Episode Five

NEXT SCENE
MORNING AT RAY’S HOUSE. MATT SITS AT THE DINING TABLE EATING BREAKFAST. HIS MOM ENTERS CARRYING A PITCHER. SHE POURS RAY SOME COFFEE.

Matt: (to Grace) May I be excused?

GRACE LOOKS AT RAY.

Ray: Yeah, uh, go ahead son.

MATT LEAVES. GRACE SITS AT THE TABLE AND GIVES RAY A LOOK.

Ray: (getting up from the table and going after him) Uh, Matt, last night, the way I acted. I didn’t mean to scare you.
Matt: I wasn’t scared.
Ray: Well, I’m sorry all the same.
Matt: Okay.
Ray: (gesturing up the stairs) Go ahead.

MATT WALKS UP THE STAIRS. RAY LOOKS OVER AT GRACE. CUT TO THE KITCHEN A BIT LATER AS THEY CLEAN UP BREAKFAST. RAY PAUSES BY THE REFRIGERATOR.

Ray: Look, can you stop that for a second? We need to talk.

GRACE TURNS AWAY FROM THE DISHES AND SITS DOWN AT THE KITCHEN TABLE.

Ray: You remember that woman who called me yesterday?
Grace: Dr. Parker.
Ray: Yeah. She’s a bioanthropologist. Real smart.
Grace: So why’s a bioanthropologist your headache?
Ray: She’s made a discovery. There’s no easy way to say this. You're not gonna believe it anyway.
Grace: Try me.
Ray: She’s discovered a new species of man.
Grace: (smiling) What, one isn't enough?
Ray: I’m serious, Grace. Some of them, I don’t know, maybe all of them, are killers. And that makes it my headache.
Grace: Ray, are you sure this is true?
Ray: I’ve been fighting it since she first told me. I remember when I was in sixth grade, Mrs. Roberts, taught evolution. Well I guess I should’ve been paying closer attention.
Grace: I wish you would’ve told me this sooner.
Ray: I wish I had too, baby. But you got to understand, from now on we’re gonna have to take extra precautions for you and Matt.
Grace: What’re you gonna do?
Ray: Same thing I been doing. Praying that it’s not true. Trying to stop it, if it is.

NEXT SCENE
AT THE WAREHOUSE. ATTWOOD PACES AS TOM AND ED SIT BEFORE THE COMPUTER SCREENS.

Attwood: (impatiently) Is there anything you can do to accelerate this?
Ed: Come on, there’s billions of permutations. I’ve done everything I can.
Attwood: Come on Ed, we’re running out of time. Ed: Actually, though, uh, we did discover something.

ED PULLS SOMETHING UP ON THE COMPUTER AS ATTWOOD QUICKLY WALKS OVER TO HIM.

Attwood: And what is that?
Ed: Vague power source emanating from inside the pillar.

NEXT SCENE
A UPS-STYLE DELIVERY TRUCK TRAVELS DOWN A BUSY CITY STREET. IT SLOWLY TURNS A CORNER. WE SEE INSIDE THE BACK OF THE TRUCK THROUGH THE CAB. THERE ARE TABLES WITH COMPUTERS SET UP INSIDE IT. A MAN SITS BEFORE ONE OF THEM, EARPHONES ON HIS HEAD.

Driver: Getting any kind of reading?

WE SEE THE SCREEN THE EARPHONE MAN IS LOOKING AT. IT IS A MAP, TRACKING THE COURSE OF THE TRUCK AS IT TRAVELS DOWN THE STREET.

Earphone Man: Nothing yet.

NEXT SCENE
BACK AT THE WAREHOUSE. SLOAN COMES RUNNING UP TO THE TRIO OF ATTWOOD, ED AND TOM AT THE COMPUTER.

Sloan: There’s something I want to try!

THEY ALL LOOK AT HER.

Ed: Your, uh, lady from downtown?
Sloan: (nodding) Can we see if the patterns of the pillar match any known celestial map?
Ed: Yeah, uh, let me load a program.

HE DOES SO. THE COMPUTER RESULTS COME UP ON THE SCREEN.

Tom: (wondrously) A celestial map.

TOM TURNS TO LOOK AT SLOAN.

