Mike; neither wanting to let the other scoop her on this story. They find Mike seated on the floor of the tunnel with his back against the second door. His eyes are closed, but his manner says that he is awake. MIKE ANGEL (Opening his eyes and standing) I was wondering when you would get here. Don't worry, I wouldn't do anything rash unless you were here watching. SVETLANA (Scolding) I wouldn't put it past you if you did. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you hired a group of midgets to come running up the tunnel singing 'Follow the Yellow Brick Road'. MIKE ANGEL Humph! I didn't think of that. Maybe next time. Lana sticks her tongue out, which is out of range of her camera, but not Sharon's who had been looking at her counterpart. Conversation can be heard from behind them and when they turn, they see the rest of the party coming up at a more leisurely pace. Sharon and Lana are still relatively out of breath. MIKE ANGEL Hey guys, up here. Mike waves to the group as they walk up the incline to his position. BARISHNIKOV Chto eto? What is it? MIKE ANGEL If you look closely, you'll see a seam around the edges. My guess is that this is just another door. BELISAR If it is, where is the knob or button? The walls are featureless surrounding the end of the tunnel. There are no inscriptions, no protuberances, only a slight seam surrounding the area at the end revealing it another door. CAROL MANSON What now? SVETLANA (Sarcasm in full force) Yes, Mr. Magician. What do you have planned next? MIKE ANGEL Well, I've looked this over and can't figure out what the opening device is on this one. John? JOHN BELISAR I don't see anything either, Sir. There aren't even any other dents for DNA. MIKE ANGEL You may have something there, John. Yuri, Misha, Joe, Jim, come on up here please. The four break from the group and approach the wall. Mike moves to the side with the journalists as they come up. Each puts a hand on the door. At first, nothing at all happens, but as Mikhail puts his hand on the wall, all can feel a low rumbling. The door suddenly swings open. MIKE ANGEL (Mumbling) I've got to find the power source. OKSANA (Nodding emphatically) Da! Carol rushes up and grab hold of Misha's hand and half drags him through the portal. Mike looks at Lana, raises his eyebrows, and tilts his head, and they both follow. The rest follow a bit more reluctantly. CUT TO: INT. ALIEN LABORATORY At first, it appears just an extension of the previous passage. Up ahead a few meters, though, it widens into a large room. Mike can actually detect points of light on the sides of the room and it appears slightly more yellow here -- not quite sunlight, but closer than the red from the prior entry. Oksana rushes over to one wall when she sees the lights. OKSANA (Very excited) Eto mashina! That's a machine! SVETLANA My God! Similar exclamations come from each as they enter the hall. The room is almost the size of a football field. Lights are all around on the walls and there are several rectangular pedestals on the floor at the far end. The archaeologists join Mike and Oksana as Sharon and Lana pan the room with their cameras while attempting to keep up some sensible commentary. BELISAR (Pointing at characters underneath the lights) Vesna, can you translate any of this? VESNA (OS) Not really. I can see some familiar characters, but most of it is unknown. If you will have Mike move his camera down all of the walls, I may be able to make some sense of it eventually. It appears to be a combination of the four languages on the outer door. It is not a parallel translation, but a mixture along with some characters that are totally unknown. This may take some time. I may need your help, Oksana, since most of the writing is near one panel or another. I feel that these may be describing functions of the machinery. As you understand the machinery, I may be able to apply that to the writing. Mike wanders around pointing his camera at all of the inscriptions, meters, and panels. The microbiologists are busy taking swabs of the walls and floors, while Jameson, Garan, Stromberg, and Norodsky are debating among themselves whether to return to the pool of water back in the passage. A woman's scream pierces the thin air and Mike whips around to see Sharon standing by one of the boxes at the far end. He breaks into a dead run toward her, as do most of the others. When he reaches Sharon, Mike sees she has a hand to her mouth and is just staring down at one of the boxes. He puts an arm around her waist and looks to see what had frightened her. As he gazes downward, Mike sees the pedestals are containers over two meters long and almost a meter wide, maybe a meter and a half from the floor. They also have transparent lids. The one closest to Sharon holds the naked body of a woman. MIKE ANGEL Joe, Igor, Jim, Ivan, get your asses