SPHERE

                                   BY


                             PAUL ATTANASIO




                         Based on the novel by

                           Michael Crichton




              BARRY LEVINSON VERSION        SHOOTING SCRIPT






     NOTE: THE HARD COPY OF THIS SCRIPT CONTAINED SCENE NUMBERS
     AND SOME "OMITTED" SLUGS. THEY HAVE BEEN REMOVED FOR THIS
     SOFT COPY.




     FADE IN:

     EXT. OCEAN FLOOR - DAY

     BEGIN TITLES.

     MOVING AMONG the hallucinatory variety of creatures --
     barbaric, distorted, sublime -- that haunt the ocean floor.
     All but unknown to man except in the deep preconscious brain
     that houses the family album of the race... Where we remember
     that they are us... Then...

                                                       DISSOLVE TO:

     BALLET OF ODD SHAPES

     and exotic colors -- like a living abstract painting --
     tropical fish moving in the f.g... Aquarium fish -- fish we
     know -- fish of the lesser depths, as we RISE UP TOWARD the
     surface...

     Then nearer the surface still, fish dart and flee before a
     distant RUMBLE... that GROWS LOUDER AND LOUDER...

     HELICOPTER

     ERUPTS INTO WATERY VIEW as it blasts across the ocean...

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. PACIFIC OCEAN - DAY

     A tropical morning sun paints its luster on the sea-chop. A
     helicopter hurtles across the Pacific Ocean.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. HELICOPTER - SAME TIME

     NORMAN GOODMAN, 50s, a day's growth of beard and eyes sandy
     with sleep, wakes up.  Adjusts his steel-framed glasses.
     Unballs the tweed jacket he's been using as a pillow.  He's
     nearly sitting in the lap of the PILOT, 30s, a tightly wound
     military type, as they zoom across the waves.

                          PILOT
               Good sleep?

                          NORMAN
               Not bad. So, where are we?

                          PILOT
               Where'd they bring you in from?

                          NORMAN
               San Diego.  Left yesterday.

                          PILOT
               So you came Honolulu-Guam-Pago-here?

                          NORMAN
               Yeah.

                          PILOT
               Long trip.  What kind of work do you do,
               sir?

                          NORMAN
               I'm a psychologist.

                          PILOT
               A shrink, huh? Why not. They've called
               in just about everything else.

                          NORMAN
               How do you mean?

                          PILOT
               We've been ferrying people out of Guam
               for the last two days.  Physicists,
               biologists, mathematicians, you name it.
               Everybody being flown to the middle of
               nowhere in the Pacific Ocean.

                          NORMAN
               What's going on?

                          PILOT
               They're not telling us anything, sir.
               What about you? What'd they tell you?

                          NORMAN
               They told me that there was an airplane
               crash.

                          PILOT
               Uh-huh. You get called on crashes?

                          NORMAN
               I have been, yes.

                          PILOT
               And why is that, sir?

                          NORMAN
               I'm on a list of psychologists the F.A.A.
               brings in when a plane goes down.
                   (beat)
               So, where exactly are we now?

                          PILOT
               Well, I'm not supposed to tell
               you...let's just say we're two hundred
               miles from nowhere, sir.

                          NORMAN
               You're not supposed to tell me?

                          PILOT
               No, sir.

     Norman looks out of the helicopter, at the ocean.

                          NORMAN
               Don't you get bored looking at that?

                          PILOT
               To tell you the truth, no, sir. I'm real
               happy to see it flat like this.

                          NORMAN
               Why?

                          PILOT
               Good weather.  It won't hold though.
               There's a cyclone forming up in the
               Admiralties, should swing down this way
               in a few days.

                          NORMAN
               What happens then?

                          PILOT
               Everybody just clears the hell out.
               Weather can be really tough in this part
               of the world. I was stationed in Florida
               and I've seen a lot of hurricanes, but
               you've never seen anything like a Pacific
               cyclone, sir.

                          NORMAN
               You never met my first wife.

                          PILOT
               Don't be so sure.
               That's where we're headed, over there.
               Here take a look.

     He hands Norman binoculars.

     NORMAN'S POV THROUGH BINOCULARS

     A salvage ship surrounding four other, smaller craft in
     concentric circles.  A mile long circle of bouys.

     CLOSE ON NORMAN

     as he absorbs this new information. What's going on?

                          NORMAN
               All this for an airplane crash.

                          PILOT
               I never mentioned a plane crash.
                   (beat)

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. SALVAGE SHIP - DAY

     The helicopter lands on the salvage ship helipad.  Norman
     hesitates at the door. A seaman coaxes him and he jumps down.
     Blasted by the downdraft of the rotors, Norman humps his
     duffel bag across the deck, hustles after his escort.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. SALVAGE SHIP - LATER

     Norman follows a SEAMAN, 20s, as he carries Norman's duffel
     bag along the narrow corridors belowdecks...

                          SEAMAN
               You have any other gear, sir?  Watch your
               step.

                          NORMAN
               I'd like to call my family.

                          SEAMAN
               We'll get you settled in quarters,
               sir.  You're to remain there until we
               send for you.

                          NORMAN
               I want to get started right now.

                          SEAMAN
               We'll send for you.

                          NORMAN
               It's critical that I see them, because --

                          SEAMAN
               See who?

                          NORMAN
               The survivors. If I don't get to them
               within the first twenty four hours...

                          SEAMAN
               What survivors?

                          NORMAN
               The survivors of the plane crash.

                          SEAMAN
               Plane crash?

                          NORMAN
               Listen carefully.  I deal in post-
               traumatic stress and survivor guilt --
               maybe I should talk to someone who knows
               what's going on.

                          SEAMAN
               You can talk to the ship's psychiatrist.

                          NORMAN
               I'm a psychologist, that's why I was sent
               down here.

     Norman follows the Seaman through a hydraulic door...They
     come upon TED FIELDING prowling the corridor.

                          TED
                   (to Seaman)
               Look, I told you people over an hour ago
               I need a phone.  A phone.

     The Seaman brusquely continues past with Norman's duffel
     bag.

                          SEAMAN
               You'll have to discuss that with
               Mr.Barnes.

                          TED
               That's fine...Barnes.  Give me a phone,
               I'll call him.

     He recognizes Norman.

                          TED (cont'd)
               Norman...what are you doing here?

     The Seaman grabs Ted's arm.

                          TED
               Would you take your hands off me, please.
               Do you have any idea who I am?

                          NORMAN
               He will if you just tell him the name of
               the book you wrote.

                          TED
               It's called 'Astrophysics You Can Use'.
               It was a Book of the Month Club Main
               Selection.

     The Seaman turns, ramrod-straight, and fixes Ted with a
     steely Aryan gaze.

                          SEAMAN
               Never heard of it.  Now back in your
               quarters.

                          NORMAN
                   (to Ted)
               You really thought that he read your
               book...after all these years?  You
               haven't changed.

                          TED
               Well, it's written for the layman.

                          NORMAN
               He's not impressed.

                          TED
               They don't read.
                   (to Seaman)
               Is there a phone in here?

     The Seaman grabs his arm again.

                          TED (cont'd)
               Would you stop doing that!  I can go to
               the room myself.

                          NORMAN
               I've been trying to call my wife for the
               last 15 hours.

                          SEAMAN
                   (sharply to Ted)
               Sir?

     Ted backs off toward his room, opens the door.

     The Seaman continues on his way with Norman, unlocks a door --
     Norman's quarters. Norman glances up the hall...

     NORMAN'S POV - BETH HALPERIN

     Thirties, a mordant beauty, stands at the threshold of her
     room.  Watching him.  A lot going on behind those eyes.  She
     and Norman exchange a look.  Then without a word, she returns
     to her room.

     CLOSEUP - NORMAN

     As the Seaman ushers him inside.

                          NORMAN
               Beth?

     Then the Seaman closes the door on him.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. NORMAN'S QUARTERS - LATER

     Norman lies on his cot, stares at the ceiling, his tweed
     jacket folded up like a pillow beneath his head.

     There's a knock at the door and it is opened by HARALD
     COTESWORTH BARNES, 40s, an imposing man in dark glasses and
     dark dress.

                          BARNES
               Goodman!  You been here long?

     He shakes Norman's hand.

                          NORMAN
               I've been here three hours.

     Barnes sweeps him along into the hallway.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. HALLWAY - SAME TIME

     Barnes leads Norman along the hallway and down some stairs.

                          BARNES
               Welcome aboard.  I don't mind telling
               you, this thing scares the hell out of
               me.

                          NORMAN
               It's probably already too late.  You
               might as well put me on a helicopter and
               send me back. Whatever damage was done to
               the survivors, is already done. You know
               what I mean?

                          BARNES
               Hold on, we'll get to that.

                          NORMAN
               I don't even know who you are.

                          BARNES
                   (admiring)
               Well, I sure know who you are.

                          NORMAN
               Who are you...Navy...military?  What are
               you?

                          BARNES
               You ever hear of the O.S.S.A.?

                          NORMAN
               Yes.

                          BARNES
                   (proudly)
               Well, they don't know who I am.  That
               should reassure you.

     Barnes takes Norman aside.

                          BARNES
               Look, you haven't talked to anybody about
               this, have you?

                          NORMAN
               Well, I talked to the helicopter pilot.

                          BARNES
               What'd you tell him?

                          NORMAN
               What did I tell him. I told him I was
               here to see the plane crash.  That's my
               job.

     Barnes chews this over thoughtfully...

                          BARNES
               The plane crash.  Good.

                          NORMAN
               There was no plane crash?

                          BARNES
                   (confidentially)
               Spacecraft.

                          NORMAN
               Spacecraft?  I guess that explains a lot.
               NASA?

                          BARNES
               That doesn't surprise you?

                          NORMAN
               Well at least it explains the secrecy.

                          BARNES
               The secrecy's critical, Norman.  You made
               that explicit in your report.

                          NORMAN
               What report?

                          BARNES
               The ULF.

                          NORMAN
                   (remembering)
               I wrote that for the Bush Administration.

                          BARNES
               And that's our Bible here.  Every jot and
               tittle.

                          NORMAN
               But that was a report about a possible
               encounter with an alien being.

     Norman laughs nervously, looks at Barnes.  Barnes isn't
     laughing.  Suddenly Norman isn't laughing either.

                          BARNES
               You want to come with me?

                          NORMAN
               Oh, boy.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. BRIEFING ROOM - LATER

     A video image of SEAMEN aboard a telephone-cable ship showing
     the sheared fiber optic cable to the camera as Barnes, laser
     pointer in hand, delivers a briefing.

                          BARNES
               About three weeks ago, a ship laying
               fiber optic cable between Honolulu and
               Sydney hit an obstruction a thousand feet
               underwater.  Cut the cable clean as a
               shears.  The Navy got interested -- sent
               out a search ship.

     ANGLE ON BETH

     As she watches... SUPERED below:

     DR. BETH HALPERIN:  PHYSICIAN/BIOLOGIST

     ANGLE ON HIGH-RESOLUTION TV IMAGE

     A sonar image of an enormous triangular fin jutting abruptly
     from a ridge of coral...

                          BARNES
               ... Turns out what did it was this -- We
               took this with the side-looking sonar --
               an aerodynamic fin longer than a football
               field.  Bigger than any known wingspan.

     ANGLE ON TED

     As he watches.... SUPERED below:

     TED FIELDING:  ASTROPHYSICIST

                          TED
               You have any idea what it's made of?

                          BARNES
               We sent the SCARAB robots to snip a piece
               out of it...

     ANGLE ON MICROSCOPE IMAGE

     of the composition of the fin...

                          BARNES
               It's a titanium alloy in an epoxy/resin
               honeycomb.  It's more sophisticated than
               anything we can duplicate.

                          TED
               The Russians don't have anything like
               this?

     ANGLE ON SONAR IMAGE

     This one composed of fine dots.

                          BARNES
               You tell me.  That's the fuselage. Ultra-
               high-res S.L.S. bottom scan, came in a
               week ago.  There it is...buried under
               about eight yards of coral.

                          BETH
               There's something wrong with that
               measurement.  Pacific coral grows at a
               rate of an inch a year.  You can set your
               watch by it.

                          BARNES
               That's right.

                          BETH
               So, you're saying the spacecraft crashed
               in the year...

                          HARRY (O.C.)
               1709.

     They all turn in the direction of the voice...

     REVERSE ANGLE ON HARRY ADAMS

     As he watches, bemused, from a chair in the corner, his
     fingers forming a steeple.  A black man with a dour manner
     and lightning eyes, Oxford shirt and chinos. SUPERED BELOW:

     "HARRY ADAMS:  MATHEMATICIAN."

                          BETH
               You're saying this spacecraft crashed
               three hundred years ago?

                          HARRY
               Two hundred and eighty-eight.

                          BETH
               But that's impossible.

                          BARNES
               It's not impossible if this spacecraft
               came to earth from an alien civilization.

     A long beat of wonderment...

                          TED
               You think this is an alien spacecraft?

                          HARRY
               You see, it's not impossible. It's
               ridiculous.

                          BARNES
               We believe this spacecraft contains an
               unknown life form. That's why you're
               here.  You're the human contact team
               recommended in the Goodman Report.
                   (gestures to each)
               We have a biochemist to assess the
               physiology of the Unknown Life Form, we
               have a mathematician, because that'll
               probably be our common language... and we
               have an astrophysicist to locate its
               place in the cosmos.

                          HARRY
               Led by a psychologist.

                          BARNES
               That's right.

                          HARRY
               That's what the little green men say
               nowadays?  'Take me to your therapist'?

     Norman bites his tongue.  He's used to it.  Barnes refers to
     his copy of The Goodman Report...

                          BARNES
                   (reading)
               'Contact teams meeting an unknown life
               form, or U.L.F., must be prepared for
               severe psychological impact. Stress
               reaction when confronted by unknown life
               has not been sufficiently studied and
               cannot be entirely predicted in advance.
               But the most likely consequence of
               contact is absolute terror.'
                   (beat)
               That's from Norman's report.

                          TED
               I'm sorry...are these parameters correct?

                          BARNES
               Yup.

                          TED
               So, you're saying you have a fuselage
               from a spacecraft over a half-mile long
               that crashed in the ocean three hundred
               years ago, and it's completely intact?

                          BARNES
               That's right, and the kicker is, our
               sonar's picking up a low hum.
               Something's still running inside.

     A beat as they all look at each other...

                          HARRY
               Hold on a second.  There's no way that
               coral could've grown faster than an inch
               a year?

