Episode Four
Origins
Part One
THE SHOW OPENS. WE SEE A DIRT ROAD WITH SCRAGGLY SHRUBS LINING IT. DUST BILLOWS AS A TUMBLEWEED ROLLS ACROSS THE ROAD. A LOCATION IS SUPERIMPOSED “MEXICO--LATITUDE 19 DEGREES NORTH, LONGITUDE 97 DEGREES WEST”.
A SPORT UTILITY VEHICLE ROUNDS THE BEND OF THE ROAD. WE SEE SLOAN DRIVING. ED IS IN THE FRONT PASSENGER SEAT, AND TOM SITS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE REAR PASSENGER SEAT. TOM IS DEEP IN THOUGHT.
(MY THOUGHT IS, TOM LOOKS REALLY GOOD IN THESE CAR SCENES. LOTS OF CLOSE-UPS OF THOSE BABY BLUES.)
Sloan: How we doing, Ed?
Ed: Well, near as I can tell...
HE CONSULTS HIS MAP.
Ed: ...we’re there.
HE PUTS THE MAP AWAY.Ed: Or not.
THEY ROUND A CURVE AND SEE AN OVERTURNED MEXICAN POLICE CAR AFLAME. SLOAN PULLS UP NEXT TO THE BURNING CAR. SHE GIVES ED A CONCERNED LOOK.
Ed: Hey, this trip was NOT my idea.
SLOAN DRIVES AWAY FROM THE CAR. THEY CREST A HILL AT A STRIKING OUTCROPPING OF ROCK. TOM’S EYES WIDEN AS HE LOOKS OUT THE SUV’S WINDOW.
Tom: Stop the car.
Sloan: Why?
Tom: (insistently) Stop.
SLOAN PULLS OVER AND LOOKS BACK AT TOM. TOM GETS OUT OF THE SUV AND LOOKS AROUND. HE GETS A PAINED LOOK ON HIS FACE AND PUTS THE HEEL OF HIS HAND TO HIS TEMPLE.
HE FLASHES ON A VISION OF A YOUNG WOMAN BATHED IN FIRELIGHT, HER BLONDE HAIR FLOWING BEHIND HER. HE LOOKS AROUND AT THE ROCKS SURROUNDING HIM, THEN FLASHES ON AN IMAGE OF A YOUNG BOY, LYING ON HIS STOMACH WITH HIS ARMS STRETCHED OUT AT HIS SIDES.
TOM LOOKS ALL AROUND AND WALKS AWAY FROM THE CAR. SLOAN GETS OUT OF THE VEHICLE AND WALKS OVER TO TOM. HE HAS A CONFUSED, LOST LOOK ON HIS FACE.
Sloan: What is it?
Tom: This is the place.
Sloan: (to Ed who is getting out of the SUV) We should look around.
TOM WALKS OVER TO THE OUTCROPPING AND FALLS TO HIS KNEES. SLOAN APPROACHES THE STONE WALL AS WELL, A FEW FEET FROM TOM. SHE NOTICES SOMETHING IN THE DUSTY SOIL BY THE WALL. SHE BENDS DOWN TO EXAMINE IT.
CUT BACK TO TOM, STILL ON HIS KNEES IN THE DIRT, SCOOPING UP THE DUSTY SOIL WITH HIS HANDS AND LETTING IT FALL THROUGH HIS FINGERS.
CUT BACK TO SLOAN. SHE’S UNEARTHED SOMETHING.
Sloan: Ed! C’mere!
TOM LOOKS BACK AT HER SHOUT AND ED LOOKS UP. ED JOINS SLOAN, WHO HAS NEARLY FINISHED DIGGING UP HER DISCOVERY.
Ed: What is it?
Sloan: (aghast) Oh, my...
SLOAN HAS UNEARTHED A MUMMY FROM THE DUSTY GROUND. ED AND SLOAN GENTLY LIFT IT OUT OF THE HOLE AS TOM WATCHES, TRANSFIXED.
NEXT SCENE
AT THE OUTCROPPING. SLOAN AND ED ARE EXAMINING THE MUMMY WITH THE EQUIPMENT THAT WAS PACKED IN, AND TIED ON TOP OF, THE SUV.