down here now! BELISAR Lord. There are ten such containers at that end of the room. The doctor can see the body is human, maybe mid twenties, and in a perfect state of preservation. Barishnikov's jaw drops wide when he joins his colleague and sees the body. SVETLANA (Accusingly) No more surprises, huh? She dug her elbow into his ribs. Mike put his hands up defensively and widens his eyes to look innocent. JOHN BELISAR (From the other end of the room) Holy crow. Here's another one! As the group moves from one container to another, they see each is identical in size and apparent function. There is a naked male in another, but the other eight are empty. MEDVEDEV My God! How can this be? Even with the best preservation known to science, a body will deteriorate eventually, if only from its native bacteria. We have the best embalmers in the world, but still the body of Vladimir Illyich requires monthly maintenance to keep him appearing natural. MEDVEDEV (CONT'D) The body found frozen in the glacier in Italy had deteriorated and desiccated after a few thousand years. If you are correct in your time estimate, (turning to Mike) this woman has been here for almost a half-million years and still looks as if she had been placed there yesterday. KITCH It is the same down here. This man could have died this morning and not looked so good. MEDVEDEV (Softly, but audible to all) There's another possible explanation. (all heads swivel in his direction) They're not dead. Lana sits down very hard on the floor. It was either that, or fall over from the shock. ALL SCIENTISTS No! Impossible! That cannot be! MIKE ANGEL Look, from what each of you believed last week, none of this is possible; from flying here in three hours, to a man-made edifice, to working machinery. 'There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio...' (beat) Don't close your minds to anything yet. Believe me, I didn't know any of this when we started out. Nevertheless, I'm not going in with preconceived ideas, either. As an engineer and a physicist, I'm as blown away as the rest of you. Here is machinery, apparently working, after thousands of years. MIKE ANGEL (CONT'D) Heck, we can't make anything that outlasts the warrantee on Earth- especially if it's purchased on a government contract! I had suspicions when I asked for your specialties, but I never expected this! I told Oksana that she needed to start thinking like a Russian; I think the rest of us better also. It's time to trash all of our theories and just go with whatever we discover. That'll be better for our sanity, and will definitely be better for science. Some of the scientists look a bit sheepish while the rest still look confused. Sharon has joined Lana on the floor. MIKE ANGEL I would like some analysis of these bodies and containers as soon as possible. I will need to discuss this with your respective governments in the meantime, if you don't mind. This has become a lot bigger than I can handle. I'm going to need some direction from your peers. This isn't political, and it's not that I don't trust your judgment; you're the best there are. Proceeding from here needs to be a group decision, with you casting deciding votes. I know what I want, but I think this is bigger than all of us. Let's check other opinions before we do something rash. The group takes more pictures and samples and heads back to Vesna before the hour is up. CUT TO: INT. COMMAND DECK MIKE ANGEL Vesna, would you get both presidents on a conference call? VESNA (OS) I'll try. The group has returned to the ship to collect instruments and notes Oksana has remained behind, fascinated by this unbelievable technology, only requesting that Mike return with several stationary cameras for Vesna to have some eyes to check what is going on. VESNA (OS) We're ready on the call, sir. MIKE ANGEL President Forest, President Puchinskiy, I really appreciate your cooperation and responding to my dilemma. PRESIDENT PUCHINSKIY (OS) Nichivo. It's nothing. PRESIDENT FOREST (OS) I hope you realize that your mission is now under full jurisdiction of NASA and the Joint Chiefs. MIKE ANGEL Please excuse me for a minute, President Puchinskiy. President Forest, get off my back! You just won't give up, will you? Realize that you have no control of either this mission or our findings. I have financed the machines and the trip myself, using no government money or expertise. There is no government equipment on board; I left that a couple thousand miles from here. There are no government personnel here. You have no stake in any part of this project and I'm 47- million miles outside your jurisdiction. Frankly, you've been a perpetual speed bump during this whole project. This is a purely scientific mission. What we find, be it information or artifacts, belongs totally to the scientists who discover it. MIKE ANGEL (CONT'D) I'm