Ed: My God, it is.
Attwood: Ed, check the coordinates.

SLOAN LOOKS AT THE SEATED TOM. THE COORDINATES COME UP ON THE SCREEN IN FRONT OF TOM.

Sloan: Southern Mexico.
Ed: Nineteen degrees north, ninety-seven degrees west. It’s a spring night sky.
Sloan: Seen from what perspective?
Ed: Facing due north.
Sloan: Just like Blanca said, looking toward the mountains. They etched their night sky onto the pillar.
Ed: Why?
Sloan: Why all the intricate work to camouflage a celestial map?

SLOAN LOOKS DOWN AT TOM.

Sloan: Can you help us out at all with this one?
Tom: Look, I know there’s more to it....

HE GETS UP FROM THE TABLE AND ADVANCES ON THE PILLAR.

Tom: ....I just don’t know what.

ATTWOOD WALKS TOWARDS HIM.

Attwood: There might be a way to help you remember.

SLOAN QUICKLY JOINS THEM.

Sloan: What’re you talking about?
Attwood: I’m talking about getting inside Tom’s head and finding out what he knows.

SLOAN LOOKS AT TOM THEN BACK AT ATTWOOD AS ED JOINS THE TRIO.

Sloan: You mean through hypnosis?
Attwood: No, it’s too unreliable.
Sloan: What then?
Attwood: Regression therapy. I can bring him back and he can relive his experience and we can relive it with him.

TOM LOOKS (REALLY HOT) AT ATTWOOD INTENTLY. (VERY NICE SHOT.) TOM GLANCES OVER AT SLOAN, LOOKING AT HER POINTEDLY.

NEXT SCENE
AT THE WAREHOUSE. ED PACES IN FRONT OF THE PILLAR. ATTWOOD AND SLOAN WALK FROM THE COMPUTER TABLES.

Attwood: Once the drug is injected it’s only a few minutes before it takes effect.
Ed: Hey, these drugs have only been marginally tested. The FDA is far from approving its use.
Sloan: Is that true?

WE SEE TOM (NICE LIGHTING) SITTING, LEANING FORWARD, LOOKING PENSIVE.

Attwood: I can’t wait for the FDA. It’s dangerous just being near this pillar.
Sloan: Uh-uh. Uh-uh. I don’t like it. It’s too risky for Tom.
Attwood: This is not your decision to make, or mine.
Tom: Go ahead.

TOM SITS BACK IN THE CHAIR (OOO, VERY MANLY) AND PULLS UP HIS SLEEVE, OFFERING HIS ARM. ATTWOOD BENDS DOWN AT TOM’S RIGHT SIDE AS SLOAN WALKS OVER AND STANDS ON TOM’S LEFT, HAND OVER HER MOUTH, FIDGETING. TOM LOOKS UP AT SLOAN AS THE PLUNGER ON THE NEEDLE IS PRESSED. CUT TO TOM SITTING IN THE CHAIR, EYES CLOSED. ATTWOOD IS CROUCHED BEFORE HIM, SLOAN ON TOM’S LEFT, ED ON HIS RIGHT. EVERYONE IS STARING INTENTLY AT TOM.

Attwood: How old are you?
Tom: Fifteen.
Attwood: Are you in school?
Tom: No. Working.
Attwood: Where?
Tom: I’m not allowed to tell.
Attwood: Can you remember when you got your tattoo?

Tom: Yes.
Attwood: How old were you?
Tom: Five.
Attwood: Where did it happen?
Tom: In the village.
Attwood: Tell us about the village. What do you see?

TOM FLASHES ON AN IMAGE.

Tom: My mother.

Attwood: Who else is there besides your mother?

ANOTHER IMAGE FLASHES. TOM AS A BOY, ON HIS STOMACH BEFORE THE FIRE.

Tom: There’s a man. I don’t know him.

TOM FLASHES ON ANOTHER IMAGE, THEN GRIMACES IN PAIN AND THROWS HIMSELF TO THE FLOOR.
WE SEE THE IMAGE OF A MAN WITH A NEEDLE-SHARP STYLUS. THE MAN BENDS OVER THE YOUNG TOM. THE IMAGE FADES AND WE RETURN TO TOM ON THE FLOOR.

