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Thursday 21 December 2023
Sunday 10 December 2023
Lost In Space Script
Lost In Space Script - Source: Region 1 DVD-ROM
LOST IN SPACE
-------------
by
Akiva Goldsman
CHAPTER 1: Earth 2058
---------------------
FADE IN ON:
EXT.-SPACE
PULL BACK slowly as MARS fills THE FRAME, a sphere of red desert and fast rushing crimson clouds.
A triangular CARGO SHIP descends from the dark of space.
PILOT (OVER)
Mars mining base, this is Grissom One,
Request final descent vector.
REVERSE ANGLE
EXT.-MARS
A row of giant red mountains and beneath, on the planet's surface, the spires of A MINING BASE. Illuminated landing crosshairs alight a landing pad, beckoning the ship.
CONTROLLER (OVER)
Roger, Grissom One, this is Mars
Mining, You are cleared to land. Hope
you got some Partagas in that rust
bucket, Sal.
EXT.-EDGE OF SPACE
THE CARGO SHIP changes attitude, landing thrusters FIRING as the vessel begins to penetrate the atmosphere.
PILOT
I brought you the most amazing...
Amazing, what, we'll never know. The CARGO SHIP begins to EXPLODE, the bubble bridge BLOWING out into space in a ball of fire.
EXT.- MARS
LOW ANGLE from the planet's surface-. Two shapes BLAST through FRAME, BUBBLE FIGHTERS, single pilot, transparent globes, racing up towards the sudden star of the cargo ship at impossible speed.
INT.-BUBBLE FIGHTER
POV of the burning Cargo Ship, coming towards us incredibly fast. Speed, trajectory and tactical readouts flash.
EXT.-CARGO SHIP
The pulse lasers are still hammering the ravaged hull.
WIDER
Two sinister ATTACK SHIPS, their lasers locked onto the Cargo Ship, FIRE away as they BLAST overhead. The nuclear core of the Cargo Ship overloads, the craft finally EXPLODING in a storm of fire.
A BUBBLE FIGHTER ROARS through the hurling world of flame. PUSH IN.
INT.-BUBBLE FIGHTER
A lone FIGURE stands in a gyroscopic harness, working a heads-up holographic display, command controls spinning 360 degrees with the pilot's Comas the fighter SCREAMS after the fleeing raider.
The harness spins, the pilot coming clearly into view. Handsome, intense, reckless eyes. MAJOR DON WEST.
WEST
Sino-Jordanian Raiders. They're
claiming the cargo ship violated
their air-space.
INT.-SECOND BUBBLE FIGHTER
Another pilot (JEB WALKER) commands an identical craft, ROCKETING towards the assault craft just below West's.
JEB
This cold war's heating up. Where did
they come from?
INT.-WEST'S BUBBLE FIGHTER
WEST
Hell. And we're going to send them
back screaming.
West activates his targeting computer.
WEST
Last one to kill a bad guy buys the
beer.
TARGETING DISPLAY-CLOSE. The fleeing Attack Ship jogs in and out of the crosshairs on West's holographic array. West fires.
EXT.-SPACE
The Attack Ship SHOOTS straight up, dodging West's laser BLASTS.
INT.-WEST'S BUBBLE FIGHTER
West closes on the fleeing craft, as Jeb engages the other Attack Ship, lasers FIRING in the b.g., visible through the transparent surface of the bubble glass under West's feet.
WEST
What's that sound? must be the fat lady
warming up.
EXT.-SPACE
The fleeing Attack Ship loops in mid-space, reversing direction, heading straight towards West's Bubble Fighter. A game of chicken.
INT.-WEST'S BUBBLE FIGHTER
West doesn't flinch. Bears down, FIRING madly, the two space ships heading straight for each other.
WEST
That's right. Come on, come on, you wanna
play, I wanna play.
EXT.-SPACE
The two ships are ROCKETING towards each other, locked in collision vectors, lasers FIRING wildly.
INT.-WEST'S FIGHTER
WEST
I can hear her. Oh, yes, oh yes. She's
gonna sing.
TARGETING:DISPLAY-CLOSE. The Attack Ship flashes, captured in the targeting hatchmarks. The display expands into a tactical grid.
COMPUTER
Target lock.
EXT.-SPACE
Imminent collision.
INT.-WEST'S FIGHTER
The hull of the Attack Ship fills his bubble glass.
WEST
The lights are dimming. The curtain's
coming down. Sing you fat, old bag,
sing!
West hits the firing stud.
EXT.-DEEP SPACE
West's pulse lasers converge on the Attack Ship barely meters ahead, the ROARING craft EXPLODING directly before him.
INT.-WEST'S BUBBLE FIGHTER
(OVER) WEST SCREAMS as he shoots through the sudden conflagration of flame and debris, everywhere and then gone, giving way to the blackness of space and the starfield beyond.
WEST
Show's over.
Below, the second Attack Ship ROARS past, lasers FIRING, locked in a pinwheel battle with Jeb's Bubble Fighter.
EXT.-SPACE
JEB'S BUBBLE FIGHTER banks, avoiding the high energy volley. Almost. A laser BURST grazes his Bubble Fighter, the surface of his craft sparking, suddenly scored with flames.
INT.-JEB'S CRAFT
The Attack ship is right behind him.
JEB
Weapons are off line. Jettisoning main
drive core.
EXT.-SPACE
The thruster core of Jeb's Bubble Fighter BLOWS off in a bolus of flame, soaring back into the pursuit craft. The Raider EXPLODES.
INT.-JEB'S CRAFT
Controls are sparking. Displays flicker. (OVER) An ALARM sounds.
COMPUTER
Warning. Failure in redundant drive systems.
JEB-POV. The surface of Mars is rushing up fast.
COMPUTER
Impact on in 90 seconds.
JEB
Mars Control. . .
EXT.-SPACE
Jeb's ship is barreling toward the planet.
JEB (OVER)
. . .this is Ranger One.
INT.-WEST'S FIGHTER
JEB (ON RADIO)
...Engines will not respond. Require
assistance. Repeat...
BASE (ON RADIO)
Ranger One this is Grissom Base.
Rescue craft have been dispatched.
EXT.- MARS MINING COLONY
Three small rescue craft race skyward.
INT.-JEB'S CRAFT
COMPUTER
Impact in 60 seconds.
Mars fills the view screen.
INT.-WEST'S CRAFT
The rescue craft are speeding toward Jeb's fighter below.
WEST
Grissom, this is Eagle One. Those Pugs
Will never reach him in time.
BASE (ON RADIO)
Eagle one clear this frequency and
return to base.
DON takes a beat. Then he spins his chair towards Mars, begins working the controls.
WEST
This is Eagle One. I'm going after
him.
BASE (OVER)
Negative Eagle one, your craft is not
equipped
West hits his thrusters.
EXT.-SPACE
West's craft dives toward Jeb's ship and Mars below.
INT.-JEB'S FIGHTER
Mars is coming up fast.
COMPUTER
Impact in 30 seconds.
WEST (OVER)
Jeb, do you have navigational
thrusters?
JEB
Don?
WEST (OVER)
It's a yes or no question.
Mars fills the windscreen. Jeb checks his status display.
JEB
Marginal. But in the green.
COMPUTER
Impact in 15 seconds.
WEST (OVER)
Head towards the canals.
JEB
What are you doing?
WEST (OVER)
Saving your ass. Read towards the
canals. Now!
The canal streaked face of the Mars is all Jeb can see. He grabs his throttle, engages his navigational thrusters and pulls.
EXT.-JEB'S SHIP
A tiny directional thruster FIRES, angling Jeb's craft so that it scrapes the surface of Mars and dives into a giant canal, rocky walls rushing up fast.
INT.-WEST'S SHIP
West is accelerating toward Jeb.
BASE (OVER)
Major West, your ship is not equipped
for rescue. You are not authorized to
jeopardize this asset. That is
a direct order. Acknowledge!
West slams a switch, deactivating his radio.
WEST
Never liked that station, anyway.
He BLASTS into the canal, walls rushing up on either side of him.
EXT.-MARTIAN CANAL
Jeb's tiny craft is plunging toward the rocky crater floor below.
Overhead West's fighter appears, under full thrusters, roaring towards the crater floor faster and at a sharper angle.
INT.-3EB'S FIGHTER
The canal floor is rushing up fast.
COMPUTER
Impact in five seconds.
INT.-WEST'S FIGHTER
Don is blasting toward the canal floor, almost as if trying to beat Jeb's ship to a fiery impact below.
COMPUTER
Warning. Proximity alert.
WEST
Jeb, I'm going to give you a little
kiss. Don't take it the wrong way.
EXT.-MARTIAN CANAL
West angles his ship directly under Jeb.
INT.-JEB'S FIGHTER
The expanding surface of Mars, visible beneath his feet, is suddenly obscured by Don's fighter, swooping under his ship.
JEB
Don, abort. Abort.
INT.-WEST'S FIGHTER
Jeb's fighter is visible overhead.
West going up. Don angles the throttle.
EXT.-MARTIAN CANAL
Don's ship, sandwiched between the surface of Mars and Jeb's fighter, angles up and, like a cue ball hitting it's target, Knocks Jeb's ship spinning toward the safety of space beyond. West's ship actually scrapes the surface of the planet, sending up a plume of Martian dust.
INT.-WEST'S FIGHTER
JEB (OVER)
Does this mean we're going steady?
West pulls his throttle all the way back.
EXT.-MARTIAN CANAL
West shoots up and out towards the dark of space.
WEST (OVER)
You weren't getting out of buying
those beers that easy.
The rescue craft converge on Jeb's ship as Don heads for base.
CUT TO:
CHAPTER 2: Mission Objectives
-----------------------------
IMAGES-CLOSE. A Sallow field. (OVER) a heroic, stringy anthem.
VO
Imagine an end to world hunger. What
if ample food and clean drinking water
were the birthright of all our
planet's children?
INSERT IMAGE-A dashing hero, wind in his hair. JOHN ROBINSON.
VO
This man, professor John Robinson,
inventor of the faster than light
hyperdrive can make that timeless
dream a reality.
INSERT IMAGES -Airbrushed faces of a perfect family. THE ROBINSONS.
VO
John Robinson and his family have been
extensively trained to take a ten year
journey across the galaxy in the
world's most advanced spacecraft,
The Jupiter.
INSERT IMAGE-A towering launch dome glints in the morning sun.
VO
From a distant world, the Robinsons,
Will bring back a miracle...
INSERT IMAGE-A satellite photo of a planet. Closer on continental patches, enhanced to show deposits of a diamond like powder.
VO
Dimondium can turn even worthless sand
to fertile soil. Earth WILL be a
garden. What kind of - future can our
children look forward to?
INSERT IMAGES - Sun dappled, swaying wheat. (OVER) Music crescendos.
V0
A future without hunger. A future
without suffering. Heaven on Earth.
INSERT CORPORATE LOGO.-A Coke bottle hurling towards the stars.
V0
This mission sponsored by the US Army
and the Coca-Cola corporation.
PULL BACK TO REVEAL
WILL ROBINSON (10) hides in a small space, watching the commercial on a jury-rigged, palm-sized computer. He mimics the Naylrator.
WILL
Coke. Saving the world for our
children.
(a beat)
Give me a hi-test break.
WILL-POV. Spying through the open slats of his biding place into...
INT:-LIVING ROOM-AFTERNOON
Basic twenty first century modern. MAUREEN ROBINSON stands, talking with a PRINCIPAL who in less than happy.
PRINCIPAL
He hacked our main power grid to run
his experiment. The school was in
chaos. We didn't even have lights.
The room lights suddenly dim. The Principal flickers, revealed as a holograph, her head now sitting on Schwartzenegger body.
Maureen LAUGHS, then realizes the Principal has no idea her image is being distorted. Maureen begins moving about the room, surreptitiously glancing behind couches, into cabinets.
PRINCIPAL (OVER)
This is no laughing matter, Mrs.
Robinson. Will is terribly gifted. His
little time machines, though pure
fancy, are the products of a truly
brilliant mind.
The Principal’s body has become Twiggy’s. Now that of an ape. Maureen pulls open a closet. Will sits inside. Grins.
WILL
The changing shape of education.
MAUREEN
No more monkey business.
Will shrugs, adjusts his deck. The Principal returns to normal.
PRINCIPAL
The boy is starved for attention. Was
there no way his father could have
attended the science fair?
EXT.-HOUSTON - DAY
Probably Austin and Dallas too. Texas has become a giant urban sprawl spreading into Mexico and beyond. Immense industrial air purifiers hang in a dark, wet sky.
EXT.-HOUSTON SPACE COMMaND-ESTABLISHING
A giant dome topped pedestal towers ever the skyline.
INT.-SPACE COMMAND-MISSION CONTROL-DAY
A MAN stands before a large viewscreen facing the throng of PRESS.
He’s a little uncomfortable with all the media attention. This is PROFESSOR JOHN ROBINSON.
JOHN
Once we have landed on Alpha Prime our
on board robot will begin construction
of a hypergate.
ON SCREEN a hi-tech orbital gate is highlighted and expanded.
JOHN
By then, technicians here on Earth
will have completed a companion
hypergate in our planet's orbit.
ON SCREEN an image of an orbital gate now under construction.
JOHN
Once both gates are complete, ships
will be able to pass instantaneously
between them. The Jupiter can bring
the Dimondium back to Earth without
the ten year delay of a return trip.
REPORTER
Why can't you just use the Jupiter's
hyperengine to zap straight to Alpha
Prime?
JOHN
As you know, hyperspace exists beneath
normal space. If you try to enter
hyperspace without a gate
ON SCREEN a graphic spaceship appears randomly in the corner of a turning schematic of the galaxy.
JOHN
Your exit vector is random. There's no
telling where you'd come out.
REPORTER
Professor, how is Captain Daniels
recovering from the flu? Will we still
be able to pilot the mission?
John glances to the doorway where a uniformed GENERAL stands.
GENERAL
Ladies and Gentlemen, you came to get
a look at the Jupiter One. Don’t you
think you've waited long enough?
John hits a button and the room darkens. A giant monitor reveals...
INT.-LAUNCH DOME
A giant saucer sits connected to its launch pad by loading belts, steaming fuel tubes and spindled gantries.
REPORTER (OVER)
Professor, how does your family feel
about leaving the Earth behind....
JOHN (OVER)
They couldn't be more excited.
CHAPTER 3: Goodbye!
-------------------
EXT.-ROBINSON HOUSE-ESTABLISHING
A suburban colonial, the launch dome towering in the distance.
PENNY (OVER)
This whole mission sucks!
INT.-ROBINSON HOME HALLWAY-SUNSET
PENNY ROBINSON (14) furious, turns, looks downstairs at Maureen.
PENNY
I Don’t want to stay home for dinner.
I want to see my friends for the last
time.
She takes a beat, blinking away the tears. Lifts her wrist and turns on a video camera watch. She begins down the hall.
VIDEO-POV. Penny's face in the monitor screen.
PENNY
... On the eve before she is torn from
her friends, kidnapped, hurled into
deep space against her will, what
thoughts fill the mind of the young
Space Captive....
INT.-WILL'S ROOM-SUNSET
Penny enters a strewn, boy' a world. Will is trying to select items to place in a single packing canister marked: PERSONAL CARGO.
WILL
Will there be boys on Alpha Centuri?
What will I wear?
PENNY
When we wake up in ten years the video
journals of Penny Robinson, Space
Captive, will be devoured by millions.
I will be world famous. You on the
other hand, will have been totally
forgotten.
Penny shows the camera her arm, covered by strings of ribbons.
PENNY
The Space Captive has decided to wear
ribbons of support for fellow
sufferers as she is dragged into deep
space, green for the ecological
issues, white for human rights
WILL
You'd probably gag if I described the
secondary infections loss of
circulation can cause.
Penny seems about to speak, instead just smiles, goes to his bed and pulls off the sheets, begins knotting them together.
WILL
What are you grinning at?
PENNY
I just found an upside to this
mission. The thought of jettisoning
your body into deep space.
Penny knots the sheets into a rope, ties it to the bed-post. Will lifts several palm-sized gold-plated stars. Each reads: 1st prize.
WILL
Dad says Don’t bring them. Like
anything I do matters to him.
PENNY
He never showed, huh?
WILL
Maybe if I had actually broken the
time barrier he would have paid
attention.
PENNY
Don’t let him get to you, kiddo. He
just gets busy with work is all.
Penny tosses the rope out the window, prepares to climb.
WILL
So, that's a no to family dinner?
PENNY
Let's see, do I spend my last night on
Earth watching Mom and Dad pretend not
to be fighting again or get in ten
years of making-out at the mall ...
you do the math.
WILL
Mom's gonna go thermal.
PENNY
What's she gonna do. Ground me?
CHAPTER 4: Major West
---------------------
INT.-SPACE COMMAND-CORRIDOR
John and the General walk the metal passageway.
JOHN
We're lucky they didn't press on
Daniels, condition.
GENERAL
I figured a chance to look at the ship
would keep the dogs at bay.
JOHN
Ben, I'm worried about jamming in a
replacement pilot at the last second.
My family' a on this mission. I need
someone who's more than just spit and
polish.
GENERAL
I've got your man. He just doesn't
know it yet.
The General palms an access panel. A door hisses open to reveal...