leaving it up to them what happens to their findings, not you! I know these people fairly well and I've studied their backgrounds thoroughly. I'll bet your pension on the fact that everyone here would vote for free scientific trading of information. (beat) What would you do with it? Bury it in the Nevada desert for another 50 years and still not have a clue what it is? You've already done that! You're no closer today to understanding those machines you have there than you were in the late forties! All you've done is make a big secret of everything for no good reason and make your constituents mistrust you and the rest of government. In fact, I'd recommend you declassify one whale of a lot of data, pronto, because the American public is about to come to the realization that their suspicions were right all along. (beat) Now this conversation has been on a secure line so far. I can open it up and let you make a horse's ass of yourself in front of all 300-million voters if you'd like. I called to ask for your advice, but if you insist on your 'Ugly American' strong-arm tactics, I'll cut you out so fast you'll think your entire communications system has crashed! President Puchinskiy has installed a PC with NetMeeting and a web cam since their last conversation, so there is video and audio from his office. Mike can see the Russian President trying his hardest not to fall off his chair in laughter. The silence continues for several minutes while Mike watches the Russian compose himself. Mike winks and gives Puchinskiy a knowing smile. The Russian nods to the camera with a grin from ear-to-ear. PRESIDENT FOREST (OS) Mr. Angelskov? MIKE ANGEL Mike. PRESIDENT FOREST (OS) What is it you want? MIKE ANGEL Now we're talking. As you're aware, we have not only found evidence of extra-terrestrial intelligence, we have two of them. We have a room full of equipment that we have no idea what it does, or how it operates. We have a half-dozen other discoveries so far that are totally out of our scope of expertise to handle. To give you just one example, Dr. Medvedev didn't just give me a go-ahead this morning. I am healthier than any person on Earth is. There is a high probability that I'll now have several hundred years more life than any of you. He thinks it's something inside the pyramid that has repaired my DNA and every other system in my body. He's running tests right now on all the other members of our party, but he's certain their results will be the same. I blacked that information out on purpose to give each of you time to think about the ramifications and give me the benefit of your advice. Ivan is looking at a Nobel, but even I know that this may not be something you want released for general consumption. Most of the world is overpopulated as it is. Can you imagine the implication of everyone living six or seven hundred years? You'd run out of food in under 50! (beat) And that's just one of my worries. Somewhere inside that pyramid is a power source that has lasted 500 millennia. MIKE ANGEL (CONT'D) My cryogenic oscillators are better than anything you have on Earth right now, but the implications of unlimited power for an unlimited period is staggering to me as an engineer. (beat) I would like permission from each of you for Vesna to download all of her data so far, so that you can gather your best scientists and engineers to come up with ideas of where we should go from here. This time, I don't care if your people are military or simple service. I need brainpower. You're the only ones that can make it happen, and make it happen quickly. That's what we need right now. So far, I've felt comfortable with a general broadcast of everything we do. Honestly, I'm getting a little scared at what I'm finding and I'm looking to each of you, and the people you select to analyze this data, to give me some guidance. Again, if it's a military secrecy clampdown, all bets are off. The cat is already out of the bag, people. I know you each have your own damage control to tend to, but before the real bombshells start dropping, I need your advice. Puchinskiy's face has sobered as he absorbs this new information. There is silence from both presidents for a moment. PRESIDENT FOREST (OS) Yes, send your data please. PRESIDENT PUCHINSKIY (OS) Da, we will study. MIKE ANGEL Excellent and I thank you both. I know what I don't know. That is why I'm asking for your guidance. This trip has really gotten out of hand for me. MIKE ANGEL (CONT'D) I knew we would find some evidence of ancient civilizations, but never any of this. Believe me; I need the cooperation of the two most powerful people on Earth to get all of us through this without creating chaos and anarchy. There is more than enough science here to revolutionize every country on the Earth, not just yours. What I need now is a plan. So far, I've been just taking