                          BETH
               No.

                          TED
               Well, that's why we're going down there
               to see, isn't it?

                          HARRY
               Who said we're going down there?

                          TED
               Are you kidding?  This is the greatest
               scientific discovery since Copernicus!
               Bigger than Copernicus!  The idea that
               we're not alone?  It'll change
               everything. We have physical evidence
               that there's extra terrestrial life.  You
               don't want to see that?

                          HARRY
               This is not an equation that needs to be
               solved. No.

                          NORMAN
               Harry's got a point. I'm not too sure
               about this idea of going down a thousand
               feet either.

                          BARNES
               How deep have you been, Norman?

                          NORMAN
               I can snorkle ten to fifteen feet.

                          BARNES
               Good.  You do that, and I'll take care of
               the rest.

                          HARRY
               I have got to say, I resent this briefing
               very much.

                          TED
               Oh, Jesus!

                          BARNES
               Why is that, Harry?

                          HARRY
               Did you decide you have to break the news
               to us gently?

                          BARNES
               What news?

                          HARRY
               About the door.

                          BARNES
               Harry, we have divers cutting through
               excavation trenches as we speak,
               searching for that door.

                          HARRY
               You know exactly where the door is, am I
               right.  Am I right?

                          BARNES
               You're right.

                          HARRY
               One other thing. If Norman's report calls
               for a biologist, a mathematician, an
               astrophysicist, and a psychologist...
               then why are you here?

         Barnes grins enigmatically.

                          BARNES
               I'm not here.
                   (he turns)
               Physical protocols begin in half an hour.

     He leaves.

                          HARRY
               He's not here.  What the hell does that
               mean?

                          NORMAN
               Harry, I'm impressed.  You knew he
               wasn't telling the truth about the door.
               How did you know that?

                          HARRY
               Oh, there's lots of things he's not
               telling us about.  He's not telling us
               any of the important things.

                          TED
               Like what?

                          HARRY
               You wouldn't believe it if I told
               you...but you'd probably publish it.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. SHIP - SICK BAY - LATER

     NORMAN AGAINST A WHITE BACKGROUND.

                          MEDIC (O/C)
               Do you wear glasses all the time?

                          NORMAN
               I just started wearing these...er...

                                                            CUT TO:

     TED AGAINST A WHITE BACKGROUND.

                          TED
               ...Why? Are the glasses a problem?
               Because I don't actually need them.
               Clinically speaking they're just for
               reading.  They're more of a crutch
               really.
                   (takes off glasses)
               I see fine without them.

                          MEDIC O/C
               Could you read the fifth line please.

                          TED
               Sure.
                   (beat)
               From here?

                                                            CUT TO:

     NORMAN AGAINST A WHITE BACKGROUND.

                          NORMAN
               They said there was no problem, but they
               didn't anticipate that I would be going a
               thousand feet under the water.  I find it
               interesting that a part of me wants to
               find a way to get out of this, and
               another part of me is not trying to get
               out of it.

                          MEDIC O/C
               Does this concern you?

                          NORMAN
               Going down a thousand feet under the
               water where no fish live but that's where
               you want to send me? Mildly.

                                                            CUT TO:

     BETH AGAINST A WHITE BACKGROUND.

                          MEDIC O/C
               Do you take any prescription medication?

                          BETH
               No.

                          MEDIC O/C
               None whatsoever?

                          BETH
               You know once in a while...sometimes I
               might take like a piece of Xanax or
               something ...if I'm nervous. Something
               like that.  Not...much.

                                                            CUT TO:

     HARRY AGAINST A WHITE BACKGROUND.

                          MEDIC O/C
               Would you consider yourself in good
               physical condition?

                          HARRY
               Yeah.

                          MEDIC O/C
               According to your doctor, in 1990...

                          HARRY
               Wait a minute -- you talked to my doctor?

                                                            CUT TO:

     NORMAN AGAINST A WHITE BACKGROUND.

                          NORMAN
               What do you mean, I'm off the graph?  I
               mean, is that a problem?

                                                            CUT TO:

     HARRY AGAINST A WHITE BACKGROUND.

                          HARRY
               Knee surgery.  Complete reconstruction of
               ACL right knee.  Still have a steel pin
               here...
                   (points to areas in leg)
               ...steel pin up here...little medial
               collateral damage.

                                                            CUT TO:

     TED AGAINST A WHITE BACKGROUND.

                          TED
               I just take over the counter
               antihistamines.  I have some allergies.
               Not to water, which is good.

                                                            CUT TO:

     HARRY AGAINST A WHITE BACKGROUND.

                          MEDIC O/C
               Do you feel comfortable about this dive?

                          HARRY
               No.  Hell, no!  I don't feel comfortable
               about this dive.  Why would I?  It's not
               something I do on a normal basis.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. CLASSROOM - LATER

     Norman struggles to stay awake as a DIVE INSTRUCTOR
     drones.

                          DIVE INSTRUCTOR
               Let me remind you of a few points. This
               will be a saturation dive. You're going
               to be taken to a Habitat at a thousand
               feet. We have an atmosphere of 21% OT and
               79% Nitrogen, which means that the PO2
               would be .21 and .79.  In this case we
               will be compressing on HE.

     ANGLE ON HARRY, TED, BETH AND NORMAN as the Dive Instructor
     continues.

                          DIVE INSTRUCTOR (CONT'D)
               Compression to a thousand feet will then
               occur, using pure helium. As you
               compress, you will experience a warming
               of the environment and you can also
               expect to experience High Pressure
               Nervous Syndrome.  HPNS is manifested by
               trembling, feelings of confusion,
               disorientation and possible
               nausea.

                          NORMAN
               I got that now.

     The Dive Instructor drones on.

                          DIVE INSTRUCTOR
               These symptoms should subside after a
               short time on the bottom.
               You will also notice marked voice change
               as the PPHE increases.

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. SUBMARINE - CLOSE ON NORMAN - DAY

     Peering up through the dome of the submarine as it drops away
     from the mother ship and descends...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. SUBMARINE - LATER

     Norman takes a seat inside the cramped sub.

                          NORMAN
               Sit anywhere?

     The rest of the team sits, knee-to-knee.  Ted sweats
     profusely.

                          NORMAN (cont'd)
               Everybody happy?

     Barnes sits alongside a PILOT in the sub's cockpit, separated
     by a wall of Plexiglas.

                          BARNES
                   (over intercom)
               The descent will take about thirteen
               minutes descending at a rate of eighty-
               feet per minute.  It'll get a little
               chilly.  Try and relax.

     The sub rocks a little.

                          NORMAN
               Next time, just tell us when you're going
               to push the button.

     Barnes flips a switch and a MOZART HORN CONCERTO BLARES
     cheerily on the PUBLIC ADDRESS... Harry ties his shoes.

                          HARRY
               Mozart.  Horn Concerto in E Flat. K-447.

                          BETH
               I'm surprised to see you here, Harry.

                          HARRY
               Everybody went down but Harry -- written
               down in some secret government file
               somewhere.

     Harry turns to Ted, shivering in a cold sweat of nerves...

                          HARRY
               How you holding up there, Captain
               Nautical?

                          TED
               I'm loose.

                          HARRY
               You're loose?

                          TED
               I'm loose.  I'm loose.

     Then the sub lurches suddenly...

                          TED
               I'm a little uptight...What was that?

     The sub rocks again.

                          NORMAN
               Are we okay?  Why don't I have a
               seatbelt?

     Barnes' VOICE INTERRUPTS the MOZART.

                          BARNES
               Oh, shit!

                          BETH
               Shit?

                          TED
               What was that?

                          BARNES
                   (over intercom)
               We had a little flame out. But don't
               worry, we'll ride this current until we
               get power back.

                          TED
               Did he just say we lost power?

     The group contemplates this as the Mozart cheerily resumes.

                          NORMAN
               Flame out?  What's a flame out?

                          BARNES
               Don't worry about it.  We're in the river
               now.

                          NORMAN
               What river?

                          BARNES
               It's a temperature salinity differential
               that flows like a river inside the ocean.

                          NORMAN
               We're in the middle of the ocean under
               the ocean and there's a river?

                          BARNES
               That's right.

                          NORMAN
               You couldn't tell us that when you de-
               briefed us?

                          BARNES
               Need to know.

                          BETH
               It's a good thing, Norman.

                          NORMAN
               It just, you know...lessens the stress
               response -- the more you know in front.

     Ted is looking very tense.

                          NORMAN (cont'd)
               You okay, Ted?

                          TED
               No, I'm not okay.

                          NORMAN
               Look at me.

     Beth tries to soothe Ted. He gets more tense.

                          NORMAN (CONT'D)
               Maybe you shouldn't touch him, Beth.
                   (to Ted)
               Just look at me.  I want you to breathe.
               Just look at me.  You want to take a
               breath.  On the count of three...one...

     Ted breathes.  Harry begins to hum.

                          TED
               You're not breathing either, Norman.

                          NORMAN
               I know I'm not breathing.  We're going to
               breathe together, okay? We're both
               nervous, yes?  Breathe in through your
               nose...one, two, three and out.  It's
               just a stress response.  Out.

                          BETH
               You're not giving birth here, Ted.

                          NORMAN
               In and out...two...three...four...

     Ted and Norman exchange a smile.  Harry's humming gets
     louder.

                          TED
               Would you cut that out please, Harry?

                          NORMAN
                   (to Ted)
               You're having a stress reaction.  That's
               Harry's stress reaction, okay?  A bunch
               of adolescents here.

     Beth is holding onto Ted's hand.

                          BETH
               Okay, man?

     She lets go of his hand.

                          TED
               Thank you, that's better. I'm better.

     He laughs with relief.

     The sub continues to descend.

                          NORMAN
               Those noises we're hearing, that's
               normal?

                          BARNES
               Those noises are the pressure of the
               water attacking the integrity of the sub.

                          BETH
               You know a little something about that,
               don't you? Norman? How the pressure can
               attack your integrity?

                          NORMAN
               Come on...be nice this trip.

                          BETH
               Were you nice last time?

                          TED
               You two want to sit together?

     Norman wipes sweat off his brow.

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. OCEAN - LATER

     The sub descends into the gloom... Not much light down
     here... In the distance, the shadowy monolith of the tail fin
     looms, like some ancient misplaced totem.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. SUB - LATER

     Ted peers out of the porthole.  Then his jaw drops.

                          TED
               My God!  C'mere -- look at this!

     Ted gestures to Norman, and Norman joins him. Peers out...

     THEIR POV

     Emerging INTO VIEW from behind a ridge...

     THE HABITAT

     A visually breathtaking network of cylinders and domes, in
     yellow steel and glass, lit up from inside and out -- like a
     vast underwater sculpture -- as fish dart around it...

     BACK ON NORMAN AND TED

     as Barnes comes over the intercom...

                          BARNES
                   (over intercom)
               That's the habitat.

                          TED
               It ain't the Motel 6.

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. HABITAT - SAME TIME

     The sub nestles beneath the imposing structure... a HYDRAULIC
     HISS as the sub's hatch connects with the airlock...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME

     JANE EDMUNDS, the unit archivist, monitors the video feed. A
     video image appears of the team entering through the hatch to
     the moon pool.

                          EDMUNDS
               They're here.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. HABITAT MOON POOL - SAME TIME

     The team crawls through the narrow hatch...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. MOON POOL ROOM - LATER

     The team are squeezed face-to-face in a cold steel-walled
     chamber...Barnes stands outside and talks to them over an
     intercom.

     Then a scary HISSING sound as GAS under pressure enters the
     chamber.

                          BARNES (V.O.)
                   (over intercom)
               Alright. We're gonna pressurize you now.
               I know it's hot in there, but you're
               going to feel coolness.  That's the
               helium.

                          NORMAN
               Helium?

                          TED
               Was I the only one paying attention?

     Ted is so captivated by his pompous explanation that he
     doesn't realize his voice is getting higher and
     squeakier...In fact, all of their voices have been distorted
     by the helium.

                          TED
               Oxygen is a corrosive gas in the same
               family as chlorine and fluorine.
               Hydrochloric acid. Hydrofluoric acid.

     Everyone's smirking at Ted's seriousness and his squeaky
     voice.

                          TED (cont'd)
               Essentially that's why we're breathing
               helium down here because oxygen at any
               level higher than 2.3 becomes toxic.

                          NORMAN
               Can you run that by me again, Ted.  I
               don't speak fluent balloon.

     Everyone laughs -- a squeaky, high-pitched helium laugh...

                          TED
                   (off their laughter)
               Yes...that's my voice.  The helium
               resonates differently with my vocal
               cords.

                          BETH
               Wait a second...

                          HARRY
               Follow the yellow brick-road...

                          BARNES
                   (intercom)
               Alright, kiddies, cut it out.  The voice
               regulators are behind you. Put 'em on.

                          NORMAN
                   (helium voice - to Beth)
               How do you like it?

                          BETH
                   (helium voice)
               It's nothing compared to the drugs I've
               done.

     Everyone laughs - helium laughs.

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. HABITAT - POV FROM FIN OF SPACECRAFT - SAME TIME

     And the dim sounds of the LAUGHTER inside... As if someone is
     watching...listening... and the habitat is a craft full of
     aliens.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. HABITAT - VIDEO ROOM - LATER

     TEENY FLETCHER, a gruff O.S.S.A. lifer in her late 30s, works
     the controls (joystick, slide switches) for a remote
     robot... Jane Edmunds monitors the video feed.

     ANGLE ON TEAM

     Clustered around, watching... They all now wear talkers
     around their necks that normalize their speech.

                          BARNES (V/O)
               Change the angle - different plane.

     ANGLE ON MONITORS

     A large hole has been excavated through the coral, revealing
     what appears to be a door in the spaceship beneath... As
     Teeny manipulates the joystick, a suction arm emerges from
     the robot, latches onto the door...

                          FLETCHER
               Alright.

                          BARNES
               Get the plane...get the suction plane
               flat.

                          FLETCHER
               This has been a little difficult, sir.

               No, no...you're doing good.  Keep the
               rubber plane flat.

     Fletcher continues to manipulate the robot.

                          FLETCHER
               There we go.

                          BARNES
               Rotate the clamp.

                          FLETCHER
               Come on!

                          BARNES
               No, other way.

                          FLETCHER
               Okay.

     Ted is playing with his "talker" - the black box around his
     neck that regulates his voice.