Ed: Ok, so what do we know about her?
Sloan: (sighing) Obviously, she’s a female.
Ed: Judging from the epiphysial plates in the teeth, I think we can put her age at nine, possibly ten. Also her internal physiology seems pretty well intact.
Sloan: Any indication of how she died?
Ed: There’s no sign of external trauma.
Sloan: I guess that’s it till we get the results of the DNA tests. What we really need is to get her back to the lab.
Ed: If...she’s one of them.
Sloan: (checking a timer) Well, eighteen minutes more and we’ll know that for sure.
CUT TO TOM, STANDING ON A LARGE SLAB OF ROCK, HIS SHORT OVERCOAT BILLOWING. HE LOOKS OVER AT SLOAN AND ED.
CUT BACK TO SLOAN AND ED AT THE ‘MINI-LAB’.
Ed: Could you give me a hand?
SLOAN AND ED GENTLY LIFT THE MUMMY FROM THE TABLE. TOM APPROACHES THEM.
Sloan: (to Ed) Careful. Wait. Oh, WAIT! Put her down.
ED PLACES THE MUMMY BACK ON THE TABLE. THEY SLOWLY TURN THE MUMMY OVER.
Ed: Careful. Hold on, Sloan.
Sloan: Got ‘er?
TOM WATCHES THE SCENE WITH INTEREST. SLOAN IS SHOCKED BY WHAT SHE SEES. ON THE BACK OF THE MUMMY SOME OF THE BANDAGES HAVE COME LOOSE.
WE SEE THE SKIN UNDERNEATH. TATTOOED ON THE MUMMY’S BACK IS A SERIES OF SQUARES AND CIRCLES. TOM FLASHES ON A MAN WALKING IN FIRELIGHT.
Sloan: I’ve seen this design before.
Ed: Where?
TOM WALKS CLOSER TO THE EXAMINING TABLE.
Sloan: On the beds!
CUT TO A SHOT OF THE BLACK BED.
IT HAS THE SAME DESIGN ON TOP AS THE TATTOO ON THE MUMMY’S BACK.
Sloan: (to Tom) Cut into the top. It’s the same, isn’t it?
Tom: (nodding) Yes.
Sloan: What does it mean?
TOM SHAKES HIS HEAD SLIGHTLY.
Tom: I don’t know.
SLOAN AGAIN LOOKS AT THE MUMMY’S TATTOO.
NEXT SCENE
AT THE BIO LAB. THE LADY FROM THE LIMOUSINE BURSTS THROUGH THE DOORS OF THE LAB. ATTWOOD IS SITTING AT ONE OF THE LAB COUNTERS.
Attwood: Thank you for responding so quickly.
Limo Lady: Well your call sounded urgent.
Attwood: It is. Parker and Tate have left the country.
Limo Lady: Why?
Attwood: Tracing a lead on the origin of the new species.
LIMO LADY TURNS AWAY FROM HIM, RESTING HER HANDS ON A COUNTERTOP.
Limo Lady: That could be dangerous.
Attwood: For them. And for us.
Limo Lady: You got something to propose?
Attwood: Perhaps it’s time we told them.
LIMO LADY LOOKS UNSURE.
NEXT SCENE
OAXACA, MEXICO. ED AND SLOAN ARE WITH THE EQUIPMENT SET UP AT THE BACK OF THE SUV. ED IS ZIPPING UP EQUIPMENT IN A BAG.
Ed: So, uh, you really trust this guy, huh?
Sloan: Yes.
Ed: Based on a leap of faith?
Sloan: Yes.
Ed: Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn't that usually require some kind of deep, underlying...conviction? Uh, powerful intuition, revelation?
Sloan: I’ve had that, Ed.
AN ALARM SOUNDS AND ED AND SLOAN LOOK AT EACH OTHER. THE DNA TEST IS DONE.
Ed: Let’s see what we got.
ED PUNCHES SOME BUTTONS ON THE COMPUTER.
Ed: One point six percent.