INT.-SPACE COMMAND- CONFERENCE ROOM-CONTINUOUS
A figure stands staring silently out the window. Don West. He offers a salute. By his eyes, West is clearly agitated.
GENERAL
At ease, Major.
WEST
Sir, why was I pulled off active duty?
I salvaged my craft and Jeb’s. I'll
fight a court martial, General.
GENERAL
Do you know Professor Robinson?
WEST
By reputation only.
(to John)
Your father's battle strategies were
required reading at the Academy.
GENERAL
How much do you know about the Jupiter
Mission, Major?
WEST
The Jupiter is fully automated. The
pilot flies the ship out of the solar
system and lands on Alpha Prime. It's
a baby sitting job, sir.
GENERAL
Major, you are aware Earth's resources
are severely limited.
WEST
Every schoolchild knows our recycling
technologies will save the
environment. Sending a family across
the galaxy is a publicity stunt to
sell soda to people of all ages.
GENERAL
What I am about to tell you is
classified. Every schoolchild
has been lied to. The recycling
technologies have failed. In
less than two decades Earth will be
unable to support human life.
GENERAL
We spun the ad campaign to give the
mission a friendly face, keep people
from panicking in the streets. We
partnered with Coke because the 900
billion this mission cost would have
bankrupted the government. The
SinoJordanian Alliance knows the truth
as well as we do. They hope to reach
Alpha Prime first - And if they do,
I guarantee you, they will not share
the Dimondium with Western Demons like
us. our crops will wither. We will be
left to die.
WEST
...Captain Daniels doesn’t have the
flu, does he sir?
GENERAL
Daniels was murdered in his apartment
last night. The flu story is a cover
we fed the press.
WEST
Dan was a good pilot. A good man.
GENERAL
Your rescue stunt over Mars was
foolhardy. Explain yourself, Major.
WEST
I had a friend in trouble.
GENERAL
You endangered a one billion dollar
spacecraft, disobeyed a direct order
because of a friend?
WEST
Yes sir. And I'd do it again. Sir.
JOHN
He'll do.
(stepping forward)
GENERAL
Congratulations Major, you're the new
pilot of the Jupiter mission.
CHAPTER 5: Dr. Smith
--------------------
EXT.-DESERT-DAY
Sun beats hard on a MAN who stands on a windswept sand dune, talking to a smartly dressed BUSINESSMAN.
MAN
Perhaps a brief jaunt down memory
lane is required. I was contracted
to provide Daniels, apartment code.
My work is done.
BUSINESSMAN
They found a replacement pilot, the
mission is going ahead on schedule.
MAN
How tragic. For you.
BUSINESSMAN
We require more direct intervention.
MAN
I see. Well, that will cost you. And,
I'm afraid my price has just become
... astronomical.
(OVER) a KNOCK. The man reaches forward and presses a button. The businessman, the desert disappear, only holographs.
Room lights.
Lights come up to reveal...
INT.-MISSION CONTROL-MEDICAL LABS
The man turns, revealing a face as clever an his eyes are evil. This is DR. ZACHARY SMITH. He walks to the door, palms a panel, and the portal hiss open. A TECHNICIAN ENTERS.
TECHNICIAN
Control hasn't received the results
of your final pre-flight exams,
Doctor Smith.
The Doctor moves to a circular overhead light board around which are displayed the faces of the crew of the Jupiter craft. Removes the micro-files, hands them to the technician.
SMITH
The Robinsons are checked out at one
hundred percent. They are in perfect
condition and ready to fly.
He smiles, so sweet you can barely see the malevolence behind it.
SMITH
Wish them good luck for me.
CHAPTER 6: Welcome Aboard!
--------------------------
INT.-SPACE COMMAND-WALKING
Three small figures walk through a gantry towards the ship.
GENERAL (OVER)
The mission protocols are simple.
Professor Robinson is in command
unless you encounter a military
emergency. In that case, Major West,
you will assume command.
The figures have come to the saucer entry-port.
JOHN (OVER)
Welcome aboard, Major.
INT.-JUPITER BRIDGE - CONTINUOUS
Don, John, and the General ENTER. Don’s eyes widen.
West looks like somebody sprung for the full extras package on this baby.
REVERSE ANGLE
Hi-tech heaven. Two pilots, chairs face a giant windscreen. Don walks to the consoles that stretch toward the back walls.
JOHN
Some of this technology might be new
to you. I’ll be happy to explain.
WEST
(off the com)
Cold fusion drive
(off the size consoles)
Rambler-Krey Life Sciences stations.
Don strides to a pedestal in the center of the bridge. Flicks a switch and a holographic Jupiter craft appears on the launch pad.
WEST
Holographic navigational interface.
Don points to a row of man-sized glass cylinders on the back wall.
WEST
Cryosleep array. Fully monitored.
He approaches the blast doors that lead off the back of the bridge.
WEST
Sick bay, remote Ops, engineering and
living quarters are below decks.
Hyperengine should be in here.
Don hits a wall panel which opens to reveal an immense ENGINE ROOM.
JOHN
If you have to baby sit, it's not
such a bad nursery, wouldn't you
agree, Major?
Just then the ELEVATOR rises from the lower decks. On its circular platform stands a DOCTOR in a lab coat. She walks to the General.
DOCTOR
The cryosleep systems are running at
ninety five percent.
GENERAL
Doctor Smith approved the specs-
DOCTOR
Doctor Smith is base physician. I am
responsible once this ship is in
flight. These tubes have to keep the
crew in suspended animation for ten
years. They will be perfect or this
ship will not launch. Is that clear?
GENERAL
Absolutely, Doctor.
JOHN
Judy, I'd like you to meet Major
West. He's taking Mike's place.
DOCTOR
He's heavier than Mike. We'll have to
re-calibrate.
WEST
I’d be more than happy to discuss my
dimensions perhaps over dinner?
DOCTOR
West - I've read about you. Something
of a war hero, aren't you?
WEST
(preening )
Well, yes, actually.
DOCTOR
Those who can't think, fight.
(a freezing smile)
Well, nice to have met you.
She heads toward the readouts. West turns to John.
WEST
That's one cold fish I'd love to
thaw.
JUDY
(turning)
I’m not going to make it home for
dinner, Dad.
West turns to John. Dad?
WEST
It's going to be a long flight.
EXT.-ROBINSON HOME-NIGHT
Lights burn in the windows.
INT.-ROBINSON HOME-DINING ROOM-NIGHT
John ENTERS to find the remains of an elegant dinner on the table, candles never lit, food never eaten.
John crosses to a small scale model sitting on the table. Around it hangs another gold plated 1st prize star. He smiles.
MAUREEN (OVER)
He won first prize again. He
practically brought down his entire
school. But he won first prize.
Maureen descends the steps in a bathrobe. Joins John.
JOHN
A non-working prototype for his time
machine. Sharp stuff for a midget.
Maureen is silent.
JOHN
I'm sorry about dinner. I had to work
late. The new pilot-.
MAUREEN
What you had to do was prioritize
your family over the mission
JOHN
Maureen. This mission is about our
family. So we can stay together
MAUREEN
The perfect nuclear family. The most
stable social unit, ideally suited
for the isolation of a long journey
into space. It's all just PR, John.
You're never home. Judy is
becoming a ghost just like you. Penny
can't see past her own navel and Will
has to black out-his school, just to
get his father's attention. The
perfect nuclear family in ruin.
John stares at his wife. Then he reaches forward, touches her hair.
JOHN
I know, Maureen. I'm scared too.
A beat. Then she moves to him. And he holds her close.
INT.-ROBINSON HOME-WILL'S ROOM-NIGHT
John stands in the yellow wedge of hall light. He touches something hanging around his own neck. A pair of metal dog tags.
WIDER
Will lies in his bed, eyes closed. Asleep. A beat. John turns, heading out into the hall.
EXT.-ROBINSON HOME-NIGHT
The bedroom lights go out, a normal home against the backdrop of the launch dome towering in the distance.
INT.-SPACE COMMAND-LAUNCH DOME-NIGHT
The Jupiter one stands amidst loading gantries, final supplies rolling into the
ship on automated conveyer belts and lifts.
CHAPTER 7: Primary Directives
-----------------------------
PAN DOWN
TWO TECHNICIANS stand checking off supplies on a lightpad.
LOADING TECHNICIAN
Anything else?
LOADING TECHNICIAN #2
I'm showing a late shipment from
Mission Medical. Smith's
authorization. Here it is now.
HOLD on a canister that reads: BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS: Do Not Open, as it passes on the loading belt. FOLLOW THE DRUM as it winds along the conveyer, up a gantry towards the Jupiter One. PUSH IN...
INT. -CARGO DRUM
Smith sits crouched inside, cleaning his nails.
INT.-JUPITER ONE-LOWER DECKS
A giant robot stands attached to its service bay. Still. Silent.
A SERVICE DRAWER slides open and a shadowy infiltrator emerges, his face visible in the dim service light. Smith.
Smith approaches the docked Robot, places a small keypad device on the Robot's dormant CPU panel. Smith activates the device.
SMITH
You'll forgive me if I forgo the
kiss, my sleeping behemoth.
Smith hits a switch on the panel and the Robot's system indicators light into life. Smith types several keys on the keypad.
SMITH
But the time has come to awake.
ROBOT
Robot is on-line. Reviewing primary
directives. One, preserve the
Robinson Family. Two, Maintain ship
systems. Three
SMITH
Spare me the chatter.
Smith taps the keypad. The Robot is silenced. Smith types again.
SMITH
What noble charges my steely
centurion. Sadly I fear you have far
more dire deeds in store for you.
Smith completes his re-programming. Hits a switch.
ROBOT
Robot is on-line. Reviewing primary
directives. Two hours into mission
destroy Robinson family. Destroy all
systems.
Smith smiles. Removes the re-programming module.
SMITH
Now that's more like it. Farewell my
tin-plated pal. Give my regards to
oblivion.
Smith climbs into a chute marked WASTE DISPOSAL.
INT.-WASTE DISPOSAL CHUTE
Smith begins crawling down the chute. His tiny reprogramming module BEEPS. Smith activates a tiny, built in com-link.
From the mic, the familiar visage of the Businessman is projected into the crawlspace over Smith's face.
SMITH
I told you never to call me here.
BUSINESSMAN
I see you have completed your mission
on schedule Good work, Doctor. And
goodbye.
The Businessman smiles. SMITH-CLOSE. Puzzled.
Suddenly the tiny module in his hand OVERLOADS, the flesh on his palm smoking as Smith is engulfed in an electrical charge. He goes out, his body perfectly still.
CHAPTER 8: Launch!
------------------
EXT.-SPACE COMMAND-MORNING
The giant dome shines in the early sun.
INT-JUPITER ONE John and Maureen face will and Penny who stand now in their freezing tubes. All wear silver flight suits. Maureen moves Penny's hair from in front of her face.
PENNY
Don’t, mom. Vogue says this will be
the style in ten years.
WILL
Will she wake up less annoying?
PENNY
Does he have to wake up at all?
MAUREEN
Alright you two, enough.
Maureen kisses her children. John moves to will who reaches to shake at the same moment John tries to hug him. A beat. Then John tries to a shake as Will goes for the hug. A total miss. Will backs into his tube.
MAUREEN
You get a C in paternal expression,
Professor. But an A for effort.
John kisses his wife, already in her tube.
MAUREEN
You always get an A in that.
JUDY
Don’t let me shatter this unbridled
display of affection, but we are
running behind.
JOHN
(entering his tube)
Major, she's all yours.
WEST
I'll try to give you a smooth ride.
Judy walks the row, checking their bio-monitors. Enters her tube.
JUDY
Mission control this is Dr. Robinson.
We are in the green.
MISSION CONTROL (OVER)
Roger, Doctor, you are go to initiate
cryostasis.
Don walks to Judy’s tube.
WEST
One question, Doctor. in there room
in these tubes for two?
JUDY
Barely enough for you and your ego,
Major. Drive carefully.
(touches her com-link)
initializing cryostasis tubes.
The tubes rotate closed around the Robinsons. Suddenly each crew member is surrounded by a shimmering blue glow, brightening like a star and then subsiding. All stand fixed in suspended animation.
Don stares at the family a beat. He goes to the main console. Straps himself in.
WEST
Mission Control, this is Jupiter One.
The Robinsons are asleep. We are
ready to fly.
INT.-SPACE COMMAND-MISSION CONTROL
Welcome to the future. Banks of monitors manned by gum-chewing, pink haired technicians. A giant monitor shows the Jupiter on the launch pad. The CONTROLLER (NOAH FREEMAN) pulls in to his console.
NOAH
Jupiter Two this is Mission Control.
You are at T-minus two minutes and
counting. We're opening the dome.
MONITOR-CLOSE. The dome begins to part.
EXT.-JUPITER ONE
Giant gantries retract. Fueling lines disengage.
INT.-JUPITER ONE
WEST
External fuel pressure to zero.
Powering main drive systems.
EXT.-JUPITER ONE
The nuclear drive at the base of the saucer EXPLODES, the giant craft TREMBLING, straining towards the sky.
INT.-MiSSION CONTROL
NOAH
Jupiter One you are at ninety five
percent.
INT.-JUPITER ONE
WEST
Houston, main drive systems to on
line status. It's showtime.
EXT.-JUPITER ONE
Nuclear ENGINES ROAR. The ship begins to rise in a bolus of flame.
INT.- MISSION CONTROL
NOAH
We have lift off.
INT.-JUPITER ONE
WEST
Requesting escape trajectory.
INT.-MISSION CONTROL
NOAH
Major, your escape vector in clear of
all military and commercial traffic.
Op in go on your command.
INT.-JUPITER ONE
WEST
Roger, Houston.
West reaches for a glowing panel.
WEST
We're outta here.
EXT. JUPITER ONE
The atomic power source fires a focused BLAST, shooting the Jupiter through cloud and sky towards the black edge of space.
INT:-MISSION CONTROL
The main screen shows a graphic of the Jupiter's trajectory as the ship arcs toward the outer edge of the atmosphere.
NOAH
Jupiter One, you are clear Earth's
atmosphere.
A CHEER goes up in the control room.
EXT.-JUPITER ONE
The giant saucer shell EXPLODES, revealing the inner ship, the glittering high tech shape of the JUPITER TWO.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
Don watches as the Earth recedes into a blue marble, flickering orbital billboards growing distant. Smiles at the familiar sight.
WEST
Jupiter One booster disengaged.
Proceeding towards Mercury.
EXT.-JUPITER TWO
Nuclear diodes at the ship's base spin into life, glowing with atomic fire, the ship now heading towards Mercury and beyond.
INT.-JUPITER TWO-LOWER DECKS
The Robot stands dormant in his service bay. HOLD on the closed service drawer in the b.g. PUSH IN.
INT.-SERVICE DRAWER
Smith lies still, unconscious in the dark compartment.
INT-JUPITER TWO BRIDGE
Mercury hangs like a red moon in the front viewscreen.
WIDER
Don presses a button and two giant blast shields close over the Jupiter Two's main viewscreen.
WEST
Houston, diverting all spacecraft
controls to the main computer.
(off mic)
Eight years of flight training.
He walks to the center of the bridge and activates the navigational holograph, images forming in mid-air over the pedestal.
HOLOGRAPH- CLOSE. The Jupiter Two is visible, backed by the planets of our solar system.
WEST
Navigational holographics on line.
(off mic)
Fifty combat missions.
Don touches buttons and a highlight indicates the ship's trajectory past mercury, around the Sun in a slingshot and into space beyond.
WEST
Course confirmed for slingshot exit
of the solar system.
(off mic)
Just so I can take the family camper
on an interstellar picnic.
Don walks to the freezing tubes. He zips up his silver flight suit.
WEST
Ten world series. My, nephews' high
school and college graduations. A
decade's worth of Sports Illustrated
swimsuit editions.
(a beat)
Noah, ten years in a lifetime.
West climbs into his tube.
INT.-MISSION CONTROL
NOAH
Sleep well, old friend.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
Don hits a switch and his tube closes. A beat then he is engulfed by the blue
glow, frozen in space. The tubes rise into the craft.
EXT.-JUPITER TWO
The ship flies on into the endless night.
DISSOLVE TO:
CHAPTER 9: Destroy!
-------------------
INT.-JUPITER TWO-WASTE DISPOSAL CHUTE-LATER
Smith lies still. He starts from a nightmare into…-a nightmare
INT.-JUPITER TWO-LOWER DECKS
Smith scrambles out of the chute, stares at his hand, the impression of the overloaded communicator seared into his palm.
He spins around disoriented. Stumbles to a closed view screen and hits a stud. The blast shield opens. Space.
SMITH-CLOSE. Shock. No words.
THE ROBOT-CLOSE. In his docking bay. Suddenly the automaton powers up, lights activating as his CPU comes on line.
SMITH
No.
Smith turns, slaps the burned out programming module on the Robot.
SMITH
Disable program.
No response. The Robot continues to power up.
Smith engage interface. Initiate system shut-down.
ROBOT
Robot is on line. Implementing prime
command directives.
The Robot disengages from the service bay, begins rolling forward.
ROBOT
Robinson family, destroy.
SMITH
No. Cease. Desist.
The Robot rolls towards the bridge.
ROBOT
All operating Systems, destroy.