                          TED
               I can't believe these things...mmmmmm
                   (starts to sing in helium
                    voice)
               "Ole man river......that ole man
               river...."

                          BARNES
               Turn it to forty five degrees.

                          TED
               Mmmmmm....
                   (replaces "talker")
               I'm back.

                          BETH
               Is that the door?

                          BARNES
               Looks like it.  We did sonar imaging of
               the interior compartments.  That's our
               best bet.
                   (to Fletcher)
               Damn it!  It won't budge will it?


                          HARRY
               Has it occurred to anyone that maybe we
               shouldn't open that door?

                          NORMAN
               Why do you say that?

                          HARRY
               We always assume these creatures will be
               green, or insect-like, but basicaily
               human.  But what if they inhale air and
               exhale cyanide gas?  It's perfectly
               plausible.

                          BETH
               Or live forever -- like a virus. Or a
               yeast.

                          NORMAN
               Why would you assume that an unknown life
               form would want to kill us?

                          HARRY
               A creature that can't be killed wouldn't
               think killing was right or wrong.  They'd
               simply have no concept of it.

     Ted noses up to the monitor, getting in everyone's way.

                          TED
               How tall is that robot?

                          FLETCHER
               Five feet.

                          HARRY
               Instant extinction.  It's what all the
               serious scientific literature is about --
               what little there is on the subject.
                   (to Norman)
               That is in your report, isn't it, Norman?

                          NORMAN
               It's in there.

                          BARNES
                   (to Fletcher)
               Put some suction in it.  Is that piston
               broken?

                          TED
               That's roughly the same size as an
               airplane door, isn't it?

                          BARNES
               Excuse me, Ted.

                          TED
               I just think that's worth taking note of.
               Don't you?

                          BARNES
               Ted!
                   (to Fletcher)
               Knock the suction up to point-four.

                          TED
               Look at how clumsy this thing is.  Three
               million dollars worth of technology and
               it can't open a door.

                          BARNES
               Alright, Ted!

                          FLETCHER
                   (through her teeth)
               There's nothing clumsy about the robot.

                          TED
               I'm sorry.  All I'm saying is I think any
               one of us could do better with a crowbar.

                          BETH
               Any one of us, Ted? Which any one of us
               would that be?

                          TED
               Okay, okay...I admit it. Nothing wrong
               with a little glory in the name of
               science?  Jesus!

     CLOSE ON BARNES

     as he looks at the robot flailing impotently at the door...
     Then looks at the team.

                          FLETCHER
               We're not going to be able to control it
               from here, and all the divers have pulled
               out.

                                                            CUT TO:


     INT. SUIT ROOM - LATER

     Lockers with nameplates for the team... Inside each, a diving
     suit and helmet... Heavier than scuba gear -- more like
     spacesuits.  The team sets about changing into them.

                          NORMAN
               I'm not too thrilled at the prospect of
               this, you know.

                          BETH
               You know what, Norman...don't think of it
               as swimming, think of it as walking.

                          NORMAN
               The walking part I can do, it's the
               underwater part.  You drown underwater.
                   (adjusting equipment)
               If I break anything, does that mean I
               don't have to go?

                          TED
               What if I have to go to the bathroom?

                          HARRY
               Just go down your leg, Ted.

                          TED
               Really?  You can urinate in these?

                          HARRY
               You can.  Question is, would you want to?

                          NORMAN
                   (looking at helmet)
               Where's the switch?

                          BETH
               Okay, let's go.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. MOON POOL ROOM - LATER

     Barnes opens a hatch to the ocean, kept at bay by the
     positive pressure in the airlock room.  Suited up, the team
     jumps through the hatch and down to the ocean floor.

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. OCEAN FLOOR - CONTINUOUS

     Norman emerges from a cloud of bubbles onto the ocean floor,
     kicking up sand and clouding up the already murky view...

     NORMAN'S POV

     The LABORED sound of Norman's BREATHING as we look out from
     inside his helmet.

                          BARNES
                   (over intercom)
               Alright, Fletcher.  We're at one thousand
               and twenty two feet, ambient temperature
               thirty four degrees, heading out north,
               north west three thirty.  It's a firm
               bottom, intermittent coral.

     Norman turns and sees a blinding light... shields his eyes --
     it's the light on Harry's helmet.

                          HARRY
                   (over intercom)
               Norman, your light's off again.  Try the
               switch at your waist.

     INSERT - NORMAN'S GLOVE

     As he fumbles with the switch on his waist... His helmet
     light flashes on...

     WIDER

     The team makes its way across the ocean floor, their helmet
     lights sweeping the foggy bottom like headlights...

                          BETH
                   (over intercom)
               This is great you guys.  Wow!
                   (beat)
               Hey, Norman.  You know, a space launch
               costs a hundred million dollars.  You
               could come down here once a day every day
               for fifty years for that.  The ocean is
               the oldest living environment...so much
               older than the land, yet we don't know
               anything about it.

     BACK ON NORMAN'S POV - LONG, HIGH WIDE SHOT

     He can barely make out the others... This is a long way from
     sherry at the faculty club. Then he HEARS...

                          BETH
                   (over intercom)
               Oh, my God!

                          TED
                   (over intercom)
               Look at the size of that thing.

                          BARNES
                   (over intercom)
               You see that tunnel...we go there.
               That's the "heart of darkness".

     They continue across the ocean bottom.

                          BARNES (cont'd)
                   (over intercom)
               We're in the coral pipe now, approaching
               the airlock.

                          NORMAN
                   (over intercom)
               I'm feeling pressure in my ears, is that
               normal?

                          BETH
                   (over intercom)
               Just use your equalizer.

     Norman adjusts his equipment.

                          NORMAN
               A little better.

                          BETH
               You know, the most toxic creatures on
               earth live down here.  The venom of a
               land animal is nothing by comparison.
               Even the weakest sea snake is inveritably
               lethal.

                          NORMAN
                   (over intercom)
               Is that supposed to make me feel good,
               Beth?

                          HARRY
                   (looking at coral)
               Amazing.  This stuff only grows an inch a
               year?

                          BARNES
               Airlock's in sight now.

                          TED
                   (re: spacecraft)
               This thing is enormous.

     Norman looks up...

     LONG, HIGH, WIDE SHOT - THE TEAM

     As their little helmet lights sweep up towards...

     SPACECRAFT
         
     Buried under a mountain of coral, it's about as big as an
     airport terminal.  With the titanium fin looming beyond...

     ANGLE ON BARNES

     Near the entrance -- carved through the coral and lit by
     tiny hanging bulbs.  Barnes waves them on and they follow him
     down.

                          BARNES
               This is our airlock.  It'll take us from
               a wet to a dry environment.  We're
               assuming the inside of the ship is
               sealed.

     ANGLE ON NORMAN

     as he descends awkwardly, grabbing clumsily at the bulky iron
     pitons drilled into the coral walls... till he reaches...

     PORTABLE AIRLOCK

     A large Plexiglas tube reinforced with steel struts, butted
     against the door of the spacecraft.  Norman and the rest of
     the team enter.  Barnes seals it shut...there's a rush of
     incoming gas which pushes the water out...

     CLOSE ON NORMAN

     as the water recedes down past his face-plate... Then he and
     the rest of the team turn toward...

     DOOR

                                                            CUT TO:         

     EXT. SPACECRAFT/INT. PORTABLE AIRLOCK - LATER

     Barnes labors over the robot, the innards exposed, with an
     Allen wrench, Ted hovering over him.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME

     Fletcher watching the team on the bank of videos.

                          FLETCHER
               Alright.  What's happening here guys?

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. SPACECRAFT/INT. PORTABLE AIRLOCK - SAME TIME

     Barnes struggles with the robot.

                          BARNES
               Put a light in the digit, Norman.

     Norman shines his flashlight inside the robot hand.

                          BARNES
               Yeah...maybe it's the hydraulics. The
               pressure messes everything up at this
               depth.

     In frustration, Ted grabs a hammer from Barnes' tool kit.

                          TED
               Time for a demonstration in basic
               physics, gentlemen.

     He goes to the door and bangs on it...

                          BETH
               What is this, a pinata party?

                          BARNES
               No.  Dr. Fielding is demonstrating
               advanced applied physics for us.

     ANGLE ON HARRY

     as he notices something... moves toward the door... runs his
     finger along the edge... Norman moves alongside him...

                          NORMAN
               What is it, Harry?

                          HARRY
               Take a look.

     Norman looks closely at the door.

                          HARRY (cont'd)
               It's chipped.

     Then the others gather around them.

                          BARNES
               It's chipped.  So what?

                          HARRY
               I thought you said there was no damage in
               the crash.  That this titanium alloy was
               super-strong, there was no way you could
               hurt it.

                          BARNES
               I did.

                          HARRY
               But it gets chipped just from some
               scientist whacking on it with a hammer?

     ANGLE ON BETH

     As she feels the door with her palms...

                          BETH
               Is there heat coming off this thing, or
               is it just happy to see me?

                          BARNES
               Get away from there, Beth.

                          BETH
               Just one minute.

                          BARNES
               I said back off!  Now!

     Barnes yanks Beth roughly and shoves her aside.  Angry,
     she glares at him.  The door starts to RUMBLE...Barnes
     unstraps a weapon... Then the door opens... revealing
     blackness inside.

                          HARRY
               Is anyone else here wondering who opened
               the door?

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME

     Fletcher at bank of videos.

                          FLETCHER
               Yeah.  I'd like to know who hit the
               button too.

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. SPACECRAFT/INT. PORTABLE AIRLOCK - SAME TIME

     Norman and Harry exchange a look.  Then, ever so cautiously,
     Norman moves in, followed by Ted, Harry, Beth and Barnes who
     closes the door behind them.

                          TED
               How did that happen?

                          BARNES
               I'm not sure about the atmosphere.
               Helmets stay on.

                          TED
               We come in peace.
                   (to Harry)
               I always wanted to say that.
 
                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. SPACECRAFT - SAME TIME

     Norman enters, his helmet light leading the way...He
     realizes he is walking along a five-foot wide catwalk...

     NORMAN'S POV

     as his helmet light sweeps forty feet down into the maw of
     the craft, a dense web of struts and buttresses...Beth heads
     along a separate path of the catwaik...Looks down. Stops.

     BETH'S POV

     as her helmet light sweeps the path...footprints.

     BACK TO SCENE

                          BETH
               Somebody's been here.


                          HARRY
               What?

                          BETH
               Yeah.  There's footsteps, and they ain't
               ours.

     Harry joins her.  Looks down.  Then Norman joins them.

                          HARRY
               What do you say, Norman? Time to turn
               around?

                          NORMAN
               I'm a little curious.

                          BARNES
               Let's break up into two squads. We'll
               never cover the ground otherwise.

                          HARRY
               Split up?

                          TED
               He's got a point.  We've got maybe a half-
               hour of gas left.

                          BARNES
               Ted and Harry you come with me.  Beth and
               Norman stick together. Come on.

                          HARRY
               I think the people who built this place
               would call that divide and conquer.

                          NORMAN
               Whoever built this thing wanted us dead,
               we'd be dead already.
                   (beat)
               As a matter of deductive logic, Harry.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. SPACECRAFT - LATER

     Barnes, Harry and Ted move ahead, their helmet lights
     sweeping the surfaces and structures of the craft -- both odd
     and oddly familiar.  Barnes inspects one of the girders with
     his gloved fingers, then whacks it with the crowbar.

                          BARNES
               Look at this, Harry...cross-stress
               bracing for the outer hull.  Tremendous
               support along all axes.  This is
               interesting.  This material -- strong and
               soft at the same time. Better than
               rubber, better than steel.
                   (off insulation)
               Heck of a lot of radiation shielding.
               Wonder what that's for?

                          HARRY
               You seem to know a lot about this.

                          BARNES
               Huh?
                     (beat)
               Yeah, I, uh, studied aeronautical
               engineering at M.I.T.  Isn't that where
               you got your Ph.D.?

                          TED
               Where I got mine.  All three of them.
               A regular hotbed of academic envy though.

                          HARRY
               Ain't that the truth. I hated M.I.T.

                          TED
               Envy?

                          HARRY
               Puberty.

                          TED
               Puberty?  How old?

                          HARRY
               First Ph.D, eighteen.

                          TED
               Damn!  One year, Harry.  You beat me by
               one year, Harry.

                          HARRY
                   (singing)
               "What a difference a year makes...."

                          TED
               Where'd Dr. Halperin get her Ph.D.?

                          BARNES
               On her knees, is what I'd guess.

                          HARRY
               You might be underestimating her.

                          BARNES
               Oh, yeah?
                   (beat)
               Let's push on.

     ANGLE ON TED

     as he looks around for a place to sit.

                          TED
               Man.  They didn't tell you how heavy
               these things were out of water.

     He finds a box.  Brushes the silt off the top.  Double-
     takes...

                          TED
               What the hell --
                   (to others)
               Come here -- look at this!

     Barnes and Harry join him.  Peer down with their head-
     lamps...

     INSERT - BOX

     Where Ted brushed the silt off, it reads, "TRASH/BASURA".

                          BARNES
                   (reading)
               'Trash/Basura'?

                          HARRY
               Trash?

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. SPACECRAFT - HALLWAY AND ELEVATOR - SAME TIME

     Norman and Beth move through the craft.  Beth finds a door
     with a control button.

                          BETH
               What do you think?

     Norman shrugs.  Beth moves to press the button.  Norman stops
     her.

                          NORMAN
               Listen, Beth, I've got a dilemma. I have
               to tell you something about the report.

                          BETH
               Okay.

                          NORMAN
               You know, I needed the money.  Ellen
               wanted to buy a house and I was broke --
               the divorce had cleaned me out... These
               guys show up with a federal grant to
               study the psychological effects of an
               alien invasion --

                          BETH
               What are you saying, Norman?

                          NORMAN
               I mean...I needed money to buy a house.

                          BETH
               Uh, huh...

                          NORMAN
               So I made it up.

                          BETH
               You made what up?

                          NORMAN
               I made up the report.

                          BETH
               You made up the report?

                          NORMAN
               Not all of it. I mean, I did research
               on half of it.

     Beat.

                          BETH
               Well, who did the other half?

                          NORMAN
               I borrowed from, you know, good writers.
               Isaac Asimov...Rod Serling.

                          BETH
               Rod Serling?  This isn't the Twilight
               Zone, Norman, and I can't change the
               channel, so what do you want me to do
               now?