it as it happens and figuring out what to do as I go along. I don't think that's such a good idea right now. PRESIDENTS PUCHINSKIY/FOREST (OS) Agreed! PRESIDENT PUCHINSKIY (OS) Before I forget, Mikhail. The Patriarch would like to speak with you when you have a chance. He had called me this morning very excited at your latest exploits and would be very interested in discussing them. MIKE ANGEL The honor is mine, Sir. (beat) I know we are stretching a lot of beliefs, from scientific to religious. His Eminence's input would be most valuable right now. I'll contact him when we hang up. President Forest, it might be a good idea if you would alert the Pope in the Vatican and the current Prophet of the Latter Day Saints that I would appreciate their thinking, too. PRESIDENT FOREST (OS) (Sarcastic) What about the Southern Baptist Convention? MIKE ANGEL (Straight face) They'd just tell me to come home and ignore what I've seen. For your information, Mr. President, you can rest easy about your plutonium. The house computer has assured me that my birds crushed yours and jettisoned the power plants into the sun before sending the rest to burn up in the atmosphere. This time, Mike can see Puchinskiy hit his mute key as he lays his head on the desk with his shoulders heaving in spasms of laughter. MIKE ANGEL (CONT'D) Vesna will send you the secure frequencies for the download, just let her know when you are prepared to receive it. I hope to hear from you within the next day. I can't hold these scientists back forever. PRESIDENT PUCHINSKIY (OS) Ya ponimayu, I understand. (raising his head) PRESIDENT FOREST (OS) We will get back to you. MIKE ANGEL I thank you both. Please work well and play nicely together; I've just made the world a lot smaller and I think we all have to be united. This scares the heck out of me right now and I'm looking for stability. I need both of you for support. PRESIDENT PUCHINSKIY (OS) Bolshoye spacibo, thank you very much. You will have the full support of my country, our resources, and all we can do for you. PRESIDENT FOREST (OS) Yes. You will have our support also. We will begin assembling people immediately. MIKE ANGEL Please, not your silly-assed 'think-tanks'; get every expert in every field you can, including sociology and psychology. Vesna and I need the input from everyone you can grab so that we can make some good decisions from here on out. I'm your eyes and ears on Mars now. I know that I'm walking a razor's edge as far as the public's psyche is concerned, and I need both of you to keep me from falling off. Mike breaks the connection. MIKE ANGEL Vesna, can you reach the Russian Patriarch? VESNA (OS) Do you want home, office, or cell phone? MIKE ANGEL Smart-ass. It takes almost a half-hour to locate the Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church. MIKE ANGEL Your Eminence, I am honored you wished to speak with me. PATRIARCH (OS) Izvinitye menya, ya govoryu po- angliski ochen' uzhasno. Excuse me, I speak English very badly. MIKE ANGEL Nye problema, Vesna, bi- directional translation, please. MIKE ANGEL (CONT'D) Sir, I understand you wished to speak with me. PATRIARCH (OS) Yes, please. I have heard that you are very uncertain of what you are doing. MIKE ANGEL Yes Sir. What we are doing could have a bad effect on everybody back on Earth unless we do it carefully. I have no intention of making enemies of large groups of people who belong to certain religions that find what we discover in conflict with their beliefs. PATRIARCH (OS) Where is the conflict? There has always been conflict because of false or assertions that could not be proven originating from both science and from the church. For centuries religious leaders have taught mythical legends and erroneous dogmas that are at odds with modern scientific findings and not based on inspired Scripture. MIKE ANGEL I don't understand, Sir. PATRIARCH (OS) For an example, the Roman Catholic Church condemned Galileo because he concluded, correctly, that the Earth revolves around the sun. Galileo's view in no way contradicted the Bible, but it was contradictory to what the church taught at the time. Scientists are at fault when they teach as fact the unprovable theory that life evolved from inanimate matter independent of God. They ridicule religious faith as unscientific. MIKE ANGEL That's very true. My fear is that we may just prove some things that contradict many people's beliefs. PATRIARCH (OS) I don't think so. Proven science and true religion complement rather than contradict each other. You have forced us into a time of astonishment on a scale previously unknown. Your new discoveries are forcing scientists to revise their views of the origin of our universe and humanity. (beat) Even if we look within ourselves, the recent mapping of the human genetic code which you found to be the key to the