Smith grabs a wrench from a tool bracket, leaps for the Robot. The Robot swings once, sending Smith flying into a flaring console.
ROBOT
Jupiter Two, destroy.
INT.-MISSION CONTROL-NIGHT
Dark. A single Techie (ANNIE) mans the watch, playing holo-games with a stylus over her desk. SCREENS flicker into life.
ANNIE
What the-?
(into a mic)
Somebody wake up the chief.
INT.-JUPITER TWO-BRIDGE
Still. The bridge doors open and the ambient lights come on.
The Robot rolls onto the bridge, faces the cryosleep array. He extends his arms, an electrical charge arcing between his claws.
ROBOT
Robinson Family, destroy.
He fires, a blast of electricity hitting the cryosleep controls. (OVER) ALARMS sound as the tubes begin to descend, electricity sparking across the sleeping Robinsons.
SMITH (OVER)
Mechanical moron. You'll kill us all.
Smith, wrench in hand, rushes the Robot, is again hurled across the room. The Robot turns towards the navigational computer.
INT.-MISSION CONTROL
Fully lit. All the monitors are manned by sleepy Techies. Noah ENTERS, taking a coffee from Annie without breaking stride. , ALARMS flash everywhere.
NOAH
This mission's over. Wake them up.
The Techies begins working the controls.
ANNIE
No response, sir. I'm sorry.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
The Robot is facing the navigational holograph in the center of the bridge. The electricity arcs between his claws once again.
ROBOT
Operating systems, Destroy.
Smith is slumped against the bulkhead. He shakes off his fall in time to see the Robot fire at the navigational array, the holograph disappearing in the flames of the exploding pedestal.
EXT.-JUPITER TWO
The ship begins to veer off course, falling towards the sun.
INT.JUPITER TWO
The Robot is rolling toward the com.
THE FREEZING TUBES are quickly being engulfed in flames. Smith stumbles toward their control station. Begins typing madly.
SMITH
Wake up, damn you. I can't stop this
infernal contraption on my own.
He SMASHES a glass panel that reads EMERGENCY DEACTIVATE. The figures inside the lowering tubes glow. All except Judy.
The Robot is before the Com, electricity arcing between his claws.
SMITH
(off the tubes)
Hurry up. Hurry up.
The Robot FIRES at the main Com, controls EXPLODING everywhere. The freezing tubes begin to open, the Robot spinning to face them.
John blinks to life first. Emerges, ducking a BLAST of electrical energy from the Robot, hitting the deck and rolling.
JOHN
Maureen. The children.
Maureen grabs Will and Penny, pulls them down just as the Robot blows away their tubes.
John pulls a laser pistol from a wall mount.
JOHN
Disengage safety.
GUN
Voiceprint confirmed.
The Robot spins towards John, FIRES an electrical charge - John dodges at the last instant, the grazing blast burning his silvery suit, singeing his side, sending into the wall, his gun flying.
WILL
Dad!
Will ducks under his mother's arm, scrambles across the bridge.
MAUREEN
Will, wait.
The Robot FIRES at the scrambling boy but misses, Will disappearing down the gunny hatch leading to the lower decks.
DON leaps from his tube atop the Robot's back, trying to grab the Robot's power source. The mechanical monster electrifies his shell, sending the Major flying.
The Robot turns to Penny and Maureen. Extends his arms toward them.
Electricity arcing between his claws. The two are done for. Maureen puts her hand over Penny's eyes.
MAUREEN
Look away, baby.
The Robot is about to fire. Suddenly the Robot freezes, his claws deactivate, his power lights go to stand-by and he stands immobile.
WIDER. Will stands in the b.g., his tiny hacking deck in his hands.
WILL
Robot. Return to your docking bay and
power down.
ROBOT
Command accepted.
The Robot turns and begins heading for the elevator. All watch in amazement. Will grins, a familiar mischievous gleam in his eyes.
WILL
If the family won't come to the
science fair, bring the science fair
to the family.
An EXPLOSION rocks the ship.
PENNY (OVER)
Mom, look, it’s Doctor Smith.
Penny stands over Smith who lays crumpled in the corner. Maureen grabs an emergency medi-kit from a wall clamp, tosses it to Penny.
MAUREEN
Pulse, respiration and bleeding-
PENNY
Basic triage, lock down and
stabilize. I know the drill.
John is standing, helps Don to his feet.
WEST
NEXT picnic, no robots.
Don moves fast to the helm. The main view screen is still closed, covered by giant metal blast shields.
WEST
Communications links are down.
Maureen is at the life sciences console.
MAUREEN
Life support is at ten percent.
Trying to bring secondary systems on
line. It's not working.
VIDEO MONITOR-POV. Penny is bandaging Smith's head, her bravado barely masking her fathoml4ss terror.
PENNY
Explosions rock the ship. Danger is
everywhere, 'Yet the Space Captive is
fearless as she...
A console FLARES. Penny fights back tears, terrified.
PENNY
I want to go home now.
Don is at the navigational system.
WEST
Rerouting power from the secondary
couplings. Try it again.
MAUREEN
Finding a power tap....
Suddenly the lights go on, the air compressors begin to Hiss.
MAUREEN
Life support is back on line.
WEST
I can't get the blast shields open.
We're flying blind.
Penny in working ever Smith, bandaging his head. She runs stimulator under his nose. Smith begins to stir, COUGHING.
PENNY
I've got life signs.
(wincing)
Boy, somebody could use a breath
mint.
West turns, spots Smith for the first time.
WEST
(to John)
Try the emergency back-ups.
Don moves to the fallen figure, lifts him up against the bulkhead.
WEST
Smith, what the hell-
SMITH
I was making a last minute check ...
someone hit me from behind.
Don almost buys it. Then he notices Smith's hand, grabs it.
BURN-CLOSE. The reprogramming module's distinctive, foreign signature seared into his flesh.
WEST
Sino-Jordanian technology. You're a
Goddamned spy.
(realizing)
You did this.
Don slams him against the bulkhead, begins dragging him towards the airlock. The pilot hits a switch. The inner hatch opens.
SMITH
Stop. What are you doing?
WEST
Dropping some extra weight.
MAUREEN (OVER)
Help, somebody. Please.
REVERSE ANGLE
Maureen stands at Judy's freezing tube. The young doctor's cryofield is sparking on and off.
MAUREEN
The thawing engine in broken. can't
get her out. She's dying.
Smith uses the distraction to palm-slam Don in the chin, knocking him backwards. Don staggers, goes again for Smith.
SMITH
Touch me and the girl dies.
Don freezes in his tracks.
SMITH
Your mission physician is indisposed.
I can save her life. But only if you
spare mine.
WEST
I Don’t deal with dead men.
SMITH
Kill me, I kill the girl. How much is
your revenge worth, Major? I will, of
course, need your word as an officer
that you will let me live.
Don’s decision is lighting fast.
WEST
Help her.
JOHN
I've got a com signal.
Suddenly the radio SQUAWKS into life.
RADIO
...Is Mission Control. Do you read?
Jupiter Two this is
JOHN
Emergency power's on line. I think I
can get these blast shields open.
VIEWSCREEN CLOSE. The blast shields part to reveal a giant fiery orb in their path. They are heading directly for the sun.
WEST
Uh-oh.
INT.-MISSION CONTROL
Noah stands over the Com. The room is a madhouse.
NOAH
Give me a telemetry projection.
Noah looks up at the main monitor. The graphic of the Jupiter Two is heading towards the graphic of the sun.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
John and Don stand over the Com.
NOAH (OVER)
You’re way off course. We show you in
the sun's gravitational pull.
WEST
How long do we have?
NOAH (OVER)
We count seven minutes before your
outer hull begins to melt.
DON straps himself into the pilot's chair.
WEST
I’m going to try for the Mercury
Mines.
SMITH stands at the freezing tube, Penny and Maureen assisting him.
SMITH
I will need Dr. Robinson's portable
gurney. I believe it is stored in-
PENNY
I'm on it.
Penny races off. Smith begins working the controls to Judy's freezing tube.
MAUREEN
We trusted you.
(sinking in)
You tried to kill us all.
SMITH
Existence offers us nothing if not
the opportunity for an endless series
of betrayals.
(off her stunned expression)
There’s a world behind the world,
Professor Robinson. Lie once, cheat
twice and everything becomes clear.
Do not mistake my deception for a
character flaw. It is philosophical
choice, a profound understanding of
the universe. It is a way of life.
MAUREEN
You're a monster.
SMITH
Perhaps. But I am also the only one
who can save your daughter's life.
Penny reappears, a case in hand. She presses a button and the case unfolds into a hovering, gyroscopicaly-leveled gurney.
MAUREEN
Where's Will?
PENNY
He's futzing with that Robot.
SMITH
Alright, Penny dear, I need you to
short the power on my command.
PENNY
Does he have to call me dear?
SMITH
Professor, if you will assist me in
lowering the body.
Smith hands Penny a wrench.
SMITH
Penny, dear. Now.
Maureen nods. Penny SLAMS the wrench into the power circuit. The freezing field FLARES and deactivates, the tube swinging open.
LIFESIGN MONITOR-CLOSE. Flatline.
MAUREEN
She’s dying.
Smith and Maureen lower her onto the gurney.
SMITH
Sickbay. Move.
Penny, Maureen and Smith rush the gurney out the blast doors towards Sickbay just as the ship tilts madly.
AT THE HELM
WINDSCREEN-CLOSE. The sun is growing ever larger.
WEST
Unable to re-route to Mercury. The
sun's pull is too strong.
(a beat)
Noah, I need options.
INT.-MISSION CONTROL
NOAH
Major West we are unable to provide
contingencies.
(a beat)
I'm sorry, Don.
ON SCREEN-THE JUPITER TWO is heading towards the sun.
INT.-JUPITER TWO-SICKBAY
Penny, Smith and Maureen have transferred Judy onto a hi-tech scanning-bed. A hovering holographic schematic of Judy's physiognomy appears over her, descends onto her body.
SMITH
No cardio-pulmonary or respiratory functions.
MAUREEN
Body temp at 68 Fahrenheit.
SMITH
Get her flight suit off.
Penny unzips the silver material as Smith works the console, highlighting her holographic heart.
SMITH
Clear.
The holographic image of her heart beats once, then is still.
SMITH
Again. Clear.
The lights flicker on the bio-console, the holograph winks out.
SMITH
Power's down.
MAUREEN
We're losing her.
CHAPTER 10: Initiate Hyperdrive
-------------------------------
INT. -JUPITER TWO
DON and John man the Com. The sun is a raging fireball dead ahead.
JOHN
I've re-routed all secondary systems
to the main drive.
WEST
She won't budge. Shortest baby sitting
mission I've ever done.
JOHN
My family's not going die in space.
WEST
I'm open to suggestions.
COMPUTER
Outer hull breach in 30 seconds.
INT.-SICKBAY
Smith begins pumping Judy's chest by hand.
SMITH
Come on, child. Fight. Put a little
heart in it.
Smith steps back, begins precise, staccato blows to Judy's chest.
SMITH
The life.. .
(hit )
I save ...
(hit)
may be
(hit)
my own.
Smith stops, presses his ear to her chest - Takes her pulse. Smiles.
MAUREEN
Judy? Baby?
A beat. Then Judy opens her eyes, manages a weak smile.
JUDY
You should try to look less worried.
It has a tendency to spook the
patients.
MAUREEN
(to Smith)
Thank you.
Smith holds her gaze, his eyes almost snake-like.
SMITH
You are a good woman, Maureen. Any man
could see that. I hope I have proven
the well-being of your family is of
great importance to me. Perhaps, if
you convinced your husband to trust
me...
Maureen stares at him. A beat. She pulls a laser from the wall. Points it at his forehead.
MAUREEN
Stabilize her, Smith. Because you only
breathe as long as she does.
INT.-JUPITER TWO BRIDGE
The ship is shaking in the mighty pull of the sun. Don is struggling to keep the ship stable.
COMPUTER
Heat seal breach in 20 seconds.
JOHN
There's got to be some way to get
through this.
DON stares at him.
WEST
That's it.
JOHN
What's it?
WEST
We can't get away from the sun. So we
have to go through it.
The hyperdrive -
JOHN
Engage the hyperdrive without a gate,
we could be thrown anywhere in the
galaxy
WEST
Anywhere but here.
INT.-MISSION CONTROL
ANNIE
We're getting resident radiation
distortions from the space craft. She
must be breaking up.
NOAH
Let me see those numbers, Annie.
The Techie hands him a sheet. Noah looks for a beat.
NOAH
Son of a bitch. He's powering up the
hyperdrive.
EXT.-JUPITER TWO
The saucer is elongating slightly, changing its shape as it prepares to enter hyperspace.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
BRIDGE
Will scrambles onto the bridge, heads towards John who is working the main control panel.
WEST
Hyperengines coming on line.
COMPUTER
Warning. Heat shield breach.
The sun covers the entire windscreen, a furious landscape of flame.
JOHN
Hyperdrive at 100 percent. Major, you
have the Com.
WEST
Zero to 20 million miles a second in
under a minute. Let's see what this
baby can do.
John takes Will's hand as West engages the hyperdrive.
West, John and Will, are hurled backwards from the sudden acceleration, sticking to the walls and ceiling respectively.
INT.-SICKBAY
Maureen and Penny watch as Smith swaddles Judy in thermal blanket. Suddenly, Maureen, Penny, and Smith fly against the walls. Judy is held in place by the gurney straps.
INT.-MISSION CONTROL
The graphic of the space craft is beginning to flicker as it merges with the graphic of the sun.
ANNIE
We can’t keep a fix on her, sir. She's
starting to disappear.
Noah stares at the screen.
NOAH
Godspeed.
EXT.-SPACE
The Jupiter Two flies into the mighty ball of the sun. And just as it reaches the tallest of the gaseous mountains, the ship becomes translucent, falling through the orb, elongating and then vanishing in a sudden star of hyperspace.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
THE WINDSCREEN. The sky breaks apart giving way to a starfield.
EXT.-DEEP SPACE
Quiet. Empty. Suddenly space distorts and, in a sudden flash, a ship appears, hurling into the darkness. The Jupiter Two.
The Jupiter Two comes to rest at the edge of an alien, twin starred solar system, near a giant crimson planet.
CHAPTER 11: Lost in Space
-------------------------
INT.-JUPITER TWO-INFIRMARY
Maureen kneels before Penny and Will, making sure they're okay. Smith stands silently in the b.g. Judy's gurney is empty. John ENTERS, his face wrought with fatherly concern.
JOHN
Is everyone okay?
MAUREEN
All in one piece. Although Major West
has the most puzzling definition of a
smooth ride.
JOHN
Judy? Where's Judy?
Just then Judy emerges through a door, zipping up her flight suit.
JUDY
Boy either I cut down on the coffee
or sew in a flap. It's hell getting
in and out of this thing.
JOHN
Are you-
JUDY
Vitals are normal. Pulse and
respiration seem to be-
JOHN
Baby, are you okay?
JUDY
I'm fine Daddy really.
John holds her close, spared a father's worst fear.
SMITH
Will every disaster be an excuse for
familial sentiment? Please tell me
now so I may gather up a liberal
supply of space sickness bags.
Don turns towards Smith. Maureen steps between them.
MAUREEN
What happened, John? Where are we?
INT.-JUPITER TWO-BRIDGE
Don in at the navigational holograph, patching sparking wires. The rest of the crew emerge onto the bridge.
WEST
You had me worried, Doc. Nice to see
you thawed.
JUDY
Smart maneuver with the hyper-drive.
WEST
A fighter who thinks, what do you
know? You're just in time for the
show.
Don makes a connection. The pedestal powers up, a holograph of the Jupiter Two appearing over its surface.
WEST
Computer, map our current location.
HOLOGRAPHIC PEDESTAL-CLOSE. The area around the Jupiter Two is now filled with a holographic representation of the alien solar system.
JOHN
See anything familiar?
Don just shakes his head.
COMPUTER
Searching for recognizable
constellations.
(a beat)
Unable to locate.
JOHN
This computer has star maps of the
entire known galaxy.
PENNY
We're lost, aren't we?
Judy wraps her arm around her sister.
WEST
What the hell is that?
VIEWSCREEN- CLOSE. The nearest planet is starting to glow. Suddenly a distortion field begins to emanate from the alien world. The edges of space seem to sear away, leaving a glowing portal.
JOHN
Any effect on the ship?
WEST
No.
VIEWSCREEN -CLOSE. All the planets and constellations beyond the portal appear to be in different places.
JOHN
(off the navigational hologram)
All the planets have moved.
WEST
And where did that come from?
CHAPTER 12: The Proteus
-----------------------
EXT.-SPACE
Breaking the inner edge of the portal, a long silver space needle catches the light from the dual suns.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
The crew man their stations. Only Will is absent as they the ship maneuver around the portal.
VIEWSCREEN -CLOSE. As they, move behind the portal it seems to disappear, showing only the blackness of space. No ship beyond.
WEST
It's gone.
JOHN
No. Go back in front of it.
EXT.-JUPITER TWO
As the ship moves back in front of the portal, the hole in space is visible again, the giant probe ship revealed once more within...
JOHN
It's a hole in space. A doorway.
WEST
A doorway to where?
JOHN
If we want to reach that ship, we're
going to have to find out.