Tom: (shouting in pain) Oh my back! THE TATTOO!

TOM SCREAMS. HE CALMS, THEN SITS UP.

Attwood: What’s happening now?
Tom: Going outside.

HE STANDS AND THE SCIENTISTS DO THE SAME.

Attwood: Where?
Tom: To the pillar.

ATTWOOD TURNS TOM, LEADING HIM OVER TO THE PILLAR.

Attwood: Here, here. Straight ahead. Now one step to your right.

TOM REACHES THE PILLAR, PLACES HIS HANDS ON IT, FEELING HIS WAY AROUND IT. HE PAUSES, GRABBING THE STONE.

Attwood: What’s under there?
Tom: Ahhhhh. Not supposed to tell.
Attwood: No one will know. Tell us!
Sloan: Walter, stop!
Tom: Awwww, I can’t.
Attwood: Don’t give up, don’t go away!
Sloan: THAT’S ENOUGH!
Attwood: SAY IT!

SUDDENLY THE IMAGES FLASH AT TOM IN DOUBLE SPEED. INTO A CAVE, THE MAN ADVANCING ON HIM, HIS MOTHER, HOLDING HIM DOWN ON HIS STOMACH IN FRONT OF A FIRE.

Tom: (bellowing) NO!!

TOM FALLS AWAY FROM THE PILLAR. HE’S SPRAWLED ON THE WAREHOUSE FLOOR. ED, SLOAN AND ATTWOOD RUSH TOWARD HIM. ED LEANS OVER AND CHECKS HIS CAROTID ARTERY.

Ed: No pulse.

ED STARTS CPR.

Ed: One....two...you know how to do mouth-to mouth?....Three.....Sloan, do it after the fifth compression....four....five...breathe.

TOM FLASHES ON AN IMAGE OF HIS MOTHER AND THE FIRE.




SLOAN LEANS OVER AND (VERY GENTLY, FOR SOME REASON) BREATHES INTO TOM’S MOUTH. ED CONTINUES THE COMPRESSIONS.

Ed: One....two....three....four....five.

TOM FLASHES ON THE MAN AND HIS MOTHER.
SLOAN BREATHES INTO HIS MOUTH AGAIN. ED CONTINUES.

Ed: One....two....three....four....five.

TOM FLASHES ON AN IMAGE OF HIMSELF AS A BOY IN FRONT OF THE FIRE.





ED LEANS BACK AND LOOKS AT TOM. (!! NURSES DAUGHTER MAKING A COMMENT HERE....HE’S DONE CPR FOR WHAT? TWO MINUTES? AT MOST? SOME DOCTOR! NO WONDER HE WORKS IN A LAB...) SLOAN LOOKS DOWN AT TOM, TEARS THREATENING TO SPILL FROM HER EYES. TOM’S IMAGES FLASH AGAIN, THIS TIME REWINDING THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY USUALLY COME. THE IMAGE PULLS BACK OUT OF THE CAVE AND SUDDENLY TOM IS COUGHING, GASPING FOR BREATH ON THE WAREHOUSE FLOOR. SLOAN STARTS LAUGHING/SOBBING IN RELIEF. ED LOOKS AT ATTWOOD. TOM LOOKS UP AT SLOAN. SHE EXHALES THE BREATH SHE HAS BEEN HOLDING AS SHE SMILES DOWN AT HIM.


NEXT SCENE
THE DELIVERY VAN WITH THE TRACKING EQUIPMENT, STILL DRIVING DOWN BUSY STREETS. THE MAN IS STILL WATCHING THE COMPUTER SCREEN, EARPHONES ON.

NEXT SCENE
BACK AT THE WAREHOUSE. TOM SITS BEFORE THE PILLAR, STARING FORWARD, PENSIVE. SLOAN IS SITTING NEXT TO HIM, LOOKING AT HIM.

Sloan: You know, that’s twice I’ve saved your life.
Tom: (grinning at her statement) Did I say anything useful?
Sloan: You were tattooed when you were five, in the village. Your mother was nearby.
Tom: That’s the visions I’ve been having.
Sloan: You were drawn to one segment of the pillar. Do you know why?