                          NORMAN
               I'm just telling you, Beth.  I mean, who
               the hell would think that anyone would
               ever read those government reports?
               What's the odds of it? You know what I
               mean? I show up and I've got half the
               Pacific Fleet here. I didn't know what to
               do. I just wanted to tell you, that's all.

     Beat.

                          BETH
               Would this fall under the same category
               as "Gee, Beth, I thought you knew I was
               married?"

                          NORMAN
               Boy, you don't forget, do you?  I don't
               think we have enough oxygen to talk this
               through now.

                          BETH
               I don't think there's nough oxygen to
               talk this through...ever.

     Beth angrily presses the button and she heads inside, then
     stops.  Norman tentatively follows her.  Suddenly they're
     elevated with a fast jolt.  Beth screams.

                          NORMAN
               Who pushed the button?  Did you push
               something?

                          BETH
               No.

     INT. SPACECRAFT - FLIGHT DECK

     Norman and Beth arrive at the flight deck. It is extremely
     dark.  They discover a large, contoured console -- but with
     no instrumentation of any kind. Norman feels his way around
     what seems to be a leather chair...

                          NORMAN
               This must be the cockpit. Hold
               on...here's a chair.

     He sits down.

                          NORMAN (cont'd)
               You know, this is fairly comfortable.

                          BETH
               Norman, do you hear a kind of gurgling
               sound?

                          NORMAN
               Gurgling... Aaaaargh!

     Suddenly the chair grabs him... Squeezing his shoulders,
     grabbing his hips, wrapping around his head... as if it was
     swallowing him... Beth screams.

                          BETH
               Norman!

                          NORMAN (cont'd)
               Oh, yeah.  You know, they're seatbelts.

     CLOSE ON NORMAN

     As he disappears into the chair... Being swallowed up by it.
     Beth screaming, "Norman! Norman!" And then it stops.

                          NORMAN
               I'm okay.

     Then a loud WHIR as the CHAIR snaps forward, zooms up tight
     to the console.

                          NORMAN (cont'd)
               Er...Beth, I could use a little
               help.  Beth.

     CLOSE ON NORMAN

     He maintains his composure by dint of will.  Then his face is
     bathed in a soft Christmastime glow of colored lights.

                          BETH
               Norman!  Norman!

     He gestures down with his eyes.  She follows his gaze...

     ANGLE ON CONSOLE

     As it begins to take on depth... The instrumentation is
     somehow within the surface of the console, like a hologram...
     "POS THRUSTERS"... "F3 PISTON BOOSTER".."GLIDER".."SIEVES"...

                          NORMAN
               Beth, you still with me?

                          BETH
                   (reading)
               Yeah.  The symbols...the symbols are in
               English.

                          NORMAN
               English?

                          BETH
               Yes, English.  Our mother tongue.

                          NORMAN
               There must be an explanation.

                          BETH
               Well, there's something weird going on
               here, Norman.  There's something Barnes
               isn't telling us.

                          NORMAN
               Well, Beth, while you're ruminating, do
               you think you can find the chair release
               button.

                          BETH
               Oh!
                   (reading)
               Ignition...

                          NORMAN
               No, not that one.

     Beth explores the console.  Finds the appropriate control.
     Touches it.

                          BETH
               Here.  This is it, I think.

     The chair unwraps around Norman.

                          NORMAN
               There you go.

     Norman relaxes.  Beth turns and sees that the chair beside
     Norman has opened as well. And there's a skeleton in uniform
     inside it.

                          BETH
               Aaaargh!

                          NORMAN
               Oh, God!

     Beth examines the skeleton with her scientific sangfroid.

                          BETH
               Jesus!  It's human.

                          NORMAN
               You mean humanoid?

                          BETH
               No, Norman.  I mean human.
                   (off skeleton)
               Blunt force trauma. You can see by the
               direction that the fracture runs, that he
               was hit in the back of the head.

                          NORMAN
               What's in his hand?

                          BETH
               I don't know.

     Norman takes a small package from the skeleton's hand.

                          BETH
               What is it?

                          NORMAN
               Smokehouse almonds?

     They look at each other a beat.

                          BETH
               My God -- it's an American spaceship.

     They exchange a look as they absorb this stunning revelation.

                          NORMAN
               It can't be an American spaceship. It's
               three hundred years old. There weren't
               even Americans, let alone spaceships.

                          BETH
               Well, it can't be, but it is.

                          NORMAN
               Okay.  Let's see if there's some kind of
               flight recorder or data computer that we
               can ring up a flight history.  Just punch
               punch... punch... punch something!

                          BETH
               Alright.  Let me try this thing again.

     Beth touches the console...

     ANGLE ON THEIR FACEPLATES

     As data starts to spool out on the console... RV-LHOOQ...
     DCOMl... ASSIMILATING DATABASE...

                          BETH
               Alright.  Look at this.  Okay, good.
               Here we go.

     ANGLE ON CONSOLE

     As Norman punches another button...

     FLIGHT DATA ENTRIES

     FDS 01/01/43-12/31/45

     FDS 01/01/46-12/31/48

     FDS 01/01/49-12/31/51

     FDS 02/01/56-UNKNOWN ENTRY EVENT

                          NORMAN
               Look at the dates. That can't be --

                          BETH
               It could be.  It could be 2043 or 1643.
               I don't know which one is weirder.

                          NORMAN
               'Unknown Entry Event'?  Press that.

                          BETH
               Are you sure?

                          NORMAN
               Yes.

     Beth presses the console at "Unknown Entry Event"...

     ANGLE ON SCREEN

     As it expands... A sort of hologram created all around
     them...As they streak through a galaxy, stars and planets all
     around them... They feel like they're falling into outer
     space...

     Then in the middle of the screen, a black spot... That gets
     bigger... Then suddenly has a white cluster in the middle of
     it... As if they're flying toward a giant black donut...

     And then...nothing... They sit a beat in the eerie blankness
     and silence...

                          BARNES (V.O.)
                   (over intercom)
               This is Barnes.  Norman?

     Norman and Beth exchange a look.

                          NORMAN
               Yes, I can hear you. I can't explain it,
               but I think we're inside an American
               spacecraft.

                          BARNES (V.O.)
               It gets better.

                          NORMAN
               This is enough.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. SPACECRAFT - CARGO BAY - LATER

     The Sphere, a giant metal ball with an iridescent surface,
     ten meters across, is held suspended by a giant claw-like
     apparatus in one of the forward bays. Something mesmerizing
     about it... The team approaches tentatively...

                          TED
               What the hell is it?

                          BARNES
               Whatever it is, it seems to be what this
               bird was designed to do. Go out into
               space and gather things like this up and
               bring it back.

                          TED
               Yeah...but back from where?

                          HARRY
               Don't get too excited, Ted.  We'll turn
               it over and it'll say, 'Made in Korea.'

                          TED
               Somehow I doubt that, Harry.

                          BARNES
               What do you think, Norman?

                          NORMAN
               I'm still working on what the hell is it.

                          BARNES
               No hinges... No doors of any kind...

                          TED
               I bet if you put a laser micrometer on
               this you'd find it's a perfect sphere.  I
               mean a perfect sphere -- down to a
               thousandth of an inch.  That's a message
               in itself.

                          HARRY
               Really.

                          BARNES
               What do you mean?

                          TED
               I mean when Pope Benedict asked Giotto
               for a drawing to prove his worth as an
               artist, what he did was draw a perfect
               circle freehand. Perfection is a powerful
               message.

                          BETH
               I know what the Zen masters would say.

                          HARRY
               What's that?

                          BETH
               The ball wants to be caught.

                          BARNES
               Nobody built a thing like this looking
               into his third eye.  They went to a lot
               of trouble.  And they didn't do it for
               nothing. Something put it out there to
               get picked up and brought back. Are you
               forgetting the Trojan Horse? It could be
               a trap.

                          TED
               That sounds a little paranoid, don't you
               think, Barnes?

                          BARNES
               Paranoia is a disease.  Fear is useful.
               Defense is basic -- down to the simplest
               one-cell organism. Us.  Them.
                   (checks watch)
               We'll leave a video camera here, keep an
               eye on it.

                          NORMAN
               Can I ask you something about this
               reflective surface --

     Barnes edges up to the sphere.

                          BARNES
               It looks like it's made of mercury.
               Except mercury is a liquid at this
               temperature.

                          NORMAN
               No.  That's not what I'm talking about.
               What worries me is that it's reflecting
               everything but us.

     Barnes steps back to get a better look. The team edges up
     beside Norman...

                          NORMAN (cont'd)
               I hate to be the one non-scientist who
               picks this up, guys.  You know what I
               mean? What do you think it is?

     THEIR POV

     It's true.  A perfect mirror image of everything in the cargo
     bay but them.

                          BARNES
               I don't know. Whatever it is, it's
               alien.

     SPHERE POV

     Through a convex lens, of the team looking in.

     BACK ON NORMAN

     As he watches Barnes gingerly reach out and touch the surface
     of The Sphere.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. BARNES' ROOM

     CLOSE ON TELETYPE MACHINE

     A message types out:

     "ADMIRAL MANNION HAS LEARNED CIVILIANS AT SATURATED DEPTHS.
     DEMANDS THEY BE SENT TOPSIDE IMMEDIATELY."

     Barnes reads message, crumples it into a ball and throws it
     away, then types a response.

     "COULD NOT DE-CODE LAST MESSAGE.  TRANSMISSION SCRAMBLED.
     PLEASE RE-SEND."

     "CYCLONE DUE 0800 HOURS.  GALE FORCE CONDITIONS AND SOUTHEAST
     SWELLS TOPSIDE.  CONTACT TEAM MUST EVACUATE TWO HOURS OR
     REMAIN HABITAT FOR DURATION OF STORM.  OSSA."

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. BARNES' ROOM - LATER

     Barnes talks on the radio transmission speaker to the
     surface.

                          BARNES
               Sounds like it's gonna get pretty
               hairy up there.  What's the word from
               meteorology?

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. CAFETERIA - MOVING INSIDE

     to the galley, where the team, now in their blue jumpsuits,
     confers over hot coffee.  Fletcher bakes something in the
     oven...

                          TED
               An American spacecraft -- materials and
               technology more advanced than anything we
               know of -- crashes into the ocean --

                          HARRY
               If it crashed how come it's not damaged?

                          TED
               The materials are obviously superstrong.

                          HARRY
               If that's the case, how come the door
               chipped just from you banging on it?

     Fletcher brings them a tray of fresh-baked muffind.  They all
     dig in.

                          TED
               Okay.  Better.  It didn't crash. It
               arrived.  Three hundred years ago.

                          BETH
               From where?

                          TED
               Not from where, from when.

                          BETH
               So, you're saying, this thing took a
               wrong turn?

                          TED
               Yes, that's right.  What if the craft
               inadvertently flew into a black hole.  It
               arrived in our past from its present.
               What about those dates you saw on the
               flight recorder.

                          NORMAN
               '43, '47 --

                          TED
               That's right. That has to be two thousand
               forty three...two thousand forty seven.
               That image that you told me you saw on
               the monitor...from what you describe that
               sounds exactly like a black hole...a tear
               in the space...

                          HARRY
               We know what a black hole is, Ted.

                          NORMAN
               I don't know what a black hole is.

                          HARRY
               A black hole is a collapsed dead star
               that has so much gravity it acts like a
               huge vacuum cleaner, sucking everything
               into it.  A light interstellar dust...
               time...

                          TED
               Time.

                          HARRY
               It's possible, but not plausible.

                          TED
               It's more than probable, it's rudimentary
               astrophysics.  We just haven't been able
               to fly into one and prove it.

                          HARRY
               Well, Ted, sounds like you've got this
               all figured out.

     Barnes enters.

                          BARNES
               Well, I just got off the horn topside.
               Expecting a bad blow-up there. They're
               pulling us out.

                          TED
               Pulling us out?  Wait a minute...what do
               you mean, pulling us out?  What does that
               mean, pulling us out?

                          HARRY
               What part of 'pull out' don't you
               understand, Ted?  Extraction...we're
               leaving.

                          TED
               No...no...that's ridiculous.  I mean,
               we haven't even begun to scratch the
               surface down here.

                          BARNES
               If you've ever seen these Pacific
               cyclones -- what we call a tornado is
               nothing more than a little fart, so I
               suggest you go back to the dormitory and
               take a nap.  You need to lower your
               metabolism before the decompression.

                          TED
               You're just gonna leave a time-traveling
               spacecraft at the bottom of the coean?

                          BARNES
               I'm just going to follow my orders, Ted.

                          BETH
               We're the Welcome Wagon for the aliens,
               right?  There's no aliens. It's all Made
               in America.

                          TED
                   (to Beth)
               What's your point?

                          BETH
               My point is I'm a biochemist. There's no
               life down here, and you guys are bugging
               the shit out of me.

                          TED
               What is wrong with all of you? That
               doesn't mean there's nothing left to
               learn -- nothing to explore -- Jesus!

                          BARNES
                   (cutting him off)
               She's right, Ted.  You guys are the human
               contact team for an Unknown Life Form.
               There is no Unknown Life Form.
                   (beat)
               So, we're pulling out at oh-nine hundred.

                          TED
               Norman, will you please say something to
               him.

                          NORMAN
               What?

                          TED
               I don't know.  Do you not have an opinion
               about this?

                          NORMAN
               Yes.  I'm delighted we're going back up
               top.  You know what I mean?
               I mean, I don't know about you, this
               might look like a road-side diner, but in
               the meantime, my ears won't pop...if I
               pull this thing away from my neck I sound
               like someone's squeezing my testicles.
               Let's go home.

     Ted takes Barnes aside.

                          TED
               Look, why don't you tell me.  What is it
               you don't want us to find out, huh?

                          BARNES
               I don't want you to find out what I
               really think of you.

     ANGLE ON HARRY AND NORMAN

                          NORMAN
               Harry.  Doesn't it seem odd to you that
               Barnes was so excited about coming down
               here, but he wasn't the least bit upset
               about going up?

                          HARRY
               We're on the same page.

     Norman puts his finger in his ear to release pressure.

                          HARRY (cont'd)
               Equalize, Norman.

                          NORMAN
               What do you mean?

                          HARRY
               You know how to equalize, don't you? Just
               pinch your nostrils together and blow.

                          NORMAN
               Don't get racy.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. BARNES' ROOM - LATER

     CLOSE on LAPTOP SCREEN as words appear...

     "DESPITE RISKS CONTACT TEAM ELECTS BY UNANIMOUS VOTE TO
     REMAIN HABITAT FOR DURATION OF STORM.  BARNES."