EXT.-SPACE
The Jupiter Two flies through the pulsing hole in space.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
The giant, silver ship looms in the windscreen.
MAUREEN
No apparent effects on the ship.
WEST
I'm hailing on all frequencies. No
response.
JOHN
There are some markings on the
starboard side. Can you throw some
light on her?
WEST
Don’t know if the exterior spots are
working.- There we go.
THE WINDSCREEN-CLOSE. Powerful spotlights hit the ship.
WEST AND JOHN-CLOSE. And really surprised.
WEST
If this in all a dream, why can't
there be more girls?
THE SPACESHIP-CLOSE. Essentially a needle covered with metal scallops. On its hull, under the legend PROTEUS, an American flag.
WEST
I've never seen a design like this.
what are those scales on her hull?
JOHN
How could Earth launch a ship this
massive and neither of us know about
it? ... It just doesn't make sense.
WEST
These scanners are damaged, I'm
getting inconsistent life signs but
they may be sensor ghosts.
JOHN
Maybe her computer's still up. I'm
trying standard remote access codes.
ON SCREEN-A docking ring on the giant ship comes to life, giant floods coming to life, the docking aperture rotating open.
WEST
What do you know?
EXT.-SPACE
The Jupiter Two heads towards the giant ship.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
JOHN
Can you give me some light on the
secondary docking ring?
A smaller docking ring is illuminated on the viewscreen.
WEST
What do you make of that?
Attached to the starboard docking ring is another, smaller craft. Its snaking anthropomorphic lines are not of human design.
MAUREEN
Boys, I think we're having a close
encounter.
EXT.-SPACE
The Jupiter moves into the docking ring of the giant ship.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
(OVER) a giant THUD as the Jupiter Two docks with the probe.
ROBOT (OVER)
Crush.
REVERSE ANGLE. The Robot in rolling in through the doorway, arms waving wildly before him.
ROBOT
Crush! Kill! Destroy!
Don and John are up fast. But the Robot just rolls to a stop. Will steps from behind the automaton, his hacker's deck in his hand.
He pulls a tiny mic from his deck. Lifts it to his lips.
WILL
Crush. Kill. Destroy.
ROBOT
Crush! Kill! Destroy!
Will points to several jury-rigged modifications.
WILL
I hacked into his CPU, bypassed his
main operating system and accessed
his sub-routines. He's basically
running on remote control.
All stare at him. Penny finally speaks.
PENNY
Show off.
INT.-JUPITER TWO-CREW QUARTERS-LATER
Penny stands guard, a rifle in her hand, talking into her recorder.
PENNY
And so the Space Captive finds
herself helping the Robinsons by
guarding the traitor. And she finds-
Penny's VOICE trails off. Stares out the porthole. Endless space.
PENNY
She finds that out here, in the dark
and cold, she's scared, and she's
kind of glad they're all together.
Just then Don approaches, a silver bundle under his arm.
PENNY
Identify yourself, soldier.
WEST
West, Major, United Space Force,
requesting permission to see the
prisoner.
Penny steps aside.
PENNY
Proceed Major West.
Don smiles, winks at her, going through the door.
PENNY
Ouch. Could he be cuter? I don't
think so.
INT.-SMITH’S CELL
Actually a med-lab. Smith turns to face Don an he ENTERS.
SMITH
These quarters are totally
unacceptable. I demand-
Don tosses his bundle on the seat. A silver flight suit.
WEST
We're going to check out the probe
ship. Maybe we can figure out how
they got here. And how to get home.
SMITH
Ta-ta. Have a wonderful trip.
WEST
You're coming with us.
SMITH
Out of the question. I'm a doctor not
a space explorer. You and-
But Don is in his face in a heartbeat.
WEST
What you are is a murderous saboteur
and I am not leaving you on this ship
so you can do more harm than you've
already caused.
SMITH
I absolutely refuse-
WEST
(closer)
Give me an excuse to kill you.
Please.
Smith stares at him a beat. Then he smiles, looks to the flight suit.
SMITH
Silver always was my color.
INT.-JUPITER TWO-LOWER DECKS
Will stands in front of the Robot, polishing a blast mark clean.
WILL
When boarding a mysterious
spacecraft, it always pays to look
your best.
John enters, removes a gun from the weapons locker.
JOHN
Deactivate safety.
GUN
Voiceprint confirmed. Rifle is
active.
GUN-CLOSE. A small light goes from red to green.
JOHN
You did a good job up there son. You
saved us all.
WILL
Thanks.
An awkward silence hangs between them.
JOHN
I know I haven't around much these
days.That we haven't had time to-
WEST (OVER)
Professor, we're ready.
John looks at his boy Will in silent.
JOHN
Will, you're the most important thing
in the world to me. I hope one day
you'll be able to see that.
With that, John walks out. Will stares after him. Faces the Robot.
WILL
Take care of my dad, okay Robot?
Will works his remote, sending the Robot towards the bridge.
INT.-PROBE SHIP
A long dark corridor. Slowly the ambient lights come up. A door opens to reveal Smith, John, Don, Judy and the Robot, stepping out of the docking chamber, the airlock closing in the b.g.
JUDY
The air is stale. Old.
SMITH
That's the smell of ghosts.
Don walks to a computer panel set into the wall. Begins typing.
WEST
I'm interfacing with the on board
computer... Odd.
JOHN
Not working?
WEST
No, it's just, I don't know, too
fast. Most of the systems are down.
The Robot rolls deeper into the alien ship. The others follow. More lights flicker into life, illuminating the long corridor ahead.
JUDY
Motion sensors are still working.
WEST (OVER)
What do you make of this?
Smith, John and Judy join Don at one of the bulkhead walls.
JOHN
Some kind of hieroglyphics.
WALL-CLOSE. A series of hieroglyphics are scrawled on the hull wall. The sketches tell a story.
HIEROGLYPH-CLOSE. The alien craft docks with the giant ship.
SECOND HIEROGLYPH-CLOSE-A trio of inhuman bipedal stick figures enter the giant ship.
THIRD HIEROGLYPH-CLOSE. The shape of a sun or a disc, from which juts many legs. This final hieroglyph is circled in a clotted red substance. Don touches the stain.
CHAPTER 13: Exploration
-----------------------
JUDY
If I didn’t know better I'd say this
is blood.
SMITH
I know an omen when I see one. I
suggest a hasty retreat.
WEST
Just imagine we're retreating in the
opposite direction. Now, move it.
Don shoves Smith forward with the butt of his laser rifle, the group heading deeper into the quiet ship.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
Will watches through the Robot's POV, toggling to move the automaton forward. A readout marked AUDIO flashes. Will turns up a volume control. (OVER) the sound of a slow, steady DRIP.
WILL
Dad, do you....
INT.-PROBE SHIP
ROBOT
... Hear something?
The Robot turns, begins heading further down the corridor. (OVER) now DRIPPING can be heard by all.
SMITH
Like the drip, drip, drip of blood..
WEST
You really need to shut up.
JOHN
(pointing)
Here.
THE CEILING shows a jagged hole, covered with some kind of viscous membrane, leading to the dark of a service tunnel above. The membrane DRIPS steadily onto the floor below.
JUDY
That material appears biological.
SMITH
Nothing good will come of this.
WEST
What makes you such an expert?
SMITH
Trust me, Major. Evil knows evil.
JOHN
Let's find the bridge. Maybe we can
get some answers.
They head off. HOLD on the dripping membrane.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
Maureen is at the main sensor console working an instrument panel.
Penny is hanging upside down in a harness overhead, using a laser welder on a giant mass of exposed ceiling circuitry.
PENNY
Try it now, Mom.
Maureen throws a switch. The panel lights up, then goes dead.
PENNY
Damn.
INT.-SHIP-WALKING
The boarding party stand at the end of the corridor. Don presses a wall panel. The giant doors hiss open to REVEAL...
INT.-MAIN BRIDGE
Immense. Empty. And battle torn. Sections of the controls have been blown away. Blast scoring mars the walls.
JUDY
What the hell happened in here?
WEST
Some kind of fire fight. Look at this
technology. I've seen some of this
before. On the drawing boards.
Smith has moved off slightly, wandered over to a STORAGE ALCOVE. Within, a row of docked Robots, larger and sleeker then ours.
John and Don are powering up the Com, console lights coming on.
JOHN
Can you bring up the Captain's log?
WEST
The data has degraded. I'm going try
and gather any fragments I can. There
isn't much, but ... here we go.
MAIN SCREEN-CLOSE. Fills with snow. Then a figure can be seen. It's Jab. But his hair is grey.
WEST
Jeb.
JEB
The hyperspace tracker seems to be
functioning...
(static)
No sign of the Jupiter Two...
JEB
(static)
Have exceeded our mission timetable
by two...
(static)
I'm not willing to give up. Don would
keep looking for me.
WEST
That's it. The rest of the data is
totally corrupted.
IN THE ALCOVE, Smith frees a power pack from one of the robots. Slips it into the sleeve cuff of his field suit.
WEST
This doesn't make sense. How could
they launch a rescue mission for us
when we've only been lost a day?
Judy stands by the life sciences panel.
JUDY
I've got something here.
A turning holograph appears over the console panel. A degraded image of a trembling, viscous pouch. Tiny shapes move within.
JUDY
They brought it up from the planet's
surface. It's seems to be some sort
of egg sack.
Don notices Smith's standing in the storage alcove.
WEST
Smith, step away from there.
SMITH
Happy to oblige, Major. Although I
don’t think it's me you should be
worrying about. But rather this.
In the corner of the ceiling, another membrane covered hole.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
Will is at his station, watching Don and John via the Robot's POV.
WILL
I'm detecting motion. Behind you...
INT.-PROBE SHIP BRIDGE
A towering SHADOW shoots past the open doorway.
JOHN
After it. Move.
(to the Robot)
Bring Smith.
INT.-PROBE SHIP-CORRIDOR
Don races down the corridor. The walls are matted with flowering plants. Vines twist into a carpet covering the metallic floor.
THE SCURRYING SHAPE, about the size of a small dog, shoots out from behind a bulkhead, disappearing into the lush greenery.
Don pushes forward through the ever deepening brush until he comes to a door. A plaque reads HYDROPONICS LAB. He races inside.
INT.-HYDROPONICS LAB
A jungle. John and Judy arrive behind Don.
WEST
This explains where all the plants
came from.
JUDY
Growth like this would take decades.
The Robot arrives through the lab door, carrying Smith in one claw.
SMITH
Unhand me, you mechanical moron.
Don’s eyes fix behind Smith's head.
WEST
Don’t move.
SMITH
I am sick of your terrorism. If you
are going to kill me, be done with
it. Otherwise I will insist you treat
me with the respect and-
WEST
(like steel)
I said don’t move.
Smith is suddenly silent. Don’s hand shoots out, just missing Smith's head, disappearing into the brush behind him, leaves flying, as-he pulls from its hiding place a small creature.
About the size of a large stuffed bear, spiny skin going from leaf color to red, shaped like a rhesus monkey but covered with the scales of a tiny dragon and bright yellow cat's eyes.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
Will is watching through the Robot's eyes.
WILL
Neat.
INT.-PROBE SHIP-HYDROPONICS GARDEN
West stares down at the creature in his hand, now a calmer and more friendly blue. Judy approaches.
JUDY
Well, who do we have here?
As the beast struggles in Don's hand it changes color, chameleon like, trying to hide. No luck. Don holds fast.
WEST
Easy there, little buddy. No one's
going to hurt you.
SMITH
How do you know it won't hurt us?
Don has begun stroking the creature's head. After a beat, the small beast begins to COO and emit small BLIPPING sounds.
JUDY
Looks like you've made a friend. You
have a good bedside manner, Major.
WEST
I'm going to let that one go.
SMITH
How charming. Doctor Dolittle of
outer space.
JUDY
Where do you think it came from?
JOHN
It's possible this is one of the
creatures represented in the
hieroglyphs we saw on the wall. It
must have been their ship attached to
the other docking ring.
The beast has moved onto Don's shoulder, is now clutching there, burying its tiny face into his neck. Don can't help but LAUGH.
WEST
It looks like a child.
SMITH
If so, my dear Major, what do you
suppose happened to its parents?
JOHN
Let's get back to the bridge.
As they leave, a dark shape skitters across the ceiling in the background. Ominous. Unseen.
CHAPTER 14: Giant Spiders!
--------------------------
INT.-JUPITER TWO
Penny is still hanging overhead.
PENNY
I think I've got it.
The sensor console comes back to life, displays lighting, status lights going green. Maureen stares at the monitor.
MAUREEN
That's strange.
SCREEN-CLOSE. Revealed in the sensor scan, the scallops pulse with ambient heat. Penny lands beside her.
PENNY
Those scales are giving off heat.
INT.-PROBE SHIP-BRIDGE
John is at the Com.
JOHN
I've tapped into the internal sensor
array. Besides us, this ship is
totally deserted.
SMITH
A ghost ship.
Don is sitting with the tiny creature. He pulls a ration pack from his pocket. Turns it over in his hand.
WEST
And the flavor of the day is ...
banana/beef. Who thinks up these
combinations?
The creature stares at him intently as he tears open the foil lip, sucks a bit LOUDLY. Judy can't help but smile at him.
WEST
MM. Good.
SMITH
Major West, I highly recommend you
never breed. That by the way is my
medical opinion.
Don glares at him, hands the tiny creature the pouch. The creature looks at it, emits a small BLIP, takes a tentative suck. Its eyes widen in delight as it begins to suck the ration pack.
WEST
Little thing was hungry.
SMITH
Good Lord, who will - spare us the
tyranny of the sentimental?
(OVER) a distant, high pitched WHINE.
PENNY
Do you hear something?
Suddenly the creature begins to SCREAM, leaping on Smith's back, clinging to his neck for dear life.
SMITH
Get this infernal creature off me.
The WHINE is growing louder. it seems to be coming from above.
THE CEILING-CLOSE. There, in the corner, the membrane covering the hole seems to be trembling.
WEST
This can't be good.
SMITH
You have a remarkably keen sense
of the obvious.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
Maureen stands with Penny at the main sensor station.
MAUREEN
John, get the hell out of there.
ON SCREEN. The silver disks on the hull of the probe ship are beginning to move, rising to stand now on spindraled legs.
EXT.-PROBE SHIP
Heads and legs emerging, the disks reveal themselves to be armor plated spiders. The monsters find viscous holes in the outer hull and push through, vanishing into the probe ship.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
(OVER) a THUD. The Jupiter Two shakes, as if struck.
MAUREEN
Give me an external view.
Penny works the console.
ON SCREEN. Spiders are leaping from the probe onto the Jupiter Two.
INT.-PROBE SHIP-BRIDGE
The lizard monkey's SCREAMING has reached new heights of hysteria. A shape begins to push through the viscous bole in the ceiling.
What bursts in is a monster out of nightmare. Nearly half the size of a human, shiny metallic body from which wet, spider-like limbs extend. A fang covered vAw opens below ravenous, green eyes.
Don draws his laser and FIRES, but the blast only reflects off the metallic surface of its torso, forcing the creature to retract its limbs and eyes, hiding within its protective shell.
JOHN
Evacuate. Now!
The team races for the door as several more spiders drop through the hole in the ceiling, landing in the bridge and scampering fast towards our fleeing heros.
INT.-PROBE SHIP-TUNNELS
The boarding party race down the corridor. The spiders are bounding after them, using walls, floor, and ceiling with equal facility.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
Will is madly working his keyboard, controlling the fleeing Robot.
WILL
This joy stick is too slow. Activate
holographic interface.
A holographic robot appears on the bridge. Will steps inside, the image now moving with his body. He spins, facing backwards, firing.
INT.-PROBE SHIP
The Robot is holding up the rear, its torso swiveled backwards so it can retreat and FIRE simultaneously.
The Robot's plasma BLASTS have more effect than-the lasers, blowing the spiders into tiny pieces of inhuman flesh and metal.
But more monsters are pouring through the holes in the corridor ceiling, some giving chasing, others swarming injured comrades.
Judy watches as several spiders devour their fallen brethren.
JUDY
They eat their wounded.
Our heroes race to a nexus, corridors leading off in all directions. Spiders are dropping from the ceiling around them.
JOHN
Which way?
INT. -JUPITER TWO
WILL-POV. A graphic map flashes within the holograph.
WILL
Turn left.
INT.-PROBE SHIP-CORRIdOR
ROBOT
Now right.
The spiders are swarming, closing fast.
JOHN
Got to seal the bulkhead.
WEST
The door control is at the other and
of the corridor.
JUDY
The fire sensor.
Judy pulls her gun, FIRES, hitting a ceiling sensor at the end of the corridor. Blast doors SLAM, sealing out most of the spiders.
DON-CLOSE. Impressed.
BLAST DOORS-CLOSE. Metal teeth begin tearing through the steel.
Our group has made it to the door to the docking bay. They rush in, the Robot coming through the open doorway last and holding there.
INT.-PROBE SHIP-DOCKING BAY
Don activates the airlock to the Jupiter, the batch slowly opening.
The Robot stands in the doorway to the docking bay, FIRING at the spiders as they come down the hall, blowing them away. More pour through the now rending blast doors. There are just too many, rolling towards them now like a single, shifting mass of death.