TOM LOOKS AT SLOAN AND SHAKES HIS HEAD SLOWLY. SHE PATS HIS HAND BETWEEN HER OWN AND GETS UP. SHE STANDS BEFORE THE PILLAR, THE SECTION TOM WAS DRAWN TO.

Sloan: Ed?

ED LOOKS UP FROM THE COMPUTER THAT HE AND ATTWOOD ARE WORKING ON.

Sloan: (pointing) What segment would this be under here?
Ed: Uh, that would be...grid one-one-zero.
Sloan: Could you bring it up on the monitor?
Ed: Sure.

HE STARTS TYPING AWAY. SLOAN WALKS OVER TO THE COMPUTER.

Sloan: Can you magnify that segment to full screen?
Ed: You bet.

HE DOES. SLOAN’S EYES WIDEN. SHE TURNS AND CALLS OVER TO TOM.

Sloan: Take off your shirt!!

TOM LOOKS UP AT HER.

Sloan: Please.

TOM STANDS AND STARTS TO WHIP THAT SWEATER OFF. (WOO-HOO! WE NEED MORE OF THAT!)

Sloan: (pointing at the screen) These five stars, right here.

SHE STRIDES OVER TO TOM, WHO IS RAISING HIS SWEATER OVER HIS HEAD.

Sloan: They’re in the same configuration as the circles in Tom’s tattoo.

SHE CIRCLES THE TATTOO WITH HER FINGER. ATTWOOD AND ED COME OVER TO INSPECT IT. (I’D LIKE TO GET A CLOSER LOOK TOO...HEEHEE)

Ed: What about the uh, four squares? How do they fit into this equation?
Sloan: Let’s find out. Scan the tattoo into the computer.

NEXT SCENE
THE DELIVERY VAN CONTINUES ON, STILL SLOWLY DRIVING DOWN BUSY STREETS. WE SEE THE COMPUTER SCREEN NOW HAS A PULSING RED CIRCLE.

Earphone Man: I’ve got it! Up here on the left.

NEXT SCENE
AT THE WAREHOUSE. ED IS INPUTTING DATA INTO THE COMPUTER. TOM SITS, WATCHING HIM. TOM IS, UNFORTUNATELY, FULLY CLOTHED. SLOAN STANDS NEXT TO ED AS ATTWOOD APPROACHES.

Sloan: See if you can make the circles of the tattoo align with the stars.

WE SEE ED MANIPULATING THE SCAN OF THE TATTOO UNTIL IT ALIGNS WITH THE CELESTIAL MAP.

Ed: Perfect fit. But, what about those squares.

TOM LOOKS UP.

Attwood: No stars, no planets, no moon. What else could it be?
Ed: You know what I could do, I could run the celestial cycle program. It’ll show the different variations of this exact same night sky. I could run it back a hundred years then run it forward another hundred.
Sloan: Great.

ED STARTS TYPING. THEY ALL LOOK AT THE SCREEN. A BLIP FLIES THROUGH THE SQUARES.

Sloan: Wait a second. Bring it back. Roll it back.

THE PROGRAM IS REVERSED AND WE SEE THE BLIP AGAIN.

Sloan: (pointing) There.

TOM LEANS FORWARD AS ED TYPES ON THE KEYBOARD. A SCREEN IS BROUGHT UP WITH THE PICTURE OF A COMET.

Ed: Kewley’s comet.

TOM LOOKS TOWARDS THE DOORS, AS IF SENSING SOMETHING, THEN TURNS HIS ATTENTION BACK TO THE COMPUTER.

Attwood: A comet? What significance can that have?
Sloan: I don’t think it’s the comet itself, Walter. Ed, when does it appear next?
Ed: October. 1998.
Sloan: That’s what’s significant. The date.
Attwood: Alright. We know when. But we haven’t a clue about what.
Tom: Shhhhhh.

ATTWOOD, SLOAN AND ED TURN TO TOM AS HE STEPS FORWARD.

Tom: They’re outside.

SLOAN RUSHES OVER TO TOM.

Sloan: How did they find us?
Ed: (pointing at the pillar) That power source, must be broadcasting a frequency.

THE WAREHOUSE DOOR BURSTS OPEN.

Tom: Get down!