HE LOOKS AT SLOAN.
Ed: Mummy’s one of them.
SLOAN HOPS UP EXCITEDLY.
Sloan: Ok, now we’ve really got something to work with. Oh, God, this could answer so many questions, Ed.
Ed: Anatomy, physiology...We-we could find out what their weaknesses are.
SLOAN STARTS GRABBING EQUIPMENT.
Sloan: Let’s get the car home.
Ed: (surprised) Now?
Sloan: You bet. Once she’s removed from the microclimate that preserved her, she’ll deteriorate. Rapidly.
Ed: We can’t leave now. It’ll be dark in another half hour.
Sloan: So?
Ed: So we can not drive in the dark. C’mon we can barely follow the road in daylight.
Sloan: (resignedly) You’re right.
ED AND SLOAN STRIDE OVER TO TOM, WHO IS KNEELING IN THE DUST, PULLED INTO A TIGHT BALL, HIS ELBOWS RESTING ON HIS KNEES. HE HAS A VACANT STARE ON HIS FACE. ED SPOTS SOMETHING AND RUSHES OVER TO IT. HE FALLS TO HIS KNEES, SCRAPING AWAY DIRT AND DUST WITH HIS HANDS.
Ed: I-I can’t get the sand off. It’s encrusted. I think it’s attached to something.
WE SEE WHAT ED IS TRYING TO CLEAN OFF. IT’S A ROUND OBJECT ABOUT FOUR FEET IN DIAMETER. TOM IS ONLY SLIGHTLY COGNIZANT OF ED AND SLOAN’S PRESENCE. HE’S LOST IN HIS OWN WORLD.
Ed: I think it goes way down.
SLOAN LOOKS AT TOM AND SEES THE STATE HE’S IN.
Sloan: (to Ed) Just, leave it for now. It’ll be dark soon, why don’t you hunt up some firewood?
ED GIVES SLOAN A ‘WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT’ LOOK. HE REALIZES HER PURPOSE.
Ed: Sure.
Sloan: (calling to Ed, who is walking away) I’ll pitch a tent in a second.
SLOAN LOOKS AT TOM AND WALKS OVER TO HIM. SHE HUNKERS DOWN NEAR HIM.
Sloan: (to Tom) You’ve been here before, haven’t you?
HE TURNS HIS HEAD SLIGHTLY AT THE SOUND OF HER VOICE. THEN HE LOOKS AT HER.
Tom: I think so.
TOM CLOSES HIS EYES, RAISES HIS HEAD AND SWAYS A BIT.
Sloan: (concerned) What?
TOM IS FLASHING ON IMAGES OF THE YOUNG WOMAN AND THE MAN IN THE FIRELIGHT AGAIN.
Sloan: What? What?
Tom: (exhaling and opening his eyes) I keep flashing on these images of a young woman and a man.
Sloan: What about this?
SHE POINTS TO WHAT ED HAS JUST FOUND IN THE DIRT.
Sloan: Is this in any of the images?
TOM’S BROW FURROWS AS HE THINKS. HE SHAKES HIS HEAD. A CONFUSED LOOK COMES OVER HIM.
Tom: No. But it’s in my head somehow. Like a dream I-I can’t remember.
NEXT SCENE
NIGHTTIME IN OAXACA. A FIRE BURNS NEAR THE SHELTER OF THE ROCK WALL.
ED PLACES MORE KINDLING ON THE FIRE AND LOOKS OVER AT SLOAN, WHO IS FIXING A TENT.
CUT TO THE SPOT OF ED’S DISCOVERY. IT HAS BEEN PARTIALLY EXCAVATED, REVEALING THE TOP OF A COLUMN. TOM IS IN THE HOLE SURROUNDING THE COLUMN WITH A FLASHLIGHT. HE’S EXAMINING THE PILLAR, RUNNING HIS HANDS OVER IT, STARING INTENTLY AT THE SYMBOLS.
CUT BACK TO ED AND SLOAN AT THE CAMPFIRE.
Sloan: (to Ed) You ok?
Ed: Yeah, yeah.