SMITH
Open, damn you.
WEST
It’s cycling a vacuum check. There is
no way to speed up the protocols.
SMITH
Fools. I warned you not to come
aboard this cursed craft. You've
killed us. You've killed us all.
Judy throws him, hard, into the wall.
JUDY
Shut up.
WEST
Now that's a bedside manner.
The first spiders reach the Robot, leaping onto its metal bull.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
Maureen and Penny are at the Com, powering up the engines. Will is within the holograph, fighting off the spiders.
WILL
Charge.
INT.-PROBE SHIP-DOCKING BAY
The Robot's shell electrifies, the spiders recoiling.
The airlock has opened enough for our heroes to duck inside.
JOHN
Will, get the Robot in here.
The Robot stands in the open portal, covered by spiders, their fangs shredding his hull, his electrical charge beginning to SHORT.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
Will is throwing off the monsters, Extending the Robot's antenna spikes and scanner dishes to skewer spiders that are squeezing by.
WILL
I can't move him without letting the
spiders into the ship.
INT.-PROBE SHIP-DOCKING BAY
JOHN
Leave him behind.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
WILL
I'm sorry, Robot.
INT.-JUPITER TWO-DOCKING BAY
A spider pushes past the Robot, head slipping around his metallic body, bent on reaching the airlock and the crew within.
INT.-JUPITER TWO-AIRLOCK
JOHN
Seal it. Now!
Don hits a switch just as a spider breaks free, rushing towards the dropping airlock door. Smith recoils from the swiping talon.
SMITH'S BACK-CLOSE. A tiny rand and beneath, a razor thin incision.
THE DOOR drops, the spider's arm, still twitching, severed inside the airlock.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
The inner airlock door Opens. The crew tumble in.
JOHN
Get us out of here.
Don is already powering up the ship's engines as Smith tries separating himself from the tiny lizard monkey.
SMITH
Get this cloying gargoyle off of me.
He throws the beast hard across the bridge. The creature hits the wall, SCREECHING, begins racing across consoles.
John has strapped in beside Don.
JOHN
Get me an external view.
A MONITOR shows the hull of the Jupiter Two. More spiders are leaping onto the ship, attaching themselves to the hull.
JOHN
Prepare to disengage.
THE LIZARD MONKEY skitters up the back of Penny's chair, over her head, getting tangled in her hair before jumping into her lap.
PENNY
Get it off me. Get it off.
Penny in frantically wiping the hair from her face. The tiny creature on her lap begins a perfect imitation of Penny.
Don releases the docking ring, glances at the Monitor. The hull of the ship is now entirely covered with spiders.
WEST
Initiating separation.
LIZARD MONKEY'S EYES widen in terror as the ship SHAKES, burying its head in Penny's chest. A beat. Then Penny hugs the tiny beast.
PENNY
It's okay. Everything’s going to be
alright.
But she sounds anything but sure.
WEST
We're clear. Everybody hang on.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
The Jupiter Two's engines BLOW, peeling into the endless night.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
(OVER) ALARMS sound.
JUDY
I think those things were using the
probe ship as a way to trap food.
WEST
That I s probably what happened to
the monkey's parents. We were going
to be desert.
MAUREEN
But what happened to the crew?
JOHN
Nothing good.
WEST
We're not out of the woods yet.
ON SCREEN. The hull of the Jupiter Two is covered with the giant spiders, their teeth cutting through the outer hull.
WEST
Let's see how these monsters like a
hundred thousand volts.
EXT.-JUPITER TWO
The hull glows with electricity. The spiders fly off into space, their limbs and heads retracting.
WEST
And the crowd goes wild.
SMITH
Recall your nightmares from
childhood, Major. Monsters are rarely
so easily dissuaded.
(OVER) a THUNK. Then another. A third.
ON SCREEN-The spiders shoot webs from their bellies, attaching to the Jupiter, land on the hull again, re-extending their limbs, starting to burrow once more.
WEST
Persistent bastards.
JOHN
Can you hit them again?
WEST
Every time I electrify the hull, I’m
draining our systems. Once or twice
more and we're going to be dead in
space.
SMITH
A fate I fear may be inevitable one
way or another.
Maureen emerges from the airlock holding the spider’s severed limb in metal tongs. Carries it to her life sciences analyzer.
JOHN
That's the same expression you had
when my mother came to stay with us.
MAUREEN’S MONITOR-CLOSE. A graphic of the severed spider leg. A small line begins to extrapolate to the rest of the figure. Musculature and flesh are drawn in on the screen.
MAUREEN
DNA extrapolation - coming up.
Silicone based. Admantium shell and
lack of respiratory system suggest an
ability to live in deep space. Tiny
front brain implies communal
relationships. More like bees.
VIEWS CREEN -CLOSE. More and more spider are spiraling from the probe ship, all heading toward the Jupiter Two.
WEST
There are thousands of those things
Maureen is working the COMPUTER.
MAUREEN
They may be attracted to heat and
light.
Don begins typing.
WEST
With the right command codes, I can
light up the probe ship from here.
MONITOR-CLOSE. More spiders are hitting the bull.
WEST
Damn. No response.
JOHN
Command codes are sequenced. Try the next series.
WEST
But they won't work until the next
fleet of ships are built. That's at
least two years away.
JOHN
Just do it.
Don begins entering command codes.
The mighty probe ship begins to power up, engines glowing red as they begin their initial BURN.
WEST
How did you know?
JOHN
Think about it, Don. The ships's
advanced technology. Your friend
looking old. What if that ship is
from our future?
COMPUTER
Warning. Outer hull has been
compromised.
SCREEN-CLOSE. Spiders are eating through the outer hull.
MAUREEN
It's not working.
JOHN
Can you get the fusion drive on line?
EXT.-SPACE
THE PROBE SHIP'S fusion drives FIRE. A few of the spiders divert back toward the probe ship. But most still head for the Jupiter.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
WEST
Let's turn up the heat.
Don engages the THRUSTERS, grabs the throttle.
EXT.-SPACE
The Jupiter Two banks toward the probe ship, heading directly for the wake of the fusion drives.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
COMPUTER (OVER)
Warning. Inner hull breach in twenty
seconds.
JOHN
Give them a little encouragement.
WEST
Electrifying outer hull ... now.
EXT.-JUPITER TWO
The outer bull flashes with electricity, the spiders jumping off. Don pilots the craft directly through the wake of the fusion drive.
The spiders jump off, begin attaching themselves to the nacelles of the giant probe ship.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
ON SCREEN the giant spiral of spiders in now heading back towards the giant probe ship.
JOHN
Get us out of here. Fast.
Don looks at John a beat, then he begins working the controls.
JOHN
What are you doing?
WEST
Never leave an enemy stronghold
intact. One of your father's first
rules of engagement.
Don hits a button. On the remote control console a readout begins to flash. The message is simple: FUSION DRIVE-OVERLOAD.
JOHN
Don, stop. That's a direct order. We
might need to salvage-
WEST
This is a military emergency. That
means I'm in command.
JOHN
Don, no. I'm ordering you-
WEST
I hate spiders.
Don hits a button. The panel light flashes: OVERLOAD.
WEST
Hang on, it I a gonna be a bumpy
ride.
Don angles the ship away, punching the thrusters as the probe ship's engines begins to glow.
EXT.-SPACE
The probe ship's nuclear core overloads. The engines begin to glow, venting plasma and then EXPLODE like a nascent star.
THE BLAST WAVE spreads across space, vaporizing the spiders.
THE BLAST WAVE hits the Jupiter Two.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
The ship is buffeted by the shock wave.
WEST
I can't hold her.
EXT.-JUPITER TWO
The ship is knocked into the atmosphere of the giant planet below.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
Don is struggling to keep control.
WEST
We're going down.
EXT.-JUPITER TWO
The ship is hurling toward the planet's cloud obscured surface.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
The windscreen is filled with a RUSHING BLIZZARD.
WEST
Can't get the stabilizers on line.
JOHN
Pull up. Pull up.
WEST
Really? No kidding? Thanks.
WINDSCREEN- CLOSE. The storm clouds suddenly PART TO REVEAL ... A GIANT SNOW COVERED MOUNTAIN RANGE.
Don banks the controls.
EXT.-JUPITER TWO
The ship tilts on its side, passing between two snowy peaks, still plunging towards the planet's wintry surface below.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
WEST
I'm reading a clearing ahead. I'm
going to try and make it.
EXT.-PLANET'S SURFACE
The Jupiter Two BLOWS over a carpet of snowy treetops, the canopy of leaves bursting into flames from the friction of the hull.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
The surface is coming up fast.
WEST
Got to slow us down.
EXT.-PLANET'S SURFACE
The Jupiter Two hits the surf ace of the water and skips, once twice, three times across the alien sea.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
WEST
Brace for impact!
The ship SMASHES into a crater miles long, PLOWING through rock and vegetation, finally coming to rest near one of the crater walls.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
Still. Automatic fire systems spray gas everywhere. only the dimmest emergency lights cast any glow.
JOHN
Everybody, by the numbers.
Maureen straightens, rubs her neck.
MAUREEN
Life Sciences, still breathing.
JUDY
Mission medical, I'm alive.
WILL
Me too. Robotics, I mean.
PENNY
Video Mechanics, okay.
SMITH
I'm alive, Major West's poor excuse
for piloting skills not withstanding.
WEST
Let's take a look.
Don hits a switch, the windshield de-icing, becoming clear.
PENNY
I don’t think we're in Kansas
anymore.
REVERSE ANGLE
Before them lies the crater, snow covered floor spreading out towards a distant horizon stained red by two hanging crimson suns.
CHAPTER 15: Follow Orders!
--------------------------
EXT. -ALIEN LANDSCAPE-NIGHT
The moonless sky is filled with an utterly alien starfield. The Jupiter Two sits near the wall of the crater, its tiny lights fighting the otherworldly darkness.
JOHN (OVER)
You violated a direct order.
INT.-ENGINE ROOM
Cavernous. John and Don stand by the giant drive engines. Don is holding a cylinder containing a mixture of power chips, some glowing with radioactive fire, others dull and charred as coal.
WEST
About half the core material is
burned out. We'll never generate
enough power to break orbit.
JOHN
I told you not to blow that ship's
reactors and you did it anyway.
WEST
Come on, Professor, give it a rest. I
was technically still in command.
JOHN
Don’t hand me that. I'm commander of
this mission.
WEST
Look, no offense, but you're an
egghead with an honorary rank. No one
ever intended you to handle combat
situations. You're spouting some
nonsense about- time travel while
those spiders posed a continuing
threat. I made a judgement call and
if I have to I'll make it again.
Hell, you of all people should
understand that. If your father were
here-
JOHN
My father is not here. My father is
dead, killed in one of his combat
missions you so admire. My family is
on this ship And you're going to
follow my orders. Whether you agree
with them or not. Is that clear,
Major?
Don’s face is right up in John's.
WEST
Save the speeches. I like you. But
the fate of the Earth is at stake
here. I'm going to do whatever I
think it takes to ensure the success
of this mission. With or without your
help. Is that clear, Professor?
The two are too close to do anything but kiss or fight. Kissing seems less than likely.
MAUREEN (OVER)
Am I interrupting something?
WIDER. Maureen stands in the doorway.
MAUREEN
No. Really. I think you two should go
ahead and slug it out. I mean, here
we are stranded on an alien world and
you boys want to get into a pissing
contest. So please, go for it. I’ll
have Judy down here in a heartbeat to
declare you both unfit and I'll take
over this mission. Now I don’t want
to hear another word from you two
until you can play nice. Is that
clear?
JOHN WEST
Maureen- Listen-
MAUREEN
Not another word.
(a beat)
Better. Now if you've finished hosing
down the decks with testosterone, I
suggest you come with me. I may have
found a way to get us off this
planet.
Maureen turns on her heal and EXITS. The two men exchange a look.
WEST
Wow.
JOHN
Tell me about it.
They head after her.
CHAPTER 18: Danger Will! (Out of Sequence in screenplay.)
------------------------
INT:-WILL’S CABIN
Will sits working over his hacker's deck. (OVER) STATIC.
WILL
Can you hear me? Robot?
Will tunes the deck. More STATIC. Then...
ROBOT
Systems error. Robot unable to
register neural net outputs. Unable
to locate motor controls. Unable-
WILL
Calm down. Your body was destroyed in
the conflict with the space spiders.
Do you remember?
ROBOT
Affirmative.
WILL
But I downloaded your neural net.
ROBOT
Robot tried to destroy the Robinson
family. Why would Will Robinson save
Robot’s personality? Your actions do
not compute.
WILL
I guess sometimes friendship means
acting with your heart, not your
head.
ROBOT
Logic error. Friendship does not
compute.
WILL
Don’t worry, Robot. Im going to build
you a new body. I promise.
Will turns to face a pile of pirated components from various par of the ship. He lifts a circular bubble of diodes. Smiles.
WILL
Mom always said I should try to make
new friends.
CHAPTER 15: Follow Orders! * return to CHAPTER
--------------------------
INT.-BRIDGE
Maureen stands at her life sciences station with John and Don.
MAUREEN
The atmosphere here can sustain human
life. I've located 500 Rads
radioactive material a mile north.
JOHN
That's at least what we'd need to get
the core functioning again.
John looks out the viewscreen at the alien night. Turns to Don.
JOHN
We'll set off at daybreak. it'll be
safer. Those are my orders, Major.
WEST
I agree with your recommendation,
Professor.
MAUREEN
DŽtente is a beautiful thing.
INT.-SICK BAY
Judy examines the lizard monkey. Penny strokes the tiny creature, producing a string of BLIPS.
PENNY
What's the diagnosis, Doc? Is it
cowboy or ballerina on Halloween?
JUDY
Right now she's a girl. But I think
your little pal here is from a
self-replicating species. At
different stages of life she, or he,
probably alternates sexes.
PENNY
Imagine the savings on dating outfits
alone.
The tiny creature has begun playing with an aural scanner.
PENNY
Can I keep her?
JUDY
Penny, you've never taken care of a
thing in your life besides yourself.
PENNY
Please. She's all alone. I promise
I'll look after her. She needs me.
JUDY
...The moment you misplace her, or
forget to feed her, we leave her on
this planet where she can live in the
wild. I'm not kidding Penny.
And with that Judy EXITS. Penny sits, stroking the tiny creature.
PENNY
We’re both a long way from home,
aren't we little one?
The creature makes a tiny BLIP.
PENNY
That's what we'll call you. Blip.
Blip reaches out, touches a green ribbon around Penny's wrist.
PENNY
You like that?
Penny takes the ribbon off, ties it around Blip's wrist. Blip looks up, eyes glowing. Penny caresses the tiny creature's cheek.
PENNY
Nice girl. Pretty girl. Nice.
The creature reaches up, touches Penny's cheek. Her tiny tongue trying to imitate Penny's words of comfort.
PULL BACK TO REVEAL
Judy stands, just out of sight, watching her sister, smiling.
CHAPTER 16: Alien World
-----------------------
INT.-JUPITER TWO-MED LAB
Don shoves an indignant Smith into the room, adjusts a newly installed security panel in the wall.
SMITH
Remove that lock this instant. I
shall not be caged like some animal
WEST
(lethal)
I gave my word I'd let you live. I
never said for how long.
SMITH
These quarters will be fine.
Smith stares at him a beat.
SMITH
Tell me, Major West. Are you really
confident in Robinson's ability to
guide us? If I were set free, I would
support your right to command. With
minimal force, we could take this
ship and assure this mission
continues under your leadership.
WEST
...My God Smith, you're right. How
could I have been so blind? I'll just
run and get you a gun so we can
hijack the ship. Okay?
SMITH
Sarcasm is the recourse of a weak
mind.
WEST
I'm hiding the pain. Really.
And with that West leaves.
Smith tries the door. Locked. Then, from one cuff of his field suit, be removes the control belt he stole from the probe ship.
SMITH
I assure you, Major West. Your pain
has just begun.
Smith moves about the room, lifting small bits of metal, creating an impromptu set of tools with which to alter the control bolt.
PAN DOWN. HOLD on SMITH'S BACK. Beneath the rend in his suit, the tiny tear in his flesh is now covered with tiny, alien scales.
INT. -BRIDGE-NIGHT
Judy sits in one of the command chairs over a the remains of a meal, sipping water, staring out into the alien night.
WEST (OVER)
Star light, star bright...
JUDY
A million strange stars and only one
wish. I wish we were home.
Don comes and sits in the co-pilot's chair beside her.
JUDY
I never thought a sky could look so
alien. ...We really are lost.
WEST
When the first sailors circled the
globe and saw a brand new sky, they
thought they had sailed off the edge
of the earth. But they were really
just around the corner.
JUDY
(smiles)
We just billow our sails and let the
wind blow us home, Is that it Major?
WEST
So those sailors found familiar
shapes in the stars to make the skies
more friendly, to help them find
their way.
Don turns on a monitor below the viewscreen. MONITOR-CLOSE. It shows the star-field above. He lifts a light-tipped stylus.
WEST
That's how constellations were born.
Don begins to draw on the screen, connecting the stars like dots in a children's book. Slowly, a familiar porcine face takes form.
WEST
Porky the wise and mighty Pig.
Judy LAUGHS. She takes the stylus. Begins to draw.