     REVERSE ANGLE

     Barnes hits TRANSMIT BUTTON.

     BACK ON LAPTOP

     As the message appears: "TRANSMISSION COMPLETE"

     BACK ON BARNES

     As he looks around furtively.  Turns off his laptop and
     closes it.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. DORMITORY - LATER

     Beth and Ted sleep. Harry reads a paperback novel to mask his
     anxiety.  Norman brushes his teeth.

                          HARRY
               ...Barnes is wrong, you know.

                          NORMAN
               What do you mean?  Wrong about the storm?

                          HARRY
               No...about The Sphere.

                          NORMAN
               What about The Sphere?

                          HARRY
               It's alive.

     Norman stops a beat.  Thinks.  Then turns to Harry.

                          NORMAN
               Why do you say that, Harry?

                          HARRY
               There's something inside it.

                          NORMAN
               How could there be anything inside it?
               There's no doors, no seams...

                          HARRY
               The Sphere chooses what it will and won't
               reflect.  Doesn't that seem like the
               actions of a conscious being to you?

                          NORMAN
               Okay...pop psychology - you want to know
               what this is really about I think, for
               what it's worth?  Your anger towards our
               friend, Ted in there, is because he
               figured this out before you did.

     Beat.

                          HARRY
               You really think so?

                          NORMAN
               I don't know.  This is my first
               underwater session.

     They laugh.

                          HARRY
               You're right.  Ted did figure it out
               first, didn't he?  Good shrinkage.

     Harry takes a slow, rueful, ruminative beat.  Then:

                          HARRY
               We're all going to die down here, you
               know.

     This stops Norman.

                          NORMAN
               What? What?

                          HARRY
               You see, it's curious, Ted did figure it
               out. Time travel. And when we get back,
               we're gonna tell everyone...how it's
               possible.  How it's done.  What the
               dangers are.  But then why, fifty years
               in the future, when this spacecraft
               encounters a black hole, does the
               computer call it an 'Unknown Entry
               Event'?  Why don't they know? If they
               don't know, it means we never told
               anyone, and if we never told anyone, it
               means we never made it back. Hence, we
               die down here.
                   (beat)
               Just as a matter of deductive logic,
               Norman.

     CLOSE ON NORMAN

     As he absorbs this...

                          HARRY
               Damn! I wish I could get inside that
               Sphere.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. BARNES' QUARTERS - CLOSE ON PRINTER - SAME TIME

     As it TYPES... "... 30 knots... ETD -- 00:19 MIN..."

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. HALLWAY

     ALARMS sound and lights flash as Norman hustles past
     Fletcher.

                          NORMAN
               What's wrong?

                          FLETCHER
               Talk to Mr. Barnes...

                          NORMAN
               Where is he?

                          FLETCHER
               Video feed room.

                          NORMAN
               Where's that?  I don't know where the
               hell anything is.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. SPACECRAFT - SAME TIME

     Harry walks towards the Sphere.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. VIDEO ROOM - LATER

     Norman joins Barnes in the video room.

                          NORMAN
               What's going on?

                          BARNES
               I don't know, Norman. You tell me.

     Barnes punches up an image on the monitors.  They look up...

     REVERSE ANGLE - MONITOR

     Harry, in his diving suit, inside the spacecraft as he
     approaches The Sphere...

     BACK ON NORMAN AND BARNES

     As they look up.  Then look at each other.

                          NORMAN
               What the hell is he doing?

                          BARNES
               I don't know what he's doing.  Do you
               know what he's doing?  Come on, Norman,
               there's no time.  I need to know what you
               know.

                          NORMAN
               Nothing.  He said he wanted to go inside,
               I just didn't think --

                          BARNES
               We are inside, Norman.  You mean outside?

                          NORMAN
               He said inside.

                          BARNES
               Inside what?  Inside the spacecraft.

                          NORMAN
               I think inside The Sphere.

                          BARNES
               The Sphere...

     INT. SPACECRAFT - SAME TIME

     Harry approaches The Sphere... Unlike before, his image is
     now reflected in the luminous surface... Harry smiles ...
     Then his image revolves, faster and faster... His grin
     growing wider and wider... And then the reflection isn't
     there...

     REVERSE ANGLE

     And neither is Harry.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME

     As Barnes and Norman watch this scene on the monitors...

                          BARNES
               Holy shit!

                          NORMAN
               Oh, my God!  Did he go inside?

                          BARNES
               I don't know.  I don't think he went
               inside.

                          NORMAN
               Well, what the hell's going on?  He
               didn't just disappear.

                          BARNES
               I don't know.  I don't think he
               disappeared. I think it's a glitch in
               the video.

     Fletcher hustles back inside.

                          BARNES
               Fletcher, can we get playback on that?

                          FLETCHER
               Playback coming to you now.

                          BARNES
                   (turns to Norman)
               You knew he was going to do this and you
               did nothing.

                          NORMAN
               I didn't think --

                          BARNES
               You didn't think, Norman?

                          NORMAN
               Fella...okay...Mr. Barnes...I was
               sleeping, you know.  I'm a little
               disoriented.

                          BARNES
               You're disoriented?

                          NORMAN
               I didn't think it was possible.

                          BARNES
               Disoriented? Where are Beth and Ted?

                          NORMAN
               I don't know.

                          BARNES
               You don't know?

                          NORMAN
               No, I don't know.  I woke up...I heard
               bells ringing.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. COMMUNICATIONS ROOM - SAME TIME

     Edmunds, puzzled, fiddles with a control knob...

     REVERSE ANGLE

     The gauge marked "SUB DESCENT"... It's not moving.

                          EDMUNDS
                   (to microphone)
               I'm not getting an image on the sub, sir.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME

     Barnes pulls on his headset.

                          BARNES
               That's impossible. I just got a cable in
               my quarters.
                   (checks watch)
               They're gonna be here in twenty five
               minutes or less.

                          EDMUNDS (V.O.)
                   (over intercom)
               The only logical explanation is that the
               sub is still at the surface.

                          BARNES
               Isn't it also logically possible your
               sonar's messed up?

     Barnes punches up some controls.

     ON MONITOR

     As Harry's image revolves around The Sphere and then Harry
     disappears.

                         NORMAN
               Okay, let's just calm down, alright? He
               didn't just disappear.  We're not going
               to leave him.

                         BARNES
               You got that right, Norman.  We're not
               going to leave without him.  I'm not
               going to lose a civilian on my watch...
               so you have just screwed up our trip to
               the surface.  We're not going up to the
               surface until we find Harry.
                   (to intercom)
               Harry.  We're not going up. Harry, can
               you hear me? Harry?

     ANGLE ON MONITOR

     Harry's grinning, whirling image on The Sphere as it plays
     back on the monitors...

     BACK ON BARNES

     As he barks into the intercom... Then starts talking to
     Norman, but Norman's not there.

                          BARNES
               This is not a triage situation here..
                   (turns towards where he expects
                    to see Norman)
               Norman?

     Norman's disappeared.

                         BARNES (cont'd)
                   (to Fletcher)
               Go and find me Ted and Beth.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. HABITAT - SAME TIME

     Norman runs through the corridor toward the dressing room...

                          BARNES
                   (over intercom)
               Norman... Norman...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. SUIT ROOM - SAME TIME

     Norman climbs into his diving suit...

                          BARNES
                   (over intercom)
               Stop now, Norman.
                   (beat)
               Norman, that's an order.

     INT. HABITAT - CORRIDOR TO MOON POOL - ANGLE ON EDMUNDS

     As she runs down the corridor... Enters the dressing room.

     EDMUNDS' POV - MOON POOL

     No Norman.  Beyond -- to the airlock -- no Norman.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. BARNES' QUARTERS - SAME TIME

     The PRINTER TYPES, "ETD -- 00:05 min"...

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. HABITAT - SAME TIME

     Norman plunges down from the airlock to the ocean floor in a
     cloud of bubbles...

     NORMAN'S POV

     The door to the spacecraft illuminated by the airlock tube in
     the distance... The sound of his BREATHING as he trudges
     across the ocean floor...

     Norman goes through airlock.

     Norman runs on spacecraft catwalk.

     Norman runs through spacecraft hallway.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME

     Barnes watches on the monitors as he punches up different
     views of the habitat...

                          EDMUNDS (V.O.)
                   (over intercom)
               Sir, I'm still getting no reading on the
               sub.

                          BARNES
                   (to microphone)
               Forget about the goddamn sonar. When Beth
               and Ted get here, keep your eye on them.
               Make sure they don't go anywhere,
               alright?
                   (mutters)
               I don't need a submarine, I need a
               schoolbus.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. SPACECRAFT - CARGO BAY - LATER

     With some trepidation Norman turns the corner...

     NORMAN'S POV

     The Sphere... Its luminous, opalescent surface...

     BACK ON NORMAN

     As, cautiously, he approaches The Sphere...

     Norman approaches The Sphere... Gets closer, till it looms
     above him...

     REVERSE ANGLE

     The curious surface of The Sphere, reflecting the room but
     not Norman...

     BACK ON NORMAN

     As he glances over, doubletakes... Harry has appeared,
     unconscious, right beside him...Norman kneels...

                          NORMAN
               Harry.  Can you hear me?

     He checks the vital signs on Harry's breastplate...

                          NORMAN (cont'd)
               Harry?

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME

     Barnes at the monitors watching Norman.

                          BARNES
               Norman, is he alive?

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. SPACECRAFT - CARGO BAY - SAME TIME

     Norman checking Harry for signs of life.

                          NORMAN
               Barnes.  We have a problem.  Harry's out
               coldhere.  His pulse is normal...all his
               vitals are normal.  I don't get it.
                   (shaking Harry)
               Harry!

     The Norman lifts Harry in his arms, looks up.  Something he
     sees stops him...

     REVERSE ANGLE - THE SPHERE

     Now Norman is reflected in the liquid surface...

     CLOSE ON NORMAN

     As he stops, frozen --

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. VIDEO ROM - SAME TIME

     Barnes watches on the monitors as Norman approaches The
     Sphere...Suddenly the monitors go black.  Then the lights
     flicker off...

                          FLETCHER
               Hello...hello...

                          BARNES
               Norman.  Can you hear me?  We lost video
               here.  Can you hear me, Norman.  Norman?
                   (beat)
               That tears it.

                          FLETCHER
               What, sir?

                          BARNES
               We're on internal power.

                          FLETCHER
               I don't follow you.

                          BARNES
                   (right back)
               They cut us loose, Teeny. The sub has
               gone to the surface.

                          FLETCHER
               I'm not following you.

                          BARNES
               Get out your Five-Day Deodorant Pads.
               We're down here for the duration.

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. OCEAN FLOOR - LATER

     The power cable detaches from the habitat.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. DORMITORY - LATER

     Harry lies unconscious on his cot.  Beth finishes taking his
     vital signs as Fletcher assists her.

                          BETH
               Everything's normal.

     Ted enters.  Looks down at Harry as he sleeps.

                          TED
               What's going on?  Is it true? Harry went
               inside? What did he say?
                   (off Beth's look)
               I get it -- he didn't say.  He can't
               talk.  He's aphasic.

     Beth rolls up the stethoscope, hands it to Fletcher.

                          BETH
               He's asleep, Ted.

                          TED
               I can't believe he went into The Sphere.
               He didn't say anything.  How?  There's no
               door.  No entry hatch... How'd he get in?

                          BETH
                   (cutting him off)
               He sweet talked his way in.

     Beth exits, Fletcher following.  Ted thinks a beat.

                          TED
                   (to Harry, still sleeping)
               Okay, I get it.  In an alternative
               universe you're actually charming.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. COMMUNICATIONS ROOM - CONTINUOUS ACTION

     Barnes talks on a phone, refers to his watch.  Edmunds
     fiddles with the sonar equipment beside him.

                          EDMUNDS
               ... I don't know why we didn't see the
               sub on the sonar.

                          BARNES
               Forget the sub, Edmunds.  I think as long
               as we're stuck here, I want to do another
               'reccie' of the spacecraft, only this
               time I don't think we need to involve the
               civilians.

                          EDMUNDS
               Right, sir.

     Beth enters.

                          BETH
               So now what?

                          BARNES
               Everything's going to be fine, Beth.

                          BETH
               How much oxygen do we have left?

                          BARNES
               The storm'll only last 72 hours. At the
               outside, four days. There's plenty of
               oxygen, barring any unforeseen --

                          BETH
               Unforeseen?  You mean like Harry going in
               The Sphere?

                          BARNES
               What exactly is your point?

                          BETH
               My point is, Harry should never have been
               anywhere near that sphere.  If you were
               doing your job instead of fuddling around
               here like some middle-aged man who's lost
               his keys, we'd all be breathing fresh air
               right now instead of worrying about how
               much oxygen...

                          BARNES
               For someone who's worried about oxygen,
               you sure are using it up.

                          BETH
               I know you're not with O.S.S.A.  You're
               doing a good job of pretending, turning
               dials and flipping switches, but you
               don't know one end of a rudder from the
               other. We're all counting on you like you
               know something about how to get us back
               safely. Or even care.

                          BARNES
               I know enough not to get killed down
               here.

                          BETH
               Good for you.

     Barnes gives her a hard look.

                          BARNES
               Beth, let me ask you a question.  What
               exactly are your qualifications for being
               here?

                          BETH
               Guess.

                          BARNES
               Well, I mean Norman chose Harry - a
               genius kid from the slums of Philadelphia
               ...in six years he had a Ph.D;
               Norman chose Ted - a whiz kid
               astrophysicist...and Norman chose you.
               Why are you here? Are you the most
               qualified in your field?  Norman must
               have thought so. Then again, the report's
               a few years old, maybe things have
               changed.

     Beth glares at Barnes.  He stares her down.  She storms out.

     INT. CONTROL SHAFT - LATER

     The guts of the habitat.  Fletcher adjusts a valve as Barnes
     comes over the intercom.

                          BARNES (V.O.)
               ... Can I have your attention?  We have
               lost contact with the surface.  The
               habitat is now operating solely under
               internal power...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. HABITAT - CORRIDOR - SAME TIME

     Beth strides angrily down the corridor...

                          BARNES (V.O.)
               ... We have plenty of food, oxygen, and,
               fresh water to sustain us until the storm
               is over and we re-establish contact with
               the surface.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. DORMITORY - CLOSE ON HARRY - SAME TIME

     As he sleeps in his bunk.  Visible beneath his eyelids, rapid
     eye movement as he dreams...