Sloan: I’m sorry. I um, I pushed you away back there.
Ed: Ah, that’s ok. I didn’t take it personally. I know that he’s only gonna open up to you.
Sloan: Do you trust him yet?
Ed: (with a smile) I’m still working on you.
ED PLAYFULLY TOSSES A ROCK AT HER AND SLOAN SMILES AT HIM. QUIETLY AND WITHOUT THEM NOTICING TOM WALKS UP.
Tom: Sloan.
SLOAN LOOKS UP, SURPRISED.
Tom: I need to show you something.
SLOAN GETS UP.
Sloan: What is it?
SUDDENLY LIGHTS FLASH. BLUE AND GREEN LIGHTS SWEEP OVER THE TRIO AS THEY LOOK AROUND IN CONFUSION AND FRIGHT. TOM GRABS A HANDFUL OF DUST AND DOUSES THE FIRE.
Ed: What the hell is that?
Tom: They’re here. Now they know we’re here.
Sloan: (looking at the lights) Are those weapons?
Tom: Not yet. Just information gathering.
Ed: How do you know that?
Tom: Because I’ve used them. We have to go.
Ed: We can’t!
Tom: (to Ed) Look, I’ve come to this place with you. I’ve helped you find it. Sloan knows I’ve helped you in other ways as well. Now I’m telling you. Leave!
Ed: (convinced) I’ll load the equipment. You two break down the tent.
ED RUSHES TO THE CAR AS SLOAN SCAMPERS OVER TO THE TENT AND STARTS PULLING UP STAKES. TOM WALKS OVER TO HER.
Tom: I’m not coming with you.
Sloan: Where are you going?
Tom: (gesturing with a turn of his head) Out there.
Sloan: In the desert?
Tom: I need to take care of whatever’s out there.
Sloan: I-I can’t leave you here.
Tom: I’ll be alright.
Sloan: I’m not leaving you.
Tom: Sloan, it’s the safest thing for all of us. You gotta believe me. Promise me you’ll go!
Sloan: If you’ll promise me...you’ll come back.
SLOAN LOOKS TORN.
Tom: (nodding slightly) I do. Now hurry.
HE WALKS AWAY FROM HER. ED COMES OVER AND GRABS SOME EQUIPMENT. HE NOTICES TOM LEAVING.
Ed: Where the hell is he going?
Sloan: Start the car!
SLOAN IS STRUGGLING WITH A TENT.
Ed: Leave it!
SLOAN GRABS THE LAST OF THE EQUIPMENT AS ED CLOSES THE REAR DOORS OF THE SUV. THEY CLIMB INTO THE CAR AND RACE OFF. A HELICOPTER HOVERS ABOVE THEM, FOLLOWING THE CAR AND SHINING A BRIGHT LIGHT INTO THE VEHICLE, BLINDING THEM.
Ed: What is it? Do you see it?
Sloan: Uh-huh.
Ed: I can’t see! I gotta stop.
ED PULLS OVER AND STOPS THE CAR. THEY GET OUT CAUTIOUSLY. ANOTHER CAR WITH FLASHING HEADLIGHTS ADVANCES ON THEM. THE HELICOPTER LANDS. WE SEE ATTWOOD GET OUT OF IT. HE PULLS ED AND SLOAN OVER TO HIM.
Sloan: What are you doing here?
Attwood: Hurry, c’mon, c’mon!
Ed: The mummy!
ED RACES OVER TO THE SUV.
Attwood: Where you going?!?
ATTWOOD PULLS ED FROM THE CAR BEFORE HE GETS THE MUMMY OUT.
Attwood: Now run! Come on!
THE OTHER CAR IS STILL APPROACHING. SHOTS ARE FIRED AND SLOAN DIVES FOR THE HELICOPTER. THE THREE HURRIEDLY PILE IN AS BULLETS WHIZ PAST THEM. THE HELICOPTER TAKES OFF, PASSING OVER THE EXCAVATED CRATER AND THE PILLAR.