JUDY
The great bucktoothed Bunny... Bugs.
Don smiles. Judy can’t help but smile back. Their faces are close.
WEST
So, my quarters or yours?
JUDY
Excuse me?
WEST
We are the only single man and woman
of consenting age in the galaxy. How
much more of a set up do you need?
JUDY
So you figure just dispense with the
pleasantries, get down to business?
WEST
You have a way with words, Doctor.
JUDY
(provocative)
Right here? On this console?
Don moves his face to hers, only a breath apart.
WEST
Here would be fine.
Judy smiles sweetly.
DON-CLOSE. Lips parting. Suddenly water begins to pour down over his head. His eyes open wide. Judy holds her empty glass in hand.
JUDY
Next time, fly slower.
She rises, walks off, leaving Don mopping his brow.
INT.-JOHN & MAUREEN'S QUARTERS
Maureen sits on the edge of her bed brushing her hair as John activates the automated security systems.
JOHN
What was I thinking, bringing us all
out here into space?
MAUREEN
The world needed saving. You were the
right man for the job.
JOHN
But solving the world's problems
doesn't leave much time for the
people you love, does it?
MAUREEN
Did you get any time with Will?
JOHN
Now he's decided he can rebuild the
robot. Wants to show me his designs.
I've got too much to do-
MAUREEN
Funny creatures, men. You try so hard
not to be your fathers, end up making
the same mistakes. Will adores you.
He needs your attention.
JOHN
We can't get off this planet much
less back on course. I don't have
time to...
MAUREEN
John, just listen to him. it doesn't
matter what he’s saying. Just listen.
Sometimes, at least in the eyes of
their fathers, little boys have to
come first.
JOHN
As soon as we get back into space,
we're going to spend some real time
together. I promise.
Maureen looks out the window. A long beat. Then she smiles.
JOHN
What?
MAUREEN
It’s nice to have our family under
one roof. Even if we had to go half
way across the galaxy to manage it.
John presses a button, the blast shield opening to reveal the stacked orbs of three glowing moons. Maureen smiles.
JOHN
How would you feel about a little
late night tutorial, Professor?
John moves to her, begins pulling her down, out of FRAME.
MAUREEN
Mm. That's new. What are you doing?
JOHN
Going for extra credit.
EXT.-JUPITER TWO-NIGHT
The ship sits on the alien landscape.
MAUREEN (OVER)
Good night John.
JOHN (OVER)
Good night Maureen.
WILL (OVER)
Good night Judy.
PENNY (OVER)
Good night Will.
JUDY (OVER)
Good night Penny.
WEST (OVER)
You guys have got to be kidding.
CHAPTER 17: The Core
--------------------
INT.-JUPITER TWO-BRIDGE-MORNING
Will comes up on the elevator, rubbing his eyes, first awake in the morning. He stumbles to the viewscreen.
WILL-CLOSE. His eyes widen with shock.
WILL
Oh man.
REVERSE ANGLE
A giant portal shimmers at snow's edge about 100 yards from the ship. Beyond it, a sun-stained field of towering plants and trees.
INT.-BRIEFING ROOM
The crew gathers at the table. (OVER) a RUMBLING. The ship shakes.
PENNY
What are those rumblings? They've
been happening all morning.
JUDY
How can half the landscape have grown
up overnight?
JOHN
Okay, let’s get settled. Maureen?
MAUREEN'S MONITOR-CLOSE. A geothermal analysis shows the giant plates that make up this world appear mismatched.
MAUREEN
It's impossible. But this planet's
geothermic plates don't match up.
JOHN
I was afraid of this.
Al1 eyes turn to John.
JOHN
I think these tremors are the result
of opening and closing doorways.
PENNY
Doorways to where?
JOHN
The future.
SMITH
Perhaps the Professor was hit on the
head when we landed.
JOHN
Remember the portal that lead us to
the probe ship? What if we crossed a
into a time years after Earth sent a
rescue mission.
WEST
You're not serious? Time travel is
impossible.
WILL
No it's not. It's just improbable.
Like hyperdrive was a hundred years
ago. Nothing's really impossible.
JOHN
This world could be riddled with
doorways to the future.
WILL
So if we walk into that forest
outside, we're really just walking
into this crater years from now.
MAUREEN
Geological plates from different
times wouldn't fit together. That
would explain the tectonic mismatch.
But doorways in time, John?
JOHN
If these portals are opening and
closing, part of some cascading,
natural phenomenon, they could be
tearing this planet apart
WILL
These portals are exactly what I
predicted my time machine would do.
What if the doorways aren't natural?
A machine that bends space, like our
hyperdrive, could be modified to bend
time as well. What if someone on this
world has built a device?
JOHN
Son, I appreciate your input but now
isn't the time for flights of fancy.
WILL
You never listen to me. Not ever.
And with that Will storms out. John stares after him a beat, sorely wanting to follow. (OVER) another RUMBLE.
JOHN
There's no telling how long before
this planet breaks up entirely.
(rising).
Don and I are going to locate the
radioactive material for the core.
Get the ship ready to go. We may have
very little time.
INT. -BRIDGE
John, suited up, heads for the open front hatch when he spots Will sitting alone in the Com chair, tinkering with his deck.
JOHN
Aren't you coming out to say goodbye?
Will just shakes his head.
WILL
You're always leaving. What if...
Will looks away, finally giving voice to his worst fear.
WILL
What if one time you don't come
home...
John stares at his son, unsure what to say, the boy's anguish so deep and apparent. He reaches into his shirt, takes off his dog tags.
JOHN
Whenever your grandfather went away
on a mission, held leave these with
me. For safe keeping. And when he got
home I d always be waiting to give
them back.
He lifts the chain and places it around the boy's neck.
JOHN
I'm coming back Will. I promise.
Will is silent. John touches the boy's hair, then walks out. A beat. Will looks up after his father, fingering the dog tags.
EXT.-JUPITER TWO
The Robinsons, all except Will, stand-gathered around the front of the ship. Don has a small tracking device in his hand.
WEST
I've got a fix on the radioactive
material. It's through the portal.
JOHN
We'll just have to hope the doorways
remain stable.
JUDY
These crater walls are disabling the
com-links. You won't be able to
communicate with the ship.
(OVER) the ground shakes again.
Maureen
Come home to me, Professor.
JOHN
I love you, wife.
John kisses her. Don looks at Judy.
JUDY
I'm going to regret saying this, But
try to get back in one piece.
WEST
This is kind of a kiss for luck
occasion, wouldn't you agree, Doc?
JUDY
See. I'm regretting it already.
(coy)
Kisses have to be earned. Say
goodbye, Blip.
Blip reaches up and touches John's face. Then her CHIRPS form a rough approximation of the words Penny taught her.
BLIP
Nice girl. Pretty girl. Nice.
JOHN
You take care of her, Penny.
(kisses her head)
Take care of you too, baby.
Then the two men bead off, towards the portal and forest beyond.
PULL BACK TO REVEAL
Smith stares out the cabin window. PUSH IN as
INT.-SMITH’S CELL
SMITH
Yes, enjoy your moments of trite
familial bonding.
He turns, heads back to his table, transformed now, into a makeshift lab, the stolen control bolt in mid-modification.
SMITH
Because they will be your last.
INT.-WILL'S CABIN
The beginnings of Will’s home-made robot sits on the table. WILL is in the f.g. riffling his PERSONAL CARGO container.
Penny ENTERS, an assortment of small electronic devices, hairclips, and other metal and electronic objects. Dumps them on the table.
PENNY
That’s everything even close to
nonessential. Even my bellybutton
ring.
WILL
Thanks, Pen.
PENNY
You want to come on a land survey?
But Will just shakes his head, sulky.
PENNY
Look, what does dad know? Maybe
someone did build a time machine.
She ruffles his hair. Disappears. Will activates a CPU speaker.
ROBOT
Robot is on line.
(OVER) a KNOCKING has begun. WILL looks up, puzzled.
WILL
It sounds like old morse code.
Chapter 18: Danger Will!
------------------------
INT.-CORRIDOR
Will walks down the corridor. (OVER) The KNOCKING continues. Will follows the SOUND until he comes to the door of Smith's prison.
Smith is visible through the door window, sitting at a table, hammering out the code with his boot. He beckons Will inside.
Will shakes his head. Smith begins TAPPING again.
WILL
(sounding out the code)
Danger.
INT.-SMITH’S CELL
The door slides open and Will ENTERS, a laser pistol in hand.
WILL
You said someone is in danger.
SMITH
We all are. You are wise to arm
yourself.
Smith eyes the weapon, moving towards the boy.
WILL
This gun is set to fire for me only
so don't try anything funny.
Smith barely misses a beat as he adjusts, passing the child, going instead to the window and opening the blast shield.
SMITH
William, you misjudge me. I only want
to help you.
WILL
Help us? You tried to kill us all.
SMITH
But now our fates are intertwined. if
your father and that idiot West fail,
I will have no chance of getting
home. It is in my best interests they
succeed. And I always follow my best
interests.
Smith gazes out at the exotic terrain. (OVER) an inhuman WAIL.
SMITH
What monsters roam these alien wilds?
Fools. To set off blindly across this
savage land. Much as I hate to admit
it, it will be harder to manage
without them.
WILL
What are you talking about? They'll
be back. They'll be okay.
Smith is silent. A long, lethal beat.
WILL
Someone should go after them.
SMITH
Will, I forbid it. You're a boy. A
clever one, certainly, but a child
nonetheless. This planet is likely
full of predators. Even if you found
them, what if they're hurt, ravaged,
dying, what good could you do?
WILL
But you're a doctor.
Smith turns away, hiding his smile.
EXT.-JUPITER TWO-DAY
Judy and Maureen are hanging on repelling lines before the crater wall, shipping away ore that glitters like diamonds.
JUDY
It's impossible.
MAUREEN
Not really. Geologists have
speculated that Dimondium might be
naturally occurring in many older
worlds. Part of a biosphere's way of
rejuvenating itself.
JUDY
This one is ten times more powerful
then that on Alpha Prime. There's
enough here to save Earth.
Penny stands in the f.g. with Blip on her arm, taking plant samples, talking into her video recorder.
PENNY
After much deliberation, the Space
Captive has decided to accept her new
role as member of the crew. The
Robinsons, after all, can obviously
use her help...
Blip jumps up on Penny's arm, knocking her recorder to the ground.
PENNY
(flaring)
Now look what you've done. Stop
hanging all over me.
Blip stares at her, frightened by her tone, begins backing away to the edge of the forest. She looks at Penny, then disappears into the thick brush..
PENNY
Blip. Wait. I'm sorry. Damn.
Penny heads after the creature. HOLD on her recorder. Forgotten.
CHAPTER 19: A Different Future
------------------------------
EXT.-PLANET'S SURFACE-DAY
Will and Smith are walking down a forest path. The boy has a radiation tracker in his hand.
WILL
I've got a fix on Dad's suit beacon.
Dead ahead is a field of beautiful, alien flowers, their purple leaves moving in the wind like an azure sea.
WILL
Wow, that's Mom's favorite color.
SMITH
How droll.
(OVER) a tremendous RUMBLING. The WIND ROARS. Suddenly, the air in the distance begins to twist, a rushing distortion sweeping towards them, flowers growing, landscape aging rapidly within.
SMITH
Run, child, run.
Smith turns, begins to flee, pulling Will with him, away from the rushing warp. Smith trips, falls, closes his eyes, waiting for the distortion to overtake him. A beat. He opens his eyes.
SMITH-POV. A glowing, stationary portal shimmers behind him, revealing beyond a forest ever older, darker, more overgrown.
SMITH
Will? Will?
No sign of the boy. Then, from behind a tree, Will appears.
WILL
Wow!
The field across the portal has is now a mass of giant plants, the flowers a deep red. Will rushes across the rip in space.
SMITH
William, wait!
WILL
See, over here I'm in the future.
(steps back towards Smith)
Here I'm in the past. Don't worry.
If my theories are correct, these
doorways should remain stable, for
a while anyway.
SMITH
I can barely contain my glee. Why
aren't you aging like the plants?
WILL
That's just an effect of the portals
forming. Once they stabilize you can
cross from one time to another
just like stepping between two
rooms.
(off his tracker)
Dad's signal is this way. Come on,
Doctor Smith.
Will takes Smith's hand, pulls him across the threshold.
SMITH-POV. Where he stands is now lush, the sky overhead a glowing crimson. Yet behind him, the path in as it originally appeared. Younger. The sky, bright. Will has run deeper into the brush.
Smith notices something by his feet. He clears away the brush, revealing shapes beneath the foliage. His expression darkens.
WILL (OVER)
What did you find?
Will has returned.
SMITH
Come, come, son, no time for
distractions. Let's move on.
Smith shoves Will on, the boy unable to see what Smith saw.
PAN DOWN. Headstones. Each bears a marking, the names still legible. Maureen, Penny and Judy Robinson.
EXT.-PLANET'S SURFACE-DAY-PRES
John and Don emerge from the brush. They have come to one of the crater walls. John looks from the rock face to his tracker.
JOHN
Damn.
WEST
Damn? Damn is not good.
JOHN
The radiation signature we've been
tracking. it's a ghost. A
reflection from the Jupiter Two
bouncing off the ore in these walls.
There's no core material here.
(OVER) a sudden RUMBLING. The ground shakes. The ROAR of WIND. A time portal rushes towards them like a glittering maw, the side of the crater aging and crumbling in it's wake.
John and Don race away from the distortion, ducking falling trees, roll clear as the portal stabilizes, now a fixed doorway to a darker, more deserted future.
JOHN
The ship's back that way. we have to
go through.
EXT.-BRUSH-DAY-PRESENT
Penny is pushing through the forest.
PENNY
Blip? I'm sorry. Blip?
She spots the tiny creature ahead in the distance. Blip SNIFFS the ground, runs a few steps. SNIFFS again. Looks up. There, before Blip is another glittering hole in time. The forest beyond is far thicker, the sky red. Blip steps through the portal.
PENNY
Blip, wait.
Penny goes to the edge of the portal, stares at the monstrously tall trees beyond. A beat. Then she steps through, following.
EXT.-CRATER CAVES-FUTURE
Penny pushes through dwindling brush to a series of rocky overhangs and caverns cut into the crater wall.
BLIP is standing over a large circular stone, hopping up and down, CHIRPING and BLIPPING madly.
PENNY
Blip, you can't run off like that.
(closing on the stone)
What the-?
THE STONE-CLOSE. A series of hieroglyphs are painted on the giant rock, their images the same style as those on the probe ship.
HIEROGLYPH ONE-CLOSE. A mighty battle in space is depicted.
PENNY (OVER)
Some kind of fight, in space. It
almost looks like the probe ship
Major West blew up.
HIEROGLYPH TWO-CLOSE. A fiery star falls to the planet's surface.
PENNY
That could be the Jupiter Two crash
landing.
HIEROGLYPH THREE-CLOSE. Here a dark haired beauty holds a single lizard monkey aloft, her face remarkably like Penny's.
Suddenly BLIP begins to SHRIEK. (OVER) RUSTLING leaves.
SHAPES are moving in the trees, the vague outline of camouflaged forms dropping to the ground. Five figures suddenly de-camouflage. Lizard monkeys, two large, two smaller.
Directly in front of Penny, the largest monkey de-camouflages. Fully grown, the beast is nearly twice Penny's height. Around the creature's wrist is something odd. An old, tattered green ribbon.
BLIP begins to SCREAM and SHRIEK.
PENNY
Blip, no!
Too late. Blip leaps on the giant creature, grabs the ribbon. The beast could slap Blip away like a fly. But the creature doesn't resist, just stares down at Blip with something akin to tenderness.
Blip looks at the ribbon in his hand. Then at the one around her wrist. Save for their age difference., the ribbons are identical.
The giant monkey moves forward, closing on a petrified Penny, paw reaching out, touching her face. The beast begins stroking Penny's cheek in a familiar gesture of comfort.
GIANT BLIP
Nice girl. Pretty girl. Nice.
Penny stares up in stunned wonder.
EXT.-PLANET'S SURFACE-EVENING-FUTURE
Don and John are crossing the brush. The terrain in growing ever more desolate, desert like. The double suns hang on the horizon.
JOHN
We should be able to see the ship.
Something catches the light on the ground beside them. Don reaches down and lifts a small metal fragment in his hand.
METAL-CLOSE. On it is the familiar logo of the United Space Agency.
WEST
Could these be from the probe?
JOHN
Corroded. This metal is decades old.
Don finds another piece of wreckage, turns it over in his hand.
WEST
It's not possible.
WRECKAGE-CLOSE. The fragment bears a simple legend: Jupiter Two.
WEST
What kind of nightmare is this?
Where the hell are we?
JOHN
No, Major, when the hell are we?
Suddenly Don is hit in the chest with a plasma charge, goes flying. John ducks and rolls, FIRING his laser from behind the cover of a rocky mound. John goes up to take another SHOT, is bit with a powerful electrical blast, falling hard. Still.
REVERSE ANGLE
Rolling out from behind him, claws extended in attack Position and apparently many years old, is a rebuilt Robot.
EXT.-PLANET'S SURFACE-EVENING-FUTURE
Will and Smith are crossing the alien terrain. The plants have given way to desert. The suns hang low in the crimson sky.