                          BARNES (V.O.)
                   (on the intercom)
               ...But until that time, this mission is
               subject to emergency authority under my
               command.  This is Barnes.  Over and out.

     PUSHING THROUGH PORTHOLE

     Jellyfish swarm outside the habitat...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. VIDEO ROOM - LATER

     Barnes with Ted and Fletcher as he punches a few commands at
     the computer.  Takes a videotape out of the console. Stacks
     it up with the other videotapes.

                          FLETCHER
               I'm going to take this out to the mini-
               sub, sir.

                          BARNES
               You're up on the duty roster?

                          FLETCHER
               Yes, sir.

                          BARNES
               Alright.

     Fletcher.

                          TED
               Where's she going?

                          BARNES
               Procedures. Everything in the habitat is
               videoed, so every twelve hours we take
               the video storage out to the mini-sub and
               press the reset button.  The idea is, if
               something happens to us and we don't
               reset it, the sub goes to the surface
               automatically, so if we're all dead, they
               at least have a partial record of what
               went wrong.
                   (off Ted's look)
               Cheerful thought, huh?
                   (getting up)
               Mind the store a minute.

     Barnes exits.  Ted swivels into position to watch...

     ANGLE ON MONITORS

     An exterior view of the habitat as Fletcher splashes down
     out of the airlock...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. BATHROOM - SAME TIME

     Beth stands in front of a sink.  She opens a bottle of pills.
     Takes a pill out, breaks it in half and washes it down with
     water.  Then she swallows the other half pill and washes that
     down.

     INT. DORMITORY - CLOSE ON HARRY - SAME TIME

     Harry suddenly opens his eyes wide.

     EXT. HABITAT - SAME TIME

     Fletcher sweeps through a pretty cloud of pink jellyfish...
     Like tiny dancers with blooming pink petticoats... The mini-
     sub visible in the distance.

                          FLETCHER
                   (to intercom)
               This is beautiful. It's snowing down
               here. There's got to be a million
               jellyfish down here.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME

     Ted looks at the view on the monitors...

                          FLETCHER (V.O.)
                   (over intercom)
               I'm having a hard time seeing.

                          TED
                   (to intercom)
               Hello...hello...hello...hello...

                          FLETCHER (V.O.)
                   (over intercom)
               They're sticking to my face-plate.

                          TED
                   (to intercom)
               Fletcher, this is Dr. Fielding. Swim
               through them.  They're harmless.

     Barnes enters, turns to the monitors and his jaw drops...

     ANGLE ON MONITORS

     Fletcher all but lost in a dense snowfall of jellyfish...

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. HABITAT - SAME TIME

     Fletcher struggles through the sea of jellyfish...

                          FLETCHER
                   (over intercom)
               Hey, guys...I think they feel the heat
               from my legs --

     Then Fletcher howls.

                          BARNES (V.O.)
                   (to intercom)
               Fletcher, get out of there.

                          FLETCHER
                   (over intercom)
               They're stinging me through the --
                   (beat)
               Aaaaaargh!

                          BARNES (V.O.)
                   (to intercom)
               Fletcher, I want you back at the habitat
               on the double.

     Fletcher thrashes...

                          FLETCHER
                   (over intercom)
               I can't move my legs.  It's burning!

                          BARNES
                   (to intercom)
               Come back to the habitat.

                          FLETCHER
                   (over intercom)
               They're inside my suit! They're inside my
               --

                          BARNES
                   (to intercom)
               Keep moving...keep moving.  Just keep
               moving...

     Fletcher thrashes as the water rises inside her
     faceplate... And then a jellyfish swims up... stings her in
     the eyeball... Then they're swarming into her nose, her
     mouth...

                          BARNES (V.O.)
                   (over intercom)
               Fletcher, come on.

                          FLETCHER
               Aaaaaaaaaaargh!

                          TED
               Jesus Christ!  Can't you do something?

                          BARNES
               No.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME

     Barnes and Ted watch, horrified, powerless, as Fletcher
     disappears in the cloud of jellyfish.  And then her SCREAMS
     STOP.  And there's just the jellyfish.

                          TED
               Jesus Christ!  She's dead, there's no
               bubbles.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. COMMUNICATION ROOM - SAME TIME

     Edmunds supervises the computers.  Suddenly a series of
     numbers spools across the screen --

     00032125252632 032629 301321 04261037 18 3016 06180
     8213229033005 1822 04261013 0830162137 1604 083016 21
     182204261013 0830162137 1604 083016 21 1822
     03301313043200032125252632 032629 301321 04261037 18 3016...

                          EDMUNDS
               What the hell's that?

     Irritated she presses buttons. More numbers appear.

                          BARNES (V.O.)
                   (over intercom)
               Edmunds?

                          EDMUNDS
               Yes, sir?

                          BARNES (V.O.)
                   (over intercom)
               Come on down here. Something happened to
               Fletcher.

     Edmunds hustles out.

     CLOSE ON MONITOR

     As Edmunds exits in the f.g.  And the numbers return...

     ... 00032125252632 032629 301321 04261037 18 3016 06180
     29033005 1822 04261013 0830162137 1604 083016 2104261013
     0830162137 1604 083016 21033013130432...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. HABITAT - SICK BAY - LATER

     Fletcher lies dead on a gurney, her naked body studded
     with jellyfish.  Beth wears scrubs, a surgical tray
     beside her.  Norman, also in scrubs, watches as Beth
     reaches for a long stainless-steel tweezers...

                          BETH
               At this level of toxicity, the blood
               vessels dilate. Blood pressure falls
               through the floor.  They go right into
               shock.
               I saw a little boy down at Orchard Beach
               attacked by a school of jellyfish.

                          NORMAN
               You've seen jellyfish aggressive like
               this?

                          BETH
               I haven't seen piranha aggressive like
               this.
                   (starts working on Fletcher)
               Okay...rock and roll.

     CLOSE ON FLETCHER

     As Beth probes with the tweezers up Fletcher's nose and into
     her sinus cavity... Norman grimaces, looks away as Beth pulls
     out a jellyfish.

     BACK TO SCENE

                          BETH
               What's the matter, Norman?  You never saw
               a dead body before?

                          NORMAN
               As a matter of fact, I've seen one dead
               body in two different counties.

                          BETH
               Ouch.  The plane crashes.  I forgot.

                          NORMAN
               I've just never seen a jellyfish coming
               out of a human being's nasal cavity
               before.

                          BETH
               Well, you live and learn.

                          NORMAN
               When I was five years old, I was out in a
               boat with my father, he told me not to
               jump in so of course I had to.  Right
               into a school of these guys. Not this big
               though.  I think everyone had a shot at
               me.  I don't know what this lady felt,
               but man, it went beyond pain...it
               was...it was...

                          BETH
               Would it make you feel any better if I
               tell you this isn't exactly a jellyfish?

                          NORMAN
               What do you mean?

     Beth pokes at the jellyfish on the tray.

                          BETH
               Jellyfish like this are unheard of.

                          NORMAN
               Well, congratulations.  You've just
               discovered a brand new species.

                          BETH
               You know, Norman, if you had spent a
               much time as I have sitting at a lab
               bench, you would know when something had
               been touched by the hand of God.

                          NORMAN
               I'm just complimenting you.  Why are you
               angry?  I'm not being critical.

                          BETH
               I'm just saying...God didn't make this.
               Okay.  It's fictional, it's a forgery,
               it's a copy...it's...moving!

     INSERT - JELLYFISH

     The jellyfish moves toward Beth as she adroitly impales it
     with a scalpel.

                          NORMAN
               Beth, are you sure it's moving?

                          BETH
               No, Norman, I lied.

                          NORMAN
               Maybe I don't understand.  I was just
               trying to make the point that you of all
               people, I would think, would want to keep
               this creature alive to study, not hack it
               up...if it was alive.

                          BETH
               Look, don't try to get inside my brain,
               okay?

                          NORMAN
               I care about you.

                          BETH
               Great!  I like to work alone.  Thanks.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. HABITAT CORRIDOR/SHOWERS - LATER

     Ted heads down the corridor.  Hears a SOUND coming fron
     Harry's room.  Sidles up to the door.  Hears from inside,
     HARRY SINGING exuberantly from 'South Pacific'.

                          HARRY (O.S.)
                   (sings)
               Where the sky meets the sea./ "Here
               I am, your special island!/ Come to me,
               come to me!"/ Bali Ha'i, Bali Ha'i, Bali
               Ha' i!

     CLOSE ON TED

     As he thinks to himself.

                          TED
                   (to himself)
               Harry?

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. BARNES' QUARTERS - LATER

     Barnes reads through the cables with his feet up on his bunk.
     A KNOCK at his door.

                          BANRES
               Come on in.

     Norman enters.

                          NORMAN
               You called for me?

                          BARNES
               Have a seat, Norman.  Coffee?

                          NORMAN
               No thanks.

     Barnes refills his mug from a Thermos.

                          BARNES
               How long have you known Dr. Halperin?

                          NORMAN
               I used to teach at UC San Diego, years
               ago.  She came to do her master's there.

                          BARNES
               What'd you teach - psychology?

                          NORMAN
               They require a pretty full teaching load--
               that's one of the reasons I left.

                          BARNES
               They squeeze you, don't they?  Then you
               have to see patients on top of it.

                          NORMAN
               They're gonna get their money's worth,
               one way or another.

                          BARNES
               You and Dr. Halperin seen pretty close.

                          NORMAN
               We've fallen out of touch over the years.
               Why?

                          BARNES
               Well, don't take this personally, Norman,
               but I assume she wasn't a romantic
               interest of yours.

                          NORMAN
               I'm sorry...don't take what personally?

                          BARNES
               She's a tall, vibrant, younger woman...

                          NORMAN
               And I was married.

                          BARNES
               Then you saw her as a patient.

                          NORMAN
               I'm not at liberty to discuss that.  You
               understand.

                          BARNES
               What I understand is that an exotic-gas
               environment a thousand feet underwater
               with no link to the surface is just about
               the most dangerous place on the planet.
               If there's a problem, I need to know.

                          NORMAN
               Beth is fine.

                          BARNES
               Beth is fine?  Beth is fine?

                          NORMAN
               She's very fine.

     Barnes suddenly throws a fax transmission at Norman.

                          BARNES
               Beth's fine? Okay...what about this?
               You want to read it? What does it say,
               Norman?

                          NORMAN
                   (reading fax)
               These are my actual notes.  How in the
               world did you...

                          BARNES
               What does it say, Norman?

                          NORMAN
               She was having some problems with a
               boyfriend.

                          BARNES
               Does it say 'suicide attempt'?

                          NORMAN
               How did you get a hold of my papers?

                          BARNES
               Does it say 'electric shock therapy'?
               Isn't that what it says, Norman?

                          NORMAN
               What's your point?

                          BARNES
               My point is you didn't feel it was
               important enough to mention this to
               somebody? You're willing to jeopardize
               the lives of all of these people by
               having someone here who could in fact be
               mentally unstable?!

                          NORMAN
               Are you aware of the term 'over-
               reacting.'

                          BARNES
               Don't play with me, you little shit!
               We're 160 fathoms down and now we've got
               a nut bag down here who can flip-out and
               crack up. why didn't you tell me that?

                          NORMAN
               I can't believe you had someone go into
               my office...take my personal records.

                          BARNES
               You chose the team, Norman.  Why didn't
               you tell me this?

                          NORMAN
               When I wrote this report, I didn't know
               the team was going to be a thousand feet
               underwater.

                          BARNES
               It doesn't matter if it's a thousand feet
               or ten feet, why didn't you tell me about
               her past mental history?

                          NORMAN
               I didn't think it was pertinent.

                          BARNES
               It was not for you to make that decision.

                          NORMAN
               It was a passive attempt.

                          BARNES
               A passive attempt?

                          NORMAN
               Yes.  People who really want to kill
               themselves get a gun and shoot
               themselves, or go off a bridge, they
               don't call their boyfriend and say: "I
               just took 20 Nebutol...help me."

                          BARNES
               She took twenty yellows and you're
               telling me she's perfect?

     There's a KNOCK at the door.

                          BARNES
               Yeah?

     Ted enters, thoughtfully rubbing his chin.

                          NORMAN
               What's going on?

                          TED
               It's Harry.

                          NORMAN
               He's awake?

                          TED
               He's really awake.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. CAFETERIA - LATER

     Harry eats a big farmer's breakfast with great gusto as the
     team, skeptical and scared, surround him at the table.
     Norman prepares food for the others at the stove.

                          HARRY
               ... Man oh man, you got a problem with
               me, Barnes.
                   (gestures to Norman)
               Because as long as my good buddy Norman
               keeps cooking like this I ain't leaving.
               Wheeee!  Ummmmm-ummm.  I mean, this
               toast is good, and the bacon is better.
               But the eggs are fantastic! What've you
               got in here? Wait, don't tell me.
                   (closes eyes, inhales deeply)
               Parsley... Chives... Tarragon... Chervil!
               Is it chervil?

                          NORMAN
              Yes, it is. I'm glad you like it.

                          HARRY
              Eggs!  I'm telling you, eggs? I love
              eggs!

                          BETH
              They sure have improved your mood.

                          HARRY
                   (to Beth)
               How 'bout it?  You keep laying them and
               I'll keep eating them.

     He elbows her and nearly knocks her off her chair.

     ANGLE ON NORMAN

     Watching Harry, as if he's under a microscope...So is Barnes.
     They exchange a look.  Then Barnes gingerly launches in.

                          BARNES
               Harry, with you and The Sphere -- do you
               remember what happened?

                          HARRY
               Of course I remember what happened.  I
               went inside.

                          TED
               How did you get inside? There are no
               doors.

                          HARRY
               This place is full of doors and we can't
               get out.  We're still here.

     Barnes forces a chuckle.

                          BARNES
               So we are, so we are...

                          TED
               You still didn't answer my question,
               Harry.

     Harry resumes eating his eggs. From behind Harry's back,
     Norman assesses Harry with a shrewd, appraising gaze.  As if
     he has eyes in back of his head, Harry catches him doing it.

                          HARRY
               Why are you looking at me like that,
               Norman?

     Then Harry turns.  Norman's eyes crinkle in a kindly
     smile.

                          NORMAN
               Er...I'm jealous, Harry.  I love eggs,
               but my cholesterol...You're making me
               hungry.

     Harry laughs heartily. Norman brings a big platter of
     calamari to the table... Harry spears a few with his fork.