doors raises the questions: 'How were the multitudes of life-forms created? And who, if anyone, created them?' The sheer complexity of our genetic blueprint has moved one of your presidents to say 'we are learning the language in which God created life'. MIKE ANGEL (Concerned) I know. But this may be too much, too fast for many to accept. PATRIARCH (OS) The physicist Freeman-Dyson once said, 'Science and religion are two windows that people look through trying to understand the big universe outside'. You are only discovering what God wants you to because we are ready. There is no conflict, only affirmation and explanation to what we have believed. While you add to science, you also add to religion and to what we have taught. I am excited for you and your compatriots because you are placing our teachings in a proper context. My blessings go out to all of you. May God continue to be with you all, and may you continue to bring, if not the word, the acts of God to us all. MIKE ANGEL Your Eminence, I thank you sincerely. I have known there may be many that cannot see these things as do you. There are those that will have some big problems with our discoveries. Faith and knowledge are the two things that make us different from the rest of the animals. I do not wish to change the balance by destroying people's beliefs. PATRIARCH (OS) No, you are doing just the opposite, my son. I have heard that church attendance is greater than it has been for 90 years. I have instructed my people to reconcile what you have found with the Scripture, and they have had no problem. Honestly, you are the best thing to happen to the faith since before the Great October Revolution. You may discover that Jesus was created on your planet, I do not know. I do not have a problem with that and neither does Scripture. He was born here and his teachings are valid. What you have found so far not only reinforces what we have always said, but it gives us scientific proof too. MIKE ANGEL Sir, I cannot begin to thank you. I think that I will be able to sleep much better tonight after our talk. I was very disturbed with the possibilities of our discoveries because I know that many people will have a problem with them. I do not want to create a mass hysteria on Earth with the proof that mankind didn't start there. PATRIARCH (OS) Nyet, it does not matter where we began. The teachings of what we should do and what we should be is much more important. This is why there is not any conflict. What you learn, and what you bring back to us, is more important to the world to live as God wills it. May God be with all of you. MIKE ANGEL I thank you Sir, and I will pass your blessing along to the rest. PATRIARCH (OS) Yes, go with God. CUT TO: INT. COMMAND DECK MEDVEDEV Mr. Angelskov. MIKE ANGEL Can you guys ever learn to call me Mike? MEDVEDEV I need to speak with you regarding the tests I have just completed. Mike follows him to the elevator and back down to the lab. CUT TO: INT. RUSSIAN MEDICAL LAB The doctor sits down by his desk; if Mike didn't know better, he'd have thought that Ivan is about to lose his bladder. MEDVEDEV I can find no evidence of deterioration of the cells due to aging. None of our people has any bacterial infections anywhere. Ms. Ivanova's heart murmur does not exist anymore. Mrs. Gerasova has no more allergies. MEDVEDEV (CONT'D) Every person who went on the expedition today is in better health than the day they were born. They are like you, like me. From what I can see on the tests that I can run here, we all have no effects of aging or medical problems. What is happening? MIKE ANGEL Do you know how long it will last? MEDVEDEV I don't know what is causing it; there is no way to know how long the effect will last. For now, it looks permanent. We will pick up bacteria and virus again when we return, but our cells have changed in other ways. Look at the back of your hands. Mike extends his right hand in front of him and examines both sides. The palm looks normal, but the back is smooth. The network of fine lines and looser skin that begins in the thirties is gone. His skin is as smooth as a teenager's. MEDVEDEV (CONT'D) It is too early to tell, but I would guess that by the time we go home, none of us will have any gray hair. How long will it last? If it begins to reverse again when we go home, you have at least doubled your life expectancy. MIKE ANGEL Have you told the others? MEDVEDEV Only James knows because he double checked all of my work. He finds it impossible to believe also, but the facts are there. MIKE ANGEL I think it's time to call a meeting, then. Let's go on upstairs and get everyone together. The doctor follows Mike up to the control room. CUT TO: INT. COMMAND DECK The young people are there, as usual, practicing at their stations. John is making small talk with Oksana while she peruses screen after