TOM PUSHES SLOAN AND ED TOWARDS THE PILLAR AS MEN WITH MACHINE GUNS ENTER THE WAREHOUSE. TOM LEAPS ACROSS THE ROOM AS BULLETS SPRAY THE COMPUTER SCREENS WHERE HE JUST WAS. GLASS FLIES, SPARKS BOUNCE. ED AND SLOAN RACE TO THE PILLAR AND USE IT TO SHIELD THEMSELVES FROM THE GUNFIRE. THE MEN CONTINUE TO SHOOT, KNOCKING THE ENCRUSTED DIRT OFF THE PILLAR, SENDING CHIPS FLYING. ATTWOOD RACES TO ONE OF THE COMPUTER TABLES AND GRABS A CANVAS BAG OFF IT. HE THROWS HIMSELF TO THE FLOOR AND OPENS THE BAG.

Attwood: TOM!

ATTWOOD TOSSES A GUN OVER TO TOM, WHO IS STILL LAYING ON THE FLOOR. TOM CATCHES THE SEMI-AUTOMATIC. THE MEN CONTINUE TO FIRE.
NO LONGER PROTECTED BY THE PILLAR, ED AND SLOAN RACE FROM IT. TOM (VERY SEXILY) ROLLS ALONG THE FLOOR WITH THE GUN, LEAPS OVER ATTWOOD AND TAKES COVER BEHIND A TABLE. (HE LOOKS VERY MANLY. YEE-HAW!) BROW FURROWED AND LIPS PRESSED TOGETHER, HE POPS UP FROM HIS COVER AND STARTS FIRING AT THE MEN IN THE SHADOWS. TOM HITS ONE OF THEM AND HE GOES DOWN. TOM CONTINUES TO SPRAY THE MEN WITH BULLETS, COVERING ATTWOOD, SLOAN AND ED’S ESCAPE. TOM SEES THEY ARE CLEAR AND RACES AFTER THEM, A HAIL OF BULLETS FOLLOWING HIS DEPARTURE. ED AND SLOAN BURST THROUGH THE WAREHOUSE DOORS AND CROUCH NEXT TO HER CAR, PARKED RIGHT OUTSIDE.

Ed: (to Attwood, who has just run through the doors) Did you get the disk?
Attwood: No.

ATTWOOD PLOPS THE CANVAS BAG ON SLOAN’S HOOD.

Attwood: The gunfire was too heavy. I couldn't get close to the computer.

TOM BACKS OUT OF THE WAREHOUSE, GUN STILL FIRING AT THE MEN INSIDE.

Ed: (looking at the bag) What’s in there?
Attwood: Plastique. (something) charged.

SLOAN GRABS ATTWOOD’S ARM.

Sloan: You can’t blow it up! We might still be able to salvage something!
Attwood: This is the best thing.
Tom: (shouting over his shoulder as he continues to fire into the warehouse) LET HIM DO IT!
Ed: WHAT? YOU WANT TO LOSE IT FOREVER?
Tom: (turning again to shout at Ed) IT’S ALREADY GONE!

ATTWOOD RACES OVER TO THE DOOR WITH THE EXPLOSIVES.

Attwood: Besides, we’ve already got what we need. RUN!!

ATTWOOD TOSSES THE BAG OF EXPLOSIVES INTO THE WAREHOUSE AS ED AND SLOAN SPRINT AWAY. TOM HOPS/SKIPS AWAY IN MILITARY STANCE AND ATTWOOD RUNS AFTER HIM. THE MEN INSIDE THE WAREHOUSE CONTINUE TO FIRE. ED AND SLOAN SCAMPER BEHIND SOME CRATES AT A SAFE DISTANCE ACROSS THE PARKING LOT. TOM LEAPS OVER THE CRATES TO JOIN THEM (CHECK THAT SWEATER FLYING UP!) AS THE BUILDING EXPLODES.
(AND BOY, YOU THINK SLOAN’S CAR, PARKED RIGHT NEXT TO THE DOOR WOULD BE DAMAGED.....) ATTWOOD JOINS THEM BEHIND THE COVER OF THE CRATES AND PALLETS AS WE HEAR THE BUILDING BURN.

End Episode 5

Part Two

Part One

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