WILL
I feel like we got turned around.
SMITH
Just follow your father's signal,
young William.
WILL
Oh shit.
SMITH
A boy of your intelligence shouldn't
swear.
WILL
(pointing)
Look.
SMITH
Oh. Shit, indeed.
REVERSE ANGLE. At the edge of the crater wall sits the wrecked hull of the Jupiter Two. The lower sections are gone, the hull scarred, open to the sun.
CUT TO:
JOHN-CLOSE. Stirring to consciousness.
WIDER
INT.-JUPITER TWO BRIDGE-FUTURE
Or what is left of it. Dark. The occasional COMPUTER panel flickers Shattered monitors. An awful history-told in torn metal. John is slumped in a corner, Don still on the floor beside him.
VOICE (OVER)
Well, well. All things really do
come to he who waits.
A FIGURE sits in the command chair, visage obscured by shadow.
JOHN
What is this place?
FIGURE
Why Professor, the shock must have
scrambled your brain. Look around
you. Don't you recognize the spot?
You've come home.
JOHN
This can't be...
But even as the words cross his lips, he knows it is.
JOHN
What have you done to the ship.
...Where's my family?
FIGURE
Your family is dead. Dead and in the
ground.
JOHN
No!
FIGURE
What fickle consort in memory. Time
dims certain images while others
shine clear and bright as yesterday.
The figure stands, light hitting his face. Late thirties. Long blond hair, a shaggy beard and moustache. Eerily familiar.
FIGURE
I'll never forget that morning.
Twenty years ago. What was it you
said? I'll be back. I promise. But I
knew better. You never came home.
The figure walks to one of the burned out panels.
FIGURE
Without you, your family never had a
chance. A few spidersv survived the
destruction of the probe ship. They
reached the planet and attacked. I
can still hear the women scream.
JOHN
Who are you?
The figure walks forward, into the light. Stands there a moment. Then he lifts something hanging around his neck. Tarnished metal, old but familiar. John's father's dog tags.
FIGURE
Don’t you recognize me, Dad? It's
me. I'm your son. Will.
EXT.-CRATER CAVES-DAY
Maureen and Judy, lasers drawn, are pushing through the brush.
JUDY
Penny? Penny?
The four lizard monkeys are kneeling in a circle around Penny.
MAUREEN
Penny? Baby, are you alright?
Penny rises, steps forward, carrying Blip. The other beasts hang back, their faces genuflecting, almost reverential.
PENNY
It's okay, Mom. They're not going to
hurt us. it's like they think I'm
their princess or something.
CUT TO:
EXT.-CRATER CAVES -EVENING-FLITURE
Judy is examining the palm of the largest beast as Maureen scrutinizes the images graven into the giant stone.
JUDY
Best as I can tell this whole clan
was spawned by this single creature.
(to the beast)
We've been a busy girl haven't we?
But...
MAUREEN
Speak, doctor.
JUDY
Each creature seems to have unique
corpuscular patterns on their palms.
As individual an fingerprints, no
two alike. Except...
MAUREEN
Except the prints on this giant
creature and our little Blip
match exactly. Don't they?
JUDY
How did you know?
MAUREEN
Because, I think Blip and our friend
here are actually one and the same.
Penny and Judy stare at her in wonder.
INT.-JUPITER TWO-ENGINE ROOM-FUTURE
The Robot, shoving John with one claw, carrying Don in the other, follows Older Will into the giant room.
OLDER WILL
Father, I give you ... eternity.
WIDER
War torn and pirated. A pit of molten lava bursts through the floor above which floats a giant ball of silvery liquid held suspended by the pulsing field of the hyper-drive. Tendrils of fire strain towards the bubble. As they EXPLODE into the silver liquid, images form within the sphere, nearly coherent, then gone.
A tracked gantry stretches from the floor, leading out over the bubble. At the end of the track a crow's-nest of COMPUTERS SHOOTS a single laser down into the center of the bubble.
WEST
(coming to)
. . .ouch. Who ordered me that last
drink? What the hell is going on?
JOHN
I think we crossed into our own
future. We've come back to the
Jupiter Two decades after we left.
OLDER WILL
Look father, what my flights of
fancy have wrought. I used your
hypergate to build my time machine.
Will moves to a control console at the base of the giant gantry.
OLDER WILL
Over the years I have struggled in
vain to harness the awesome power of
time. All my experiments at creating
a stable doorway have been futile.
Until now. Today you will witness my
ultimate triumph.
Will hits a button. A generator opens, revealing a glowing cylinder of core material incrementally descending into the console.
WEST
The core material. if we could get
that back to our Jupiter Two...
JOHN
The doorways in time that led us
here must be a side effect of his
machine coming on line. Like streams
running into the ocean....
OLDER WILL
Once this core material in fully
introduced into the control console,
I will open a doorway stable enough
for one person to take one trip
through time and space as well.
Today, I will change history.
Will turns a switch on the control console. (OVER) More TREMORS. The laser beam's intensity grown, and in the corridor cut by the beam into the bubble images begins to stabilize. Images of Earth.
OLDER WILL
I will return home, to the very day
you took us on this cursed mission.
I'll stop us from taking off. I'll
do what you never could. I'll save
the family. I'll save us all.
JOHN
Look around. Your machine is ripping this planet apart. What if the force
wave you ride home has the same
effect on Earth? What if, in getting
home, you destroy Earth in the
process?
A beat. Then Will turns away, goes back to work.
OLDER WILL
I'm going home. I'm going to save
the family.
JOHN
Will, I'm your father. You've got to
listen to me-.
OLDER WILL
Let me tell you about my father. My
father was a walking ghost. Never
there when I needed him. He dragged
his family into deep dark space and
lost them there. My father is not
coming to the rescue.
CHAPTER 20: Spiders Sting
-------------------------
EXT.-ALIEN PLAnet-EVENING-FUTURE
Will and Smith are closing on the battered ship. Smith puts his hand on the boy's arm, holding him back.
WILL
We've got to go inside.
SMITH
Slow down, now. We can't know what
waits inside that ravaged craft. But
we can be confidant it is nothing
good. And I for one am frightened.
WILL
But Dad's in there.
SMITH
Will, listen to me. I have crossed
this world with you, found your
father as promised. But I can't let
you go in there unarmed.
WILL
But I've got a gun.
SMITH
If we go forward, the barer of that
weapon must be ready to kill. Murder
is a skill, one which I have
developed and, luckily dear boy, you
have not. Look inside your heart,
Will. Are you truly capable of
taking a life? If not, then I ask
you now, put your faith in me. Give
me your trust. Give me that gun.
Will stares him. Pulls free the pistol. Thumbs the lock pad.
WILL
Enable gun for all users.
GUN
Voiceprint confirmed.
Will hands Smith the gun.
SMITH
Finally.
Smith grabs Will by the neck, pressing the barrel to his temple.
SMITH
A brief lesson in survival on this
world or any other. Never trust
anyone. Remember it into your old
age, should you have one.
(shoving him forward)
Now move!
INT.-JUPITER TWO-ENGINE ROOM-FUTURE
John stands facing older Will. Don is in the b.g., edging towards the control panel and the descending core material.
JOHN
We can go back across the portals to
the past, to the functioning Jupiter
Two, where your mother and sisters
are still alive. We can use this
core material to escape together.
OLDER WILL
And then what? All of us lost in
space. Don't you see? I can do what
you never could. I can save us all.
Don has edged his way to the descending core material.
SMITH (OVER)
I'm afraid not.
Through the doorway comes young
Will, Smith walking behind him, hand
on his shoulder, gun to his head.
SMITH
Never fear. Smith is here.
JOHN
Will, I. . .
SMITH
Don't move, Professor Robinson or
this rather peculiar family reunion
will be tragically brief.
(off Don)
I'll ask you to step away from that
console, Major.
Don stares at him a beat. Then obliges, walking over to join John. Smith approaches the Robot.
SMITH
Well, well, some of us just don't
know when to stay dead.
Smith goes into his tunic and removes his modified control bolt.
SMITH
I borrowed this from the probe ship
in hopes of taking over the helm
once we were in flight. But I seem
to have found a better use instead.
Smith slaps the bolt on the Robot's CPU. The automaton's arms go up, then fall limp. Docile.
SMITH
Let's try this dance again. You are
the puppet. I am the puppeteer. Do
get it right this time.
Smith activates the bolt. The Robot powers up once again.
SMITH
Robot, enable electric disrupters.
The Robot's claws begin to glow with electricity. Smith smiles.
SMITH
Now that's a good gargantuan.
Smith walks to Older Will, puts the gun to his head.
SMITH
Say goodbye to your past. You're
future lies with me. I'm going home
in your place.
Smith starts to pull Older Will away when Will comes forward, staring at the time machine, eyes wide with awe.
WILL
You did it. Just like I imagined.
Re-routed the hypercore. But the
natural power source, the delivery
system. I never thought of those.
Older Will’s smile is bittersweet as he places his hand on his younger self. Touches his hair.
OLDER WILL
You will. The future is never what
it looks like when you're ten.
SMITH
Heartwarming. Nauseatingly
sentimental but heartwarming.
Smith shoves the boy back to his father, turns to Older Will.
SMITH
We certainly could have aged better,
I must say Now, show me how your
little time machine works.
But Will just smiles.
SMITH
An odd moment for mirth, don't you
think? What are you grinning at?
OLDER WILL
Look around you, Doctor. At this
hostile world. Do you really think a
boy could have survived all alone?
SMITH-CLOSE. Puzzled. Unseen, the boulder behind him seems to be moving, shifting. A VOICE comes, alien, yet terrifyingly familiar.
VOICE (OVER)
Never fear, Smith is here.
The shape behind him unfolds, coming up now, long spindled arms and legs, ten feet tall, a hybrid monster, half spider, half Smith.
SPIDER SMITH
Hello, Doctor, how nice to see me
again after all these years.
Smith stands petrified as the creature approaches him on spindled legs, goes down on its second knee joints, coming eye to eye.
SPIDER SMITH
The spider's sting had some
unexpected side effects.
Spider Smith flexes his three jointed arm.
SPIDER SMITH
But my unique gifts gave me an
advantage in this quarrelsome world.
Spider Smith reaches out and caresses Will's cheek. Turns to John.
SPIDER SMITH
After the women were savaged, I
became the father Will never had.
He grabs Smith's arms and begins to move him about like a marionette, engaging in a bizarre dance with himself.
SPIDER SMITH
(bending him)
But you, Doctor. Your crude ambition
fills me with self-loathing.
(twisting him)
You see I have looked within me and
what I see is you.
With that Spider Smith lifts Smith over his head and hurls him like torpedo through a torn hole in the hull, towards the rocks beyond.
SPIDER SMITH
I never liked me, anyway.
Spider Smith turns to face the Robot.
SPIDER SMITH
Kill them all.
OLDER WILL
No.
SPIDER SMITH
But my dear boy, once the doorway in
time stabilizes, this planet is
going to come apart at the seams.
Smith throws the back of one hand over his forehead in a parody of a twenties starlet.
SPIDER SMITH
I am willing to perish here on this
world for the sake of your most
noble mission. But your selfish
father will only try to stop you.
His head comes forward, neck elongating so he faces WILL.
SPIDER SMITH
Once your mission is complete, none
of this will have happened anyway.
So why not just dispose of them?
But Will’s gaze is impassive. Spider Smith actually SIGHS.
SPIDER SMITH
Very well. Robot, take them inside
the ship and keep them there. If
they move, then kill them.
ECT.-CRATER CAVES-FUTURE
Maureen and Judy are examining the heiroglyph stone. The ground shakes. Birds SCREAM. (OVER) RUMBLING.
MAUREEN
We've got to get to the ship. Penny?
She turns. The clearing is empty. No Blips. No Penny. Blip runs cut before them, grabs Maureen's hand, trying to pull her forward.
MAUREEN
Where is she, girl?
In Blip's hand, a mass of colored ribbons from Penny's wrists. Blip waves them in the air, then races off. A beat. The women follow.
INT.-JUPITER TWO-ENGINE ROOM-FUTURE
The pulse laser is increasing its intensity, the corridor of images in the bubble stabilizing. The TREMORS are increasing in frequency.
PAN DOWN
Spider Smith stands with Will, watching as the Robot shepherds the crew towards the body of the ship.
SPIDER SMITH
Well, it would seem the time is upon
us. Off we go, William.
Spider Smith starts climbing the gantry, truly like a spider, up towards the bridge and crows nest hanging over the bubble.
Will walks to the control console platform, the platform now beginning to rise on the gantry, towards the bridge above.
JOHN-POV. Something hangs from below the climbing Spider Smith's back. It's an egg pouch of the kind they saw on the probe ship log.
JOHN
(shouting)
Will, it's a trick. Smith's carrying
an egg sack. If he's willing to stay
on this world and die, why is he
about to spawn? He's going through
the portal himself.
The Robot FIRES a charge between its claws.
ROBOT
Proceed to the ship or be destroyed.
ON THE RISING CONTROL PLATFORM.
OLDER WILL-CLOSE. Frowns.
Suddenly, Smith's head drops INTO FRAME. The creature is hanging upside-down. He smiles.
SPIDER SMITH
Hurry, boy. Time waits for no man.
EXT.-GANTRY SYSTEM-WIDE SHOT
The platform bearing Will reaches the top of the gantry and begins moving out across the bridge towards the crows-nest.
INT.-JUPITER TWO-ENGINE ROOM CONTROL PLATFORM-FUTURE
Spider Smith drops into place beside Older Will as the control platform comes to a stop on the crow's-nest.
The core cylinder continues sinking into the console. Smith looks out over the platform. Beneath them, imagine of infinity flicker.
SPIDER SMITH
It’s almost time. I really am a
word-smith.
OLDER WILL
Once the core cylinder is fully
injected, the planet will begin to
come apart and the time doorway will
stabilize. Then I jump in.
SPIDER SMITH
A leap of faith. How fitting.
TIME BUBBLE-CLOSE. In the circle made by the laser, the images are not yet stable, but discernable. Earth the day before the launch.
OLDER WILL
Tell me again, old monster, how did
the girls die?
SPIDER SMITH
We've been over this before, son.
The spiders attacked the ship
OLDER WILL
In all the years since, the spiders
have never re-surfaced. Why?
Smith stares at him. Then he smiles. A horrible sight.
SPIDER SMITH
Let's forget the past.
Will turns a switch. The laser generated aperture narrows.
SPIDER SMITH
What are you doing?
OLDER WILL
Focusing the aperture. Remember, the
energy around the portal will rip a
man to pieces.
SPIDER SMITH
Isn’t the doorway too small?
OLDER WILL
Not for me.
(a beat)
But then I'm not going, am I? The
spiders didn't kill the girls. It
was you. I just never let myself see
it. You kept me alive because you
needed me. Because I could build
this for you. You killed my family.
Destroyed this world. And I helped.
You became mad as the spiders.
...And I became you.
SPIDER SMITH
Poor, poor boy. Did you really think
I would let you go home? Let all
that I have become vanish? Look at
me. I am no mere man. I am a God.
Spider Smith opens his pouch, revealing a thousand tiny spiders.
SPIDER SMITH
Your father was right. Within me
roil the growing needs of a master
race. We WILL descend upon helpless
Earth. An entire planet to rule.
His arm whips out, grabbing Will, bringing him close, opens his mouth, bearing venomous fangs.
SPIDER SMITH
An entire planet on which to feed.
INT.-MODIFIED JUPITER TWO-FUTURE
John and Don talk in the holding area. The Robot stands guard. (OVER) the TREMORS are increasing in frequency.
WEST
I'll run, draw his fire. You may
have time to get away with Will.
ROBOT (OVER)
Halt or Robot will destroy.
The men look up. In the b.g., Will has approached the Robot.
WILL
Do you remember what I taught you. A
long time ago. About friendship?
ROBOT
Friendship means acting with your
heart not your head.
WILL
That's why I rebuilt you. Because I
wanted us to be friends.
ROBOT
Logic error. Friendship does not
compute.
WILL
Forget logic. Act with your heart.
ROBOT
Robot has no heart. Robot is powered
by a fusion pulse generator
WILL
Every living thing has a heart.
The Robot stares at him a beat.
ROBOT
Any attempts to override command
protocols may result in fused
processors in my neural net.
The floor trembles again. The planet is coming apart at the seams.
WILL
Please, Robot, if you don't let us
go, we're all going to die. I'm
asking you now, will you help us?
Will you be my friend?
The Robot stands still a beat. Then he reaches towards Smith's control bolt attached firmly on his CPU.
ROBOT
Robot attempting to deactivate
control bolt-commands
overriddenattempting to
reroute-dangercircuitry
overloadattempting to escape-kill
them, kill them...
The Robot's claws lift into attack position, an electrical charge building with dangerous intensity. He is about to fire.
At the last minute, the Robot jerks his hand upward, BLOWING away a piece of the ceiling. He rips off the control bolt.
WILL
You did it.
ROBOT
Robot will save ... I will save Will
Robinson. I will save my friend.
CHAPTER 21: Time to Die!
------------------------
EXT.-FOREST-DAY-PRESENT
Penny and Maureen chase a frantic Blip through the portal back into the daylight of the present. Here, too, the world RUMBLES.
MAUREEN
(shouting )
Penny? Penny?