screen of diagrams. Carol has already calculated every possible trajectory back to Earth for the next six months and is busy now coming up with plots to the other planets. Mike just shakes his head; for an engineer, he hated math. MIKE ANGEL Vesna, will you ask everyone to come on up? VESNA (OS) Already done. I heard you talking to Dr. Medvedev. They should all be here in a few minutes. The rest of the crew start assembling. Mike notices that most still sport Band-Aids on their elbows from where Ivan and James had drawn blood. A couple of them looked concerned, but the majority are in good spirits. Igor and Pavel have even prepared a tray of zakuski consisting of pickles, eggplant, cheese and of course, brown bread with plenty of butter and salt. When everyone has helped themselves and sat down Mike started, MIKE ANGEL Ladies, gentlemen, people of Earth, I'd like to give you a brief explanation why your video from Mars for the next bit of time is going to be outside shots of where we have landed. I've spoken with the Presidents of both the United States and the Russian Federation and have already apprised them of certain findings. The crew and I need to have a meeting so that they are all up to speed also. This is not a secret meeting, by any means. However, certain facts have come up that they need to be aware of before we go public. Please understand that there are no problems here. MIKE ANGEL (CONT'D) Everyone is well and the exploration is proceeding beyond all expectations, as I'm certain you are aware. We just need a brief period to ourselves to decide on some policies before we proceed. Each of us here will have a vote, as well as President Forest and President Puchinskiy and, of course, Vesna. All of the crewmembers are looking worried now, except Doctors Medvedev and Kitch. The women looked at each other with special worry - their children are with them on the flight. Lana suspects Mike's penchant for surprises, and is especially worried that he wouldn't just drop a bombshell and watch the reaction as he usually did. This was not a good sign to her. She can feel a knot in her stomach tighten. SVETLANA Mr. Angelskov, will we be able to disclose this meeting to our viewers? MIKE ANGEL That will be entirely up to the group as I mentioned. We will discuss future policy and vote on it. This is something that I won't decide alone. I will say that both countries are assembling groups of experts to analyze our data and advise us of a good plan for the rest of the month. VESNA (OS) I am already downloading all of the data we have collected so far to Russian and American computers. This should be complete within the hour. MIKE ANGEL Thank you. And now Vesna, you may start sending the Muzak of space exploration. VESNA (OS) Done. MIKE ANGEL OK, group. You can stop looking worried. I didn't lie; there is absolutely nothing wrong. It's just that some things have come up that you need to be aware of and I, for one, need your advice. Publicity has to be a group decision. Ivan, Jim? The biologists rise and step forward to face the group. MEDVEDEV Let me just tell you all that each and every one of you are in perfect health. Frankly, you are in too perfect health. Looks go from concern to confusion at this. The crew looks at each other in bewilderment, wondering if anyone had a clue about what was going on. KITCH What Ivan is trying to say, is that each of you is now in better health than you were the day you were born. Oksana, you no longer have any evidence of a heart murmur. Svetlana, you have absolutely no eosinophils in your blood; you do not have any allergies. Something inside that pyramid has corrected every defective gene in your DNA as well as any trace of bacteria or virus in your system. There is still confusion on the crewmember's faces. Mike chooses this moment to translate into nonprofessionals' terms. MIKE ANGEL What the doctors are trying to say is that, even if we begin dying again the minute we set foot on Earth, each of us has a minimum life expectancy of 140 years. If the Bible is to be believed, it may be possibly over 900 years. The looks turn to a dull roar of questions and exclamations among the assemblage. Mike holds up his hands and they eventually quiet down. MIKE ANGEL I have my theories, but medicine and genetics are not my fields at all, so anything I think is grounded more in science-fiction than real science. Take it for what it's worth. The 'Hall of the Ages' was either a cloning chamber, or a staging area for the original population of the Earth with genus Homo. It is obviously the original 'clean room'. There are no microbes whatsoever present, including those you brought with you in your bodies. We knew, or at least suspected, yesterday that this was an effect of the artificial atmosphere or the lighting or something inside there. As of today, your