NEXT SCENE
ABOARD A PRIVATE JET. ED AND SLOAN SIT IN LEATHER SEATS BEFORE A CONFERENCE TABLE. ATTWOOD APPROACHES THEM, WALKING UP THE AISLE OF THE PLANE.
Sloan: What the hell is this all about Walter? How did you find us?
ATTWOOD SITS ON THE ARM OF THE SOFA OPPOSITE THEM.
Attwood: I’ve been tracking you since you left Van Nuys airport.
Ed: (contemptuously) Tracking us. In Mexico?
Attwood: Through various means of surveillance, including satellite.
Ed: (with a sneer) Courtesy of the University?
Attwood: No. I work for the Federal government.
Sloan: Federal government?
ED SHAKES HIS HEAD IN DISBELIEF.
Sloan: How long have you been working for them?
Attwood: From the beginning.
Sloan: What? So you’ve been lying to us for the past two years?
Attwood: Sloan...
Sloan: You worked beside us all this time. We trusted you. You betrayed us!
Attwood: That’s not true. I did my job at the University and I did it well. I did not betray you.
Ed: Oh yeah? What would you call it?
Attwood: Don’t be so naive. The government needs to keep abreast of important developments in the scientific community.
Sloan: Yeah, well, they can read it in the newspaper.
Attwood: They need to know about these things before they’re made public.
Ed: So you’ve been spying on us.
Attwood: No, Ed. I’ve been doing the job that my government asked me to do. Look. I was as stunned by Lynch’s DNA as you were. Needless to say--
A STEWARD WALKS UP AND HANDS ATTWOOD A NOTE.
Attwood: (to Steward) Thank you.
THE STEWARD WALKS OFF.
Attwood: (to Ed and Sloan) Excuse me, there’s a call for me.
ATTWOOD WALKS AWAY, DOWN THE AISLE.
Ed: Do you believe him?
Sloan: I don’t know what to believe. He did save our lives.
Ed: Have you even thought he might have staged everything to gain our confidence? You know, seduce us into sharing information?
Sloan: It should be easy enough to find out if he works for the Feds. I’ll talk to Ray Peterson. I’ll have him run a check on Attwood, ok?
NEXT SCENE
DAYTIME IN OAXACA, BACK AT THE OUTCROPPING. THE CAMERA PANS FROM THE ROCK OVER TO TOM, STANDING AT THE EDGE OF THE PARTIALLY UNEARTHED PILLAR. HE GLANCES DOWN AT THE PILLAR, THEN DROPS TO HIS KNEES. HE CLOSES HIS EYES AND BOWS HIS HEAD.
IMAGES FLASH. A CAMPFIRE, A SMALL BOY ON THE GROUND, A YOUNG BLONDE WOMAN IN A FLOWING WHITE DRESS, A LARGER MAN IN HIS THIRTIES, ADVANCING, HOLDING A POINTED STYLUS. THE IMAGES END. TOM OPENS HIS EYES AND STARES AT THE PILLAR.
NEXT SCENE
AT THE POLICE STATION. RAY ROUNDS A CORNER AND WALKS THROUGH A DOORWAY. ALL OF THE OTHER COPS BUSTLING ABOUT STOP SHORT AND GIVE HIM ROOM AS HE PASSES. THEY ARE STARING AT RAY AND HE REALIZES IT. HE PASSES THE COFFEE MAKER AND SLOAN TURNS AROUND. SHE’S GOT A CUP.
Ray: Huh. You’re back. How was Mexico?
Sloan: Scary as hell. Frustrating. I’ll tell you all about it, but I’ve gotta ask you a favor first.
THEY WALK OVER TO HIS OFFICE AREA AND SHE SITS AT THE CHAIR ACROSS FROM HIS DESK. RAY SITS IN HIS CHAIR.
Ray: Uh-oh. Shoot.
Sloan: Do you know anyone totally trustworthy, who could run a check on someone claiming to work for the Federal government?
Ray: Sure. My friend Tony. Regional FBI office.
RAY LEANS FORWARD.
Ray: Who we checking up on?
Sloan: (checking over her shoulder then speaking quietly) Walter Attwood.
RAY SITS BACK, A BIT STUNNED.
Part Two
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