                          BARNES
                   (circling back)
               Are you saying we shouldn't still be
               here, Harry?

                          HARRY
                   (looking around)
               Hey, where's Teeny? I thought she did
               all the cooking.  Not that I'm
               complaining, Norman, this is great. And
               grits, you got everything down here.
               Where did you learn to cook grits,
               Norman?

                          NORMAN
               I wasn't sure you'd like them.

                          HARRY
               You had a nanny.
                   (laughs)
               So, where is Teeny?

                          BARNES
               Teeny had an unfortunate accident. She
               was killed.

                          HARRY
               Killed? How?

     BEAT.

                          BARNES
               By jellyfish.

                          HARRY
               Jellyfish?  That's strange.

                          BARNES
                   (beat)
               Yes, it is strange, isn't it.

     Norman brings Harry another plate of food.

                          NORMAN
               Here you go, Harry.

     Harry digs in.

                          HARRY
               Whoa, onion rings.

                          NORMAN
               It's not onion rings.

                          HARRY
               Good though.

                          NORMAN
               Guess what it is?

                          HARRY
               What?

                          NORMAN
               Calamari.

     Suddenly, Harry spits out his calamari... Starts to gag...

                          HARRY
               Uccch!  Aaaaargh!  Squid!

     Ted runs around the table and gives Harry the Heimlich
     maneuver... Harry struggles to say something... Ted
     vigorously pumps at Harry, lifting him high in the air...

                          TED
               Okay, Harry, bring it up!  Bring it up,
               big fella!

                          NORMAN
               Ted.  Ted!  I think he's trying to say
               something!

     Ted stops the Heimlich maneuver.  Harry shrugs him off.

                          HARRY
               I'm not choking, you asshole!  I just
               hate squid!

     Ted backs off.

                          TED
               I m sorry.  I was trying to help you.

     Barnes warily takes the platter of calamari away.  Harry sits
     down again. Norman sits opposite him.

                          HARRY
               I hate squid!

                          NORMAN
               As long as it wasn't my cooking, okay?
                   (beat)
               Can I ask you something, Harry? Before
               you went inside The Sphere, you were
               convinced that we were all going to die
               down here.

                          HARRY
               I remember that.

                          NORMAN
               Do you still believe that?

                          HARRY
                   (nods)
               Are you afraid to die, Norman?

                          NORMAN
               You know, I just thought, if we're gonna
               die, thought I'd have a couple of eggs.
               Go out in style.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. COMMUNICATION ROOM - SAME TIME

     Edmunds is sitting at the bank of computers which are all
     blank.  She looks relieved.  Suddenly numbers start scrolling
     up on the monitor directly in front of her.  She hits the
     keyboard to clear the screen, but the numbers keep
     coming...on another computer screen, then another and
     another, until all the screens are scrolling numbers. She
     frantically hits keys, but the numbers remain.

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. HABITAT - SAME TIME

     Camera moves around the Habitat.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. HALLWAY - SAME TIME

     Ted and Norman walk away from the Cafeteria.

                          TED
               Bullshit! Bullshit! He's hiding
               something.

                          NORMAN
               What are you talking about?

                          TED
               He was in there. He went inside the
               Sphere.  Whatever it was he saw, he
               doesn't want to tell us.

                          NORMAN
               He doesn't remember anything.

                          TED
               Oh, come on, Norman. You bought that?
               No! no!  That whole food thing, it was
               all a diversion.  He wants to keep it all
               to himself.  Think about it.  The guy's
               willing to put all of our lives on the
               line because he doesn't want to share
               information...

                          NORMAN
               Ted, I think....

                          TED
               I can see it right now...he's making
               notes for his new book. Wants to win the
               Nobel Prize.

                          NORMAN
               And you don't?

                          TED
               No!  ...yeah.  Norman, you've known me
               since I was 17 years old.  I would love
               to be the guy who gets the recognition.

                          NORMAN
               Have you any idea how respected in your
               field you are?

                          TED
               I'm not.  What have I done?  No. I've
               written one "Fun with Dick and Jane" book
               on physics. I mean, for christ sake, Neils
               Bohr, he published 'The Quantum Theory
               of Atomic Structure' I think when he was
               28.  Einstein - "Relativity", 26...Newton
               - "Gravity", 23.  Norman, in physics, if
               you haven't done it by the time you're
               35, the chances are you never will.

                          NORMAN
               And this has nothing to do with being
               competitive with Harry?

     Ted gives Norman a look.

                          TED
               Harry?

                          NORMAN
               Harry.

                          TED
               Harry...19.  Wunderkind!

                          NORMAN
               I rest my case.

                          TED
               Norman, I'm thirty years old.

                          NORMAN
               I wish I was.

     Ted laughs.

     Then Edmunds comes toward them.

                          EDMUNDS
               Mr. Barnes would like to see you, Ted.

                          TED
               Why?

                          EDMUNDS
               There's something wrong with the computer
               system.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. COMMUNICATIONS ROOM - CLOSE ON BANK OF COMPUTER SCREENS
     - LATER

     The numbers Edmunds saw earlier - on all of the monitors:

     00032125252632 032629 301321 04261037 18 3016 06180
     8213229033005 1822 04261013 0830162137 1604 083016 21
     182204261013 0830162137 1604 083016 21 1822 033013130432

     REVERSE ANGLE - TED

     as he tinkers at the keyboard, Barnes beside him.

                          BARNES
               Try purging it.

                          TED
               Every time I purge it, it comes back.

                          BARNES
               You think it's a discharge from the
               buffer memory?

                          TED
               I ruled that out.

     Edmunds enters.

                          EDMUNDS
               You figure that out yet?

                          TED
               Not yet.

                          EDMUNDS
               You want me to take a whack at it?

                          TED
               Why not?  I only have three advanced
               degrees.  It's not like I went to
               cosmetology school.

                          EDMUNDS
                   (brittle, to Barnes)
               The sonar's still malfunctioning, sir.
               I'm going to go see if I can't clear off
               the transducer ports.  Manual labor --
               maybe that's more my speed.

                          BARNES
               Okay.  Just be careful out there.

                          EDMUNDS
               Yes, sir.

     Edmunds exits.  Barnes turns back to Ted.

                          BARNES
               Why'd you have to bust her chops, huh?
               She's the only person who knows how to
               run this joint. A little respect wouldn't
               kill you.

                          TED
               Point taken.  I'm sorry.
                   (beat)
               I think the helium is getting to the
               chips.  Saturation effect.

                          BARNES
               If that's true, what are the options?

                          TED
               You'd have to replace the chips.

                          BARNES
               If we have to operate this place on
               manual it's gonna be a long four days.

     ANGLE ON HARRY

     as he enters, eating an apple.  Glances over at the computer.

                          HARRY
               Hey, boss.  Ted.
                   (off computer)
               You figure that out yet?

                          TED
               It's some kind of saturation effect.

                          HARRY
               I don't think so. If it was a saturation
               effect it'd be random.

                          TED
               What do you mean?

                          HARRY
               This has a pattern.  See, it's like a
               code.

     Harry leans over to the keyboard, highlights the sequence
     that repeats.  Ted moves closer -- upset that he missed it.
     Harry grabs a pad and pencil, starts to write...

                          BARNES
               A code from where?

                          TED
                   (re: Harry's code letters)
               How do you do that?

                          BARNES
               How do you see that?

                          HARRY
               Try it in binary.

     Ted rattles at the keyboard.

     ON SCREEN

     The numbers change to a string of "0"s and "1"s... They stare
     at it a quick beat.

                          HARRY
               It gives you the letter breaks.

                          TED
               Do you think it's coming from The Sphere?

                          HARRY
               Don't know.

                          BARNES
               Harry, this whole mission is classified
               Ultra Top Secret.  Any messages you
               decode are for my eyes only.

     Harry shows them what he's been writing...

     INSERT - HARRY'S PAD

     He's pencilled in the alphabet as it's arrayed on a computer
     keyboard.

     BACK TO SCENE

                          HARRY
               If you were it, how would you know the
               alphabet?  The way it's organized on the
               keyboard.

     Ted thinks hard...

                          TED
               But, reflected in an orb, spherically.
                   (off Harry's look)
               A keyboard, but spherical.  Take the
               keyboard and wind it around a sphere.
               Then starting at the center key "g",
               number the letters, spiraling out.

     Harry stops, stunned.  Then breaks into a broad smile.

                          HARRY
               Ted!  You're the man!

     Harry tosses aside the pad, sits down at the computer. Works
     frantically.  Ted rubs his hands together.

                          TED
               I'm telling you, I still got it. I still
               got the juice.

     ANGLE ON NORMAN

     putting on his glasses to get a better look.

                          NORMAN
               Oh, boy!

                          TED
                   (to Norman
               They let you keep those?

     Norman offers his glasses to Ted.

     ANGLE ON COMPUTER

     As a topographical model of a sphere appears on the screen...
     Then the computer winds the keyboard around it, starting in
     the middle with the letter "J" and then spiralling around...

                          HARRY (O.S.)
               Now all that's left is to plug in the
               numbers...

     Harry selects the sequence of the numbers that repeats, types
     a command into the computer.

     ANGLE ON HARRY

     as he presses enter, the others gather expectantly...

     CLOSE ON COMPUTER SCREEN

     as it reads.

                          THE SPHERE
                   (on computer)
               HELLO.  HOW ARE YOU?  I AM FINE.
               WHAT IS YOUR NAME?  MY NAME IS
               JERRY.

     BACK ON GROUP

     As they stare at this in amazement... The epiphany of
     contact with an extraplanetary being...

                          HARRY
               My friends, in eight thousand years of
               recorded history, this is a first.  You
               are on-line with an alien intelligence.

     Ted reaches out, touches the screen reverentially...

                          BARNES
               You've got to be kidding me.  You must
               have messed up the translation.

                          HARRY
               I don't think so.

                          BARNES
               If this translation is right, this alien
               sounds like an idiot.

                          BETH
               It could be something to consider -- a
               stupid alien.
                   (off Ted's look)
               Well, they must have them.

                          HARRY
               The content certainly appears childish.
               But when you think about it, it's highly
               logical.  A simple message -- lucid,
               friendly, unthreatening -- the way you'd
               address a small child.  Or a dog.

                          BARNES
               You must've made some mistake
               translating it.

     ANGLE ON SCREEN

     As more numbers type out...

                          TED
               Look at this.

                          BARNES
               It's making a speech.

     Harry hits a command and presses enter and the message is
     translated...

                          THE SPHERE
                   (on computer)
               I AM PLEASED TO BE IN CONTACT WITH
               YOUR ENTITIES.  I AM ENJOYING THIS
               MUCH.

                          BARNES
               Ask him for his last name.

                          HARRY
               What?

                          BARNES
               I want a full name for my report. I'm not
               going to write in my report that a crew
               member died on a deepsat expedition to
               find an alien named Jerry.  Please.
               Jerry?

                          TED
               I think we should tell him we're enjoying
               it too.

                          BARNES
               I still can't believe we had a President
               named Jerry.

                          NORMAN
               Ask him where he's from.

     ANGLE ON COMPUTER

     As Harry types... "WHERE ARE YOU FROM?" Then more numbers.

                          THE SPHERE
               I MAKE A JOURNEY. YOU MAKE A
               JOURNEY. WE MAKE A JOURNEY TOGETHER.
 
                          BETH
               I think Jerry is channeling Deepak
               Chopra.

                          HARRY
               A journey from where?

                          THE SPHERE
               I AM HAPPY.

                          TED
               He's happy.

                          NORMAN
               He's crafty.

     ANGLE ON COMPUTER

     As Harry types... 'A JOURNEY FROM WHERE?' But no response.
     Norman peers at the screen...

                          HARRY
               I think he's gone.

                          BARNES
               Did you -- ?  Did you get a full name for
               the report?

                          HARRY
               Oh, please!

                          BARNES
               Oh, man!

                          TED
               We're not alone.  We are definitely not
               alone.  Harry, it's trying to make
               contact with us.

                          HARRY
               Whatever it is, it was inside that
               Sphere, now it's out, and free to act.

                          TED
               What do you mean by that?

                          HARRY
               Free to take over our computers...free to
               call us on the phone, free to come over
               and knock on the door if it wants to.

                          TED
               A physical presence.

                          BARNES
               What are you thinking about, Norman?

                          NORMAN
               This last part.  Where he says, 'I am
               happy.'

                          HARRY
               What's the matter, Norman?  Don't you
               want Jerry to be happy?

                          NORMAN
               Honestly?

                          BARNES
               What's on your mind, Norman?

                          NORMAN
               I would be happy if Jerry had no emotions
               whatsoever. Because the thing of it is,
               once you go down that road -- here's
               Jerry, this emotional being, cooped up
               for three hundred years with no one to
               talk to, none of the socialization, the
               emotional growth that comes from contact
               with other emotional beings...

                          HARRY
               Yeah?

                          NORMAN
               What happens if Jerry gets mad?

     An exchange of looks all around.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. CAFETERIA - LATER

     Ted fixes coffee. Barnes and Harry sit at the table. Ted
     brings the coffee to the table, slides one to Barnes. Then
     Beth enters, approaches Ted with sheaf of papers.

                          BETH
               You have to look at this.

                          TED
               What?

                          BETH
               There's a record here of a transmission
               to the surface.  Just before the
               submarine was due to pick us up.

                          BARNES
               Let me take a look at that.

     Beth debates turning it over to him.  Barnes gives Beth a
     sardonic look, takes the page and reads it...

     BARNES' POV - INSERT

     as he reads the transmission...

     "Although advised of risks, all personnel elect to remain
     down for duration of storm to continue investigation."

     BACK TO SCENE

     Barnes thinks a beat.  Then smiles his Cheshire cat grin.

                          BARNES
                   (humoring her)
               But Beth, we never elected to remain.  We
               elected to return.

                          BETH
               Exactly.

                          TED
               Who sent the message?

                          BETH
               The signature is encoded. Remember what
               happened?  The submarine was coming but
               Edmunds said she wasn't getting a
               reading. But the truth is, the submarine
               was never coming.
                   (looking at Barnes)
               Somebody told it not to come.

                          BARNES
               What are you saying -- you think it was
               me?

                          BETH
               Was it?

                          BARNES
               I don't know, Beth -- maybe it was Jerry.

                          BETH
               Jerry doesn't know the code.  And he
               can't read minds.

                          BARNES
                    (chuckling)
               Maybe he can.  Maybe he can read minds.