bodies contain no defective or dormant genes. Unfortunately, we don't have a sequencer on board to do a proper analysis, but the initial findings that the good doctors can provide are that each of you has been made perfect. You are now composed of the original blueprint for life on Earth, with no mistakes. He is met with a stunned silence. Sharon slumps in her chair again, as does Lana. The young people don't comprehend all of the implications of this. The scientists are all floored. SVETLANA Why did you not just break this to the world like the rest of the discoveries? Mike looks at her softly. MIKE ANGEL There are currently close to seven-billion people on Earth, the majority of which are in either poor health, or dying of starvation. Can you imagine the clamor people with AIDS or Ebola or Cancer would create? Second, if you have seven billion people that could double their life span and still procreate, how long would the Earth be able to sustain them? Third, people with power, corporate CEOs, government officials, criminals, would be among the first to insist that they get the only shot at this. This is a Pandora's Box, folks, and I really don't want to be the one to open it. Now the governments know of this, which is unfortunate, but I had to tell them to get their cooperation. I need their help in getting the best people to study the phenomenon and come up with solutions. My personal first reaction is to reprogram the satellites up there to prevent any other human from setting foot here for the reasons I just gave. Fortunately, that is not my decision, but all of yours. Once the word is out, there will be a race to Mars that will make the Oklahoma land rush look like a Sunday drive. (beat) I will say to you, that I am prepared to claim this planet as an independent nation. I had an ex-President from each of your countries and a German diplomat sit down a couple of months ago and come up with a good constitution and government plan for a hypothetical new democracy. I liked it and so did the house and Vesna. As a sovereign nation, we could set absolute immigration laws. You all are citizens, by the way. MIKE ANGEL (CONT'D) We have precedents in the old Rules of Admiralty for salvage to claim the property. Since we are the only ones here, except for our two friends inside, that would pretty much be up to us. It'll upset many folks back home, but it's quasi-legal by the UN charter. (beat) The second potential problem we have is what I told you all earlier, I personally don't think those two in there are dead. We're faced with a dilemma of whether or not to try to wake them up. If we do, what will happen? What will be their reaction? If the eight empty chambers contained the four races we identified, who are the two that are still left and what are their races? (beat) I think they are a race that we don't have, because they were left behind for some reason. We just plain don't know. They might be defective, criminal, or just plain insane. Right now, we have more unanswered questions than we do answers. It's going to be up to you whether we release this to the public. I will say that I've spoken with the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch and he finds nothing wrong with what we've discovered so far. In fact, he thinks that it substantiates, rather than contradicts, any of the beliefs that he holds. MIKE ANGEL (CONT'D) Unfortunately, neither the Pope nor the Prophet has returned my calls, so I don't know what their reactions will be. They don't know, however, what you do now. The only people outside this room who do are your respective presidents and whomever they let in on the secret. (beat) I know this is a lot for you all to absorb at once, but I need you to discuss it among yourselves. Let's let it sink in for an hour or so before bringing it up to the group again. I guess you can probably consider yourselves the first Martian Congress deciding public policy. I hate pawning the responsibility off on all of you?no I don't. I'm chicken to make this decision on my own. I know what my and Vesna's vote will be, but we will go along with the majority and suffer the consequences with all of you for whatever they may be. (beat) How about we meet back here in about two hours and take a vote. We can have floor debate first, if you want. No one says a word as Mike stands and moves toward the elevator. This news has left Sharon totally limp. FADE OUT: Ben W. Gardner Sedona, Arizona "I do not fear computers. I fear lack of them." --Isaac Asimov http://ca.geocities.com/vladilyich/ In The Beginning - ISBN: 1-4116-3848-4 Just In Time - ISBN 1-4116-3851-4 Ad Astra - ISBN: 978-1-84728-518-8 In stores and at Amazon.Com http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/103-1761779-3946261?url=search-alias%3Daps&... |
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