Penny stands in front of the Jupiter Two, beckoning them urgently.
MAUREEN
Where did you go?
PENNY
I came through the forest. I had a
promise I had to keep.
Before Maureen can respond the ground RUMBLES, begins crumbling.
JUDY
Inside. Fast.
INT.-JUPITER TWO BRIDGE-FUTURE
Don, John, Will and the Robot stand at the open hatch. Outside, the ground RUMBLES.
JOHN
You’ve got find your way back to the
ship. The portals may still be
stable. I'll try to meet you there.
WEST
What do you mean?
JOHN
I'm going to get that core material.
It's our only chance to escape.
WEST
I'll stay. The family needs their
father
JOHN
The crew needs their pilot. No
matter what happens, when the planet
starts to break up you take off.
WEST
Without the core we'll never have
enough power to make orbit.
JOHN
You've got to try. Promise me, Don.
A beat. Then Don extends his hand.
WEST
Good luck. Commander.
Just then Will and the Robot arrive.
JOHN
Will. Son. I want you to know-
WILL
(fighting tears)
You'll tell me when you get back to
the ship. Now there just isn't time.
John bites back a bittersweet smile. (OVER) another RUMBLING.
JOHN
I could use a weapon.
The Robot extends his claw. A panel opens on his arm and he tears out a hand-made component. A conduit made from Will's golden first prize medals, joined together to make a jagged star.
ROBOT
Professor, I have a plan.
INT.-JUPITER TWO-ENGINE ROOM CONTROL PLATFORM-FuTURE
Spider Smith has Will against the rail.
SPIDER SMITH
Time to die, son.
OLDER WILL
I'm not your son.
And with that Will SMASHES Spider Smith in the face with two closed lists. Smith recoils, lifts the boy aver his head.
SPIDER SMITH
Goodbye.
Smith hurls Will over the rail towards the time pool below.
The creature walks to the end of the arm, stares at the forming aperture into the past below him.
PORTAL-CLOSE. Images of the day before the mission launch swirl in the laser-generated opening, growing ever more stable.
WIDER
Will is hanging over the time bubble, unconscious and unseen, dangling from the gantry by a flashing chain around his neck.
CHAPTER 22: Time Travel
-----------------------
EXT:-PLANET’S SURFACE-EVENING-FUTURE
Don and the Robot, Will riding his back, navigate the terrain alongside the ravaged hull of the Jupiter Two.
WILL
Look.
On the ground, crumpled in a heap, is Smith. Don checks his pulse.
WEST
(disappointed)
Damn. He's still breathing.
(OVER) the rushing WIND. RUMBLING. A portal opens before them to a far younger world. Then another portal, to a world far older. A third portal RIPS across the sky overhead.
WILL
The time machine must be near full
power. The portals are collapsing.
WEST
Which one leads us home?
More portals are opening around them, others winking shut.
WILL
There.
Through a new rip in time, the intact Jupiter Two can be seen in relief of the battered future craft. The ground beneath their feet is beginning to give way.
WILL
We can't just leave him here.
WEST
Sure we can.
(off WILL's stare)
Damn it.
(slapping the Doctor)
Smith. Wake up. Smith.
SMITH
(coming to)
Oh, the pain, the pain.
ROBOT
Danger. Will Robinson. Danger.
The PORTAL is beginning to shimmer. The ground starts to fall away.
WEST
Jump!
Don hurls Smith through, Will, the Robot and West darting across the threshold just as the portal winks closed.
EXT. -FOREST- PRESENT
The trees are bursting into flames an Will, Don, the Robot and Smith emerge from the woods. Race forwards towards...
PULL BACK TO REVEAL
INT.-JUPITER TWO-BRIDGE-PRESENT
The women are powering up the ship. The men are visible through the windscreen. Outside, the ground in beginning to crumble.
PENNY
Mom, the forest.
Penny opens the air lock. Maureen holds close her son. Steps back.
MAUREEN
Where's John?
WEST
The portal closed behind us. It was
his only way back.
MEE GROUND-CLOSE. A geyser of fire BLOWS into the air.
WEST
We've got to try and lift off.
MAUREEN
We've already begun the pre-flight
countdown. You have the Com.
(off Don's expression)
I'm going to save as many lives as I
can, Major. Now strap in.
INT.-JUPITER TWO-ENGINE ROOM CONTROL PLATFoRm-FUTURE
(OVER) TREMORS. More lava is rushing up towards the mercury, the walls themselves beginning to crack.
SMITH opens a gate at the end of the crow's-nest and a gang plank unfolds above the doorway in time.
JOHN (OVER)
Not so fast.
WIDER
John stands on the platform behind Smith, fighting star in hand, slashes for his face. Smith moves fast, knocking the star to the gantry bridge with his arm. John leaps on Smith, using his fists.
JOHN
You sabotaged our mission.
(hook)
You killed my family
(jab)
You stole my son. It's payback time.
Smith’s head moves from each impact, but the punches have no effect. It smiles. Grabs John and hurls him across the platform.
SPIDER SMITH
Spare me the fury of the righteous.
The monster leans down over John. Opens its jaw.
SPIDER SMITH
I think there's time for a snack
before my trip.
John's hand is reaching towards the fallen fighting star. At the last moment John grabs the metal weapon from the catwalk, slashes Smith across the face, silver-red blood pouring down his cheek.
SPIDER SMITH
(sarcastic)
Oh, the pain. The pain.
JOHN
You ain't seen nothing yet.
John feints towards Smith's head and then slashes low, cutting the viscous membrane of the monster's egg pouch.
SPIDER SMITH-CLOSE. Surprised.
JOHN
Remember the probe ship? These
monsters eat their wounded.
SMITH’S EGG SACK-CLOSE. Scores of the tiny spiders are pouring out of the sack, rushing up towards Smith's face, tiny jaws chomping.
SPIDER SMITH
No. Stop. No!
Spider Smith tumbles backwards, falling against the rail on the side of the platform. John rises and rushes him, SHOULDER-SLAMMING him, sending Smith hurling over towards the bubble below.
Spider Smith hits the bubble, missing the doorway formed by the red laser and is swept up by the tides of time.
JOHN
Take all the time you want to die.
Spider Smith SCREAMS as he disappears and reappears in the various half-formed images within the bubble before vanishing altogether.
John turns. The core cylinder has descended almost entirely into the main console. only seconds before it's too late to retrieve it.
EXT.-JUPITER TWO-DAY-PRESENT
The landscape is a sudden inferno.
INT.-JUPITER TWO-PRESENT
Don is at the Com. Maureen strapped into the co-pilot's chair.
MAUREEN
I kept hoping somehow he’d appear.
Maureen stares a beat out the window.
MAUREEN
Let's go, Major.
Don hits the engine switch. The.mighty generators WHINE into life.
MAUREEN
(quiet)
Goodbye, my love.
CHAPTER 23: Escape Velocity
---------------------------
The ship rocks as land masses on all sides begin to give way.
WEST
Engaging primary thrusters. Now!
EXT. -JUPITER TWO-DAY-PRESENT
The power drive begins to glow, diodes spinning. The landing struts retract. The Jupiter Two begins to rise.
INT.-JUPITER TWO-ENGINE ROOM-INSERTION ARM-FUTURE
CONTROL CONSOLE-CLOSE. The core material in sinking fast. John moves towards it when something on the gantry catches his eye.
GANTRY-CLOSE. Wedged into the grill work is a shiny scrap of metal reflecting the setting sunlight. John's father's dog tags.
John rushes to the rail. There, still unconscious and hanging by the dog-tag chain is Older Will.
CHAIN-CLOSE. The metal links are pulling apart. Will is seconds away from falling into the pool.
JOHN-POV. The cylinder has completely sunken into the machine. It's Will or the core material. No time for both.
John stands a beat, immobile. Then he drops to his knees, reaching down as the chain breaks, grabbing Will's wrist at the last second.
The dog tags tumble into the pool below as John hoists Older Will up onto the safety of the gangplank.
JOHN
Come on, son. Wake up.
Will is still. Then, finally, his eyes open.
OLDER WILL
Dad?
JOHN
I thought I lost you.
OLDER WILL
The core.
Will turns in time to see the core cylinder sink into the control panel, the laser exploding in intensity below them as it drains the cylinder's radioactive power. The world begins to EXPLODE.
OLDER WILL
You could have taken the core and
left before it was too late. You
saved me instead.
John stares at him.
JOHN
There wasn't any choice. I couldn't
let you fall.You're my boy.
THE LASER-CLOSE. Reaches full power. The image in the time pool stabilizes, becoming clear.
TIME POOL-CLOSE. Mission Control the day before the launch.
Father and Son stare into the past, eyes filled with wonder.
OLDER WILL
Look. They made it.
PAN UP. Through a torn hole in the hull and a glowing rip in space, the Jupiter Two is rising into the flame ravaged sky.
INT.JUPITER TWO-PRESENT
The ship is shaking madly.
WEST
We're not getting any altitude.
EXT.-JUPITER TWO-DAY-PRESENT
The fire GEYSERS are legion, giant chunks of the planet's surface now falling away beneath them. A huge spew of flame rages from the fire-pocked surface, hitting the bull of the tiny craft.
INT.-JUPITER TWO-PRESENT
Judy is at navigation, frantically enhance the stabilizers.
JUDY
I'm reading a power build up.
Markers in the red-
Suddenly the panel EXPLODES, sending Judy flying across the bridge. Penny races to her sister. Kneels. Judy's eyes are wide, still.
PENNY
She's dead.
INT.-JUPITER TWO-PRESENT
The ground is breaking, falling into an endless fiery abyss below.
WEST
Not enough power to make orbit.
EXT.-JUPITER TWO-DAY-PRES ENT
Another firestorm. A flame geyser hits the ship. Then another.
INT.-JUPITER TWO-PRESENT
Control panels all around the ship begin to SLOW. The main screen is hit by a flying chunk of rock. The giant glass begins to crack.
WEST
(to Maureen)
I'm sorry.
The windshield EXPLODES, sucking them both out into space.
EXT.-JUPITER TWO-DAY-PRESENT
The ship is hit by another fire geyser. The Jupiter Two EXPLODES.
PULL BACK TO REVEAL
INT.-JUPITER TWO-ENGINE ROOM-FUTURE
John and Will kneel on the crow's nest as the Jupiter Two dodges the fire geysers in the sky through the torn hull. The ship is struck once, again, finally EXPLODING in a ROARING ball of fire.
JOHN-CLOSE. A man who has lost everything he ever loved.
JOHN
I couldn't save them.
Will stares at his father and beyond him. There, in the time doorway, a young Will walks towards the entrance to Mission Control in the morning sun, innocent with no knowledge of the future.
OLDER WILL (OVER)
So many years ago and I can still
feel it. Our sun. Our Earth. It's
all I've thought about. Going home.
Will reaches forward and touches the control console. The images in the laser generated doorway begin to change.
OLDER WILL
A long time ago, you told a small
boy that one day he’d understand how
precious he was, how much his father
loved him. Today is that day.
TIME BUBBLE-CLOSE. Instead of Earth we now see this planet's surface, the Jupiter Two rising as it did just moments ago.
OLDER WILL
All I could see was your need to go
forward at any cost. What you never
showed me was your love. I lost
that. Robbed by time. I could never
see how much you cared. Until now.
TIME BUBBLE-CLOSE. The Jupiter Two tries in vain to dodge the fire geysers, then EXPLODING all over again. Will enters some commands.
TIME BUBBLE-CLOSE. The image in the portal begins to run backwards, the Jupiter Two reconstituting from a ball of flame, receding past diminishing flame geysers, beginning to land again.
OLDER WILL
Father, take my hand.
INT.-CUPITER TWO
We are back in the ship just before take off. DON mans the Cam. Maureen straps herself into the co-pilot's chair.
MAUREEN
I kept hoping somehow he’d appear.
Maureen stares a beat out the window.
MAUREEN
Let's go, Major.
Don hits the engine switch. The mighty generators WHINE into life.
MAUREEN
(quiet)
Goodbye my love.
PENNY
Look.
The roof of the hull is beginning to swirl, becoming translucent, like water. There, standing above them, John and Older WILL.
2NT.-JUPITER TWO-ENGINE ROOM-CROW'S NEST-FUTURE
The bridge of the Jupiter Two is visible in the laser generated doorway. Older WILL looks to his father.
OLDER WILL
DON'T make me wait another lifetime
to know how you feel.
And with that he pushes John over the edge, the Professor falling down through space and into the bubble and the doorway below.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
The ceiling becomes water an John drops into the ship. Maureen cradles her husband. Then she looks up. Will is still visible through the watery hull.
JOHN
Come with us.
But the passage through time and space is already breaking up as the world of the engine room EXPLODES in the b.g.
OLDER WILL
I can't. There was only enough power
for one person, one trip, remember?
MAUREEN
Will?
OLDER WILL
It's good to see you again, Mom.
It's good to see you alive.
(fading)
Sorry about all the monkey business.
Maureen reaches up towards her son, reaching down, the two hands almost touching before Will is gone, the portal closed forever.
JOHN
He sacrificed everything for his
family.
MAUREEN
(fighting tears)
He had a good example.
Maureen holds him close. A small figure walks up beside them. Will.
WILL
Dad?
A beat, then Will reaches up, hands him his dog tags.
WILL
I'm glad you came back.
JOHN
I just want you to know I love you
son. I love you very much.
John takes the boy in his arms, father and son finally holding close. (OVER) more RUMBLING as the ground continues to give way.
WEST (OVER)
The planet is breaking up around us.
John moves fast to the Com.
WEST
Nice of you to drop in.
John smiles a beat, then he's all business.
JOHN
Status?
(OVER) A tremendous CRASH.
EXT.-JUPITER TWO
The land masses are falling away beneath them, plummeting into
giant caverns of fire.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
SMITH
We're doomed. We're doomed.
West turns, hauls off and PUNCHES Smith, knocking him out cold.
WEST
Boy, that felt good.
JOHN
Get us airborne.
Don throws the power switches to full.
EXT.-JUPITER TWO
The landing struts retract. The power drive begins to spin. The Jupiter Two rises above the ground just as the firmament collapses upon itself. Fire geysers ERUPT. History in about to repeat itself.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
WEST
I'm going to try to reach escape
velocity. Maybe we can break the
gravitational pull.
JOHN
No. We don't have the core material.
The gravity wells will drag us down.
WEST
We might-
JOHN
We won't make it. Trust me. I know.
We've got to go down.
WEST
What?
JOHN
Through the planet as she breaks up.
WEST
That's insane.
JOHN
I don’t have time to argue. I'm
giving you a direct order, Major.
Don and John stare at each other a beat. Then Don smiles.
WEST
Yes Sir.
VIEWSCREEN- CLOSE. The world is breaking up beneath them, revealing a fiery maw. DON GUNS the engines, heading straight for the chasm.
EXT.-JUPITER TWO
The tiny ship flies into the giant expanding crevice.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
DON is flying into the shattering center of the planet. Masses of continents, some bearing forests, others oceans, all soar past.
EXT.-JUPITER TWO
The tiny ship flies deeper toward the molten center of the planet.
INT.-JUPITER TWO
JOHN
There.
A window out the windscreen a portion of the planet has torn away revealing the black of space and the starfield beyond.
WEST
I see it.
Don banks the ship toward the opening, flying past exploding fragments of this shattering world.
EXT.-JUPITER TWO
The ship clears the planet as the world EXPLODES in the b.g.
CHAPTER 24: Alpha Prime
-----------------------
INT.-JUPITER TWO
DON guides the ship out into space. Judy comes up behind him.
JUDY
Nice work, flyboy.
WEST
So, I earn that kiss yet?
JUDY
(a peck on the cheek)
You earned that.
DON shrugs, begins to turn away. Judy grabs him.
JUDY
This one is on credit.
She gives him a long, passionate kiss. She lets him go, stunned.
JUDY
Cold fish, huh?
Penny holds Blip in her arms, who has begun to BLIP madly.
MAUREEN
Poor thing. She's lost her whole
family.
(off Penny)
Penny, why are you looking at me
like that. Penny?
Penny presses a button. Blast doors open on a storage hold.
PENNY
I promised Judy I'd take care of
her. I couldn't leave her all alone.
(all stare at her)
Well I am their princess, after all.
(turning)
You can come out mow.
Forms in the cargo hold de-camouflage. The other lizard monkeys, standing amidst glittering canisters of Dimondium.
JOHN
Dimondium. Now if we could only find
our way back to Earth.
ROBOT
If I may, Professor.
The Robot projects a holographic schematic of the galaxy. The Jupiter Two is highlighted. Earth blinks at the other and.
ROBOT
Your son's star charts.
WILL
It's a map home.
(OVER) ALARMS. The shattered planet's core is turning bright red, a sudden ROARING blast wave heading towards the ship.
WEST
The planet's gravity field in
collapsing.
MAUREEN
We'll be sucked in.
JOHN
There's no way to get clear in time.
JUDY
The hyperdrive.
MAUREEN
Everybody hang on.
PENNY
Here we go again.
WILL
Cool.
Don throws the switch.
EXT. -JUPITER TWO
The planet's core EXPLODES as the Jupiter Two vanishes into hyperspace, a sudden star and then gone.
FINAL FADE TO BLACK
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