                          BETH
               It had to be you or Edmunds or Fletcher --
               you're the only ones who knew the codes.

                          BARNES
               And there's no place else this message
               could have come from? Like maybe you made
               it up?

     Beth looks at Barnes.  Turns to Harry.

                          BETH
               Harry, you think we're going to die down
               here.  How?  They told us we'd be safe.
               Who wants us to die?

                          HARRY
                   (shrugs)
               I don't know.

                          TED
               It's not Barnes, Beth.  It's jellyfish
               and God knows what.

                          BETH
               Don't you see what's going on?  He wanted
               us to stay down here.

                          TED
               I wanted to stay down here all along.

                          BETH
               But he said we were going back. Why did
               he lie?  Why did he send the submarine
               back?

     Ted shrugs.  Goes back to making his coffee.  Barnes
     grins his enigmatic grin.


                          BARNES
               You sure are a lot of woman.  I wish I
               could've seen you in the old days.  From
               what Norman tells me you were quite...

     Barnes lets it hang there.  He and Beth exchange a look.

                          BETH
               What did Norman tell you?

                          BARNES
               Let's put it this way.  If Jerry could
               read your mind, he'd sure be bored with
               ours.

     Beth looks at Barnes.  In an instant she knows that Norman
     betrayed her.  She exchanges a look with the others -- do
     they also know?  Then she miles.

                          BETH
               Okay.  So that's how it's gonna be then.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. COMMUNICATION ROOM - SAME TIME

     Norman sits alone looking at static on the computer screens.
     We hear THUMP...THUMP...THUMP...Norman looks around.

                          NORMAN
                   (calling out)
               Edmunds.  What's that sound?  Did you
               hear it?

     There is no response.

                          NORMAN (cont'd)
               Edmunds, can you hear me?  Did you hear
               that thump?  Edmunds, what is that sound?
               Edmunds....can you hear me?  Edmunds.

     She's not there.

                          NORMAN (cont'd)
                        Hell  .oh, shit.

     He rushes out.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. CAFETERIA - SAME TIME

     Ted, Harry, Beth and Barnes sit drinking coffee. No-one
     speaks.   Then:

                          HARRY
               What's that noise?

                         TED
               What noise?

                         HARRY
               Listen.

     Dimly, we hear THUMP... THUMP... THUMP...

                          BARNES
               Christ, Edmunds is still out there.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. HABITAT MOON POOL - LATER

     Norman and Beth jump into the "pool"...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME

     Barnes sits.  Watches Norman beneath the habitat as Beth
     plunges down beside him in an explosion of bubbles...

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. HABITAT - SAME TIME

     Norman and Beth move cautiously on the ocean floor...

     NORMAN'S POV - THROUGH FACEPLATE

     Beth marches in formation alongside him, spear gun at the
     ready...

                          BETH
               Norman.  What did you tell Barnes?

                          NORMAN
               About what?

                          BETH
               About me, Norman?  You told him I took
               twenty Nebutol and tried to kill myself,
               didn't you?

                          NORMAN
               He had my notes, Beth.  What did you want
               me to do?

                          BETH
               Did you tell him who I called, Norman?

                          NORMAN
               At the risk of changing the subject,
               Beth, I think that thumping noise is
               coming from right about there.

     Norman looks up.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. COMMUNICATIONS ROOM - SAME TIME

     Barnes on intercom.

                          BARNES
               Norman, Beth - did you find that
               thumping, yet?  Norman...Beth...come in.

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. UPPER HABITAT - REVERSE ANGLE

     As Edmunds' body waves limply in the currents, her helmeted
     head thumps against the wall of the habitat -- her foot
     caught in the trestle structure underlying the habitat...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. COMMUNICATION ROOM - SAME TIME

     Barnes on intercom.

                          BARNES
               Would you hit your call back button,
               please.

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. UPPER HABITAT - LADDER - BACK ON NORMAN AND BETH

     As they hurry toward Edmunds... Norman reaches her first. As
     he grabs her, her body swivels and he sees --

     EDMUNDS' FACE

     Smeared inside her squashed helmet... Norman loses his
     grip... As he slips, Edmunds' boot hits his glass face plate.
     As he struggles to get away, Edmunds' boot slides off,
     revealing a pulpy, enpurpled foot. Containing his nausea, he
     grabs Edmunds...

                          BARNES (V/O)
                   (on intercom)
               Norman...is everything alright out there?

     ANGLE ON BETH

     As she moves to help Norman with Edmunds, she grabs Edmunds'
     foot... Shocked as her fingers sink into it... She reaches up
     to feel Edmunds' ankle, her shin...

                          BETH
               My God, Norman, she's like a rag doll.
               Her body's been completely pulverized.

                          NORMAN
               Beth, I don't get it.  What could have
               done this to her?

                          BARNES (V.O.)
                   (over intercom)
               Norman, is everything okay?

                          BETH
               Let's get her and get out of here.  She's
               stuck in the thing....let's get her out
               of here.

                          BARNES (V.O.)
                   (over intercom)
               Norman?

     Norman and Beth turn, hauling Edmunds toward the habitat.

     Then a single luminous, glossy white ball, about the size of
     a baseball, falls slowly through the water between them...
     like the pearl in the Prell ad...

     Norman looks up...

     THEIR POV

     Thousands of these balls float down through the water, swirl
     in the currents, catching glints of light, trailing streaks
     of mucus and falling softly in the sand at their feet.

     BACK TO SCENE

                          BETH
               What is this?

                          NORMAN
               Beth, what does this mean?

                          BETH
               There's something up here.

     Then a PONG... PONG... PONG... Heard dimly from the inside of
     the habitat as Barnes talks on the intercom...

                          BARNES (V.O.)
                   (over intercom)
               Get inside.  I'm getting a reading on the
               sonar.  You're not alone out there.

     BACK ON NORMAN AND BETH

     Beth around her... Turns to Norman.

                          BETH
               What the hell makes eggs this size?

     The eggs surround them.

                          BETH (cont'd)
              Come on, Norman!  Jesus, Norman let's go!

                          NORMAN
              Alright!  Alright!  Alright.....!

                          BARNES  (V.O.)
                   (over intercom)
               Eighty yards and closing!  Move!

     BACK ON NORMAN AND BETH

     As they run with Edmunds' body... Stumbling through the
     sticky eggs as they pile high on the ocean bottom... The
     PONG... PONG... PONG... audible over the intercom...

                          NORMAN
               What the hell is it?

                          BARNES (V.O.)
                   (over intercom)
               Sixty yards... how close are you?

                          NORMAN
               I can't breathe.

                          BETH
               Oh, my God!

                          BETH
               Norman, you're going the wrong way.

                          BARNES (V.O.)
               Forty yards...Move!  Move!  Move!  Move!
               Move!!

                          BETH
               We can't see anything through the eggs.

                          BARNES (V.O.)
               Move! Twenty yards...Move! Move!
                   (beat)
               Whatever it is, it's directly overhead.

     NORMAN'S POV - THROUGH FACEPLATE

     THROUGH a heavy fog of condensation, Norman sees a shaft of
     light coming down through the airlock... Eggs falling
     everywhere... Norman breathing heavily...

     Then suddenly hands grab Norman... and pull him up to safety.

     INT. HABITAT MOON POOL - SAME TIME

     As Barnes yanks Norman inside, passes him to Harry, who help
     him to get out of his suit, swaddle him in a blanket...
     Barnes reaches down again and pulls Beth aboard... Then turns
     as Edmunds' squashed head bobs up through the opening.
     Grimly, Barnes reaches down, pulls Edmunds' body aboard.

                          BARNES
               I need a report, Beth.

                          BETH
               I don't know what the hell's going on out
               there...there's eggs everywhere.

                          BARNES
               You should have brought one back.

                          BETH
               I wasn't up for an Easter egg hunt. Maybe
               that's what Edmunds was doing. Did you
               get anything on the sonar?

                          BARNES
               Whatever it is, it's too big for the
               sonar.

     Norman shivers in his blanket. The distant PONG... PONG...
     PONG... of the sonar in the video room, audible over the
     intercom.  Then it suddenly GROWS SOFTER.  And STOPS.

                          TED
                   (over intercom)
               It's gone.

     Scared looks all around.

     CLOSE ON NORMAN

     As he shivers...

                          NORMAN
               I want to talk to Jerry.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. HABITAT - CORRIDORS TO VIDEO ROOM - LATER

     Norman leads the others through the corridors toward the
     video room.

                          BARNES
               I think we need a game plan when we talk
               to him.

                          HARRY
               We need to be specific.  What is our
               objective? What do we want to address?
               Specifics.

     Barnes goes first into the video room.

     INT. VIDEO ROOM - CONTINUOUS ACTION

     The others file in behind Barnes.  A message awaits on the
     computer...

                          THE SPHERE
                   (on computer)
               WHAT IS A GAME PLAN?

     BACK ON TEAM

                          BARNES
               Oh, my God!

     As Norman gapes at the screen.  The others edge in closer,
     gape also.  Is it possible?

                          NORMAN
               Jesus!
                   (beat)
               Jerry? Jerry, can you hear me?

                          THE SPHERE
                   (types on computer)
               YES, NORMAN.

                          NORMAN
               You've heard everything we've been
               talking about?

                          THE SPHERE
               YES, NORMAN.

                          BARNES
               Oh, great.

                          THE SPHERE
               I AM HAPPY ALSO.

                          TED
               Jerry, hi, this is Ted here. You know,
               I'm the guy who actually de-coded the
               keyboard thing that you.....

                          BARNES
               Shut up! Tell him we need to discuss this
               together.  Alone.

                          NORMAN
               Jerry....

                          THE SPHERE
               IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO STOP.  I DO
               NOT WISH IT.

                          BARNES
               Well, it's necessary to me.

                          THE SPHERE
               NO.  IT IS NOT POSSIBLE.  I DON'T
               AGREE.  NO!

     ANGLE ON SCREEN

     As a series of "NO NO NO NO NO NO NO" unspools across the
     entire screen...

                          NORMAN
               Jerry, use your words.  He's mad.  Jerry,
               use your words.

                          BARNES
               Just pull his plug.

                          NORMAN
               I'm not sure it's that simple, sir.

                          BARNES
               It's plenty simple.  We leave him alone,
               he leaves us alone.

                          NORMAN
               Maybe he doesn't want to be left alone.
               He's been down here in isolation for
               three hundred years. Maybe Jerry is
               lonely.

                          BARNES
               Lonely?  That's like saying an artichoke
               is lonely.

                          NORMAN
                   (whispering)
               He hears everything we're saying.

                          BARNES
               It's just a figure of speech.

                          NORMAN
               Tell him.  Tell Jerry.

                          THE SPHERE
               I WANT TO TALK.  NOW.  NOW.  RIGHT
               NOW.  NOW.

     Then suddenly the SONAR lights up... PONG... PONG...PONG..

                          NORMAN
               Jerry, someone wants to talk to you.

                          BARNES
               I'm not talking to a television.

                          NORMAN
               I think that's more than a television.

     Beth enters.

                          BETH
               What's that?

     Barnes moves to the console.  Pushes buttons and turns
     dials...

                          BARNES
               Sonar.  It's picking something up out
               there.

                          NORMAN
               Jerry, we all find you a fascinating and
               wonderful entity.  And we wish to talk to
               you for many, many hours, Jerry -- you
               know that.

                          THE SPHERE
               I DON'T WANT TO STOP.  NO.

     PONG... PONG... PONG... Getting LOUDER and more frequent...

                          NORMAN
               In your great understanding and wisdom,
               Jerry, you must understand that entities
               such as ourselves need to talk alone
               sometimes.

                          THE SPHERE
               ARE YOU AFRAID?

                          NORMAN
               No, Jerry, we're not afraid. We're just a
               little uncomfortable.

                          THE SPHERE
               HAVE I OFFENDED YOU?

                          NORMAN
               You're tops in our books, Jerry. It's
               just the way we're built, that's all.

                          THE SPHERE
               DO NOT BE AFRAID.

     ANGLE ON SCREEN

     As it goes blank.  PONG!... PONG!... PONG.'...

                          NORMAN
               Jerry?
                   (beat)
               Goddammit!

                          BETH
               Where did he go?

     Then Barnes turns suddenly alert.  He moves to adjust a
     couple of knobs beneath the gas plasma readouts on the
     console.  Pulls on the headphones...

                          HARRY
               What's going on?

                          BARNES
               Something's clogging everything up out
               there.

     Beth goes to the porthole.

                          BETH
               Norman, come here!

     Norman joins her...

     THEIR POV - ON MONITOR

     Thousands of eggs on the monitor, like the ones they saw
     earlier, falling through the water, streaking mucus...

     Some of the eggs stick to the window, then more, till their
     view is obliterated...

                          BETH (O.S.)
               It's back.

     ANGLE ON BARNES

     As he works furiously at the console... Turns to Ted.

                          BARNES
               Positive thermals on in-line perimeter.

     They hear a distant METALLIC CLANK...

                          BETH
               What was that?

                          BARNES
               It's hitting the grid.

                          BETH
               Don't we have any defenses?

                          BARNES
               High voltage.  We can run it across the
               surface of the Habitat.  Every time we've
               tested it it's started an electrical
               fire.

     Suddenly red lights and an ALARM...

                         BARNES (cont'd)
               Peripheral sensors activated.  I'm going
               to try and image it on the fast acting
               sonar.

     PONG!... PONG!... PONG!...

     ANGLE ON SCREEN

     As Barnes looks at it... An amorphous, streaky blob...

                          BARNES
               Building image... Eighty yards and moving
               fast...

     ANGLE ON SCREEN

     A new image, not a lot sharper... A blob with streaks
     spraying out from the center...

                          BETH
               Can you tell what it is?

                          TED
               My God, it's forty feet long.

                          BARNES
               Fifty yards.
                   (off sonar)
               Re-imaging.

     ANGLE ON MONITORS

     A blurred mass and a spray of what might be tentacles fanning
     out from the center...

                          BETH
               It looks like a giant squid.

                          TED
               A giant squid the size of this entire
               habitat?  There's no such animal.

                          BETH
               That may be, but that doesn't mean it's
               not out there.

                          BARNES
               Re-imaging.  Thirty yards.

     Another slightly clearer image... It sure looks like a
     squid... On the video surveillance, blurred images -- a
     tentacle ringed with suckers, an eye -- too close and too
     fast to make out.  Then suddenly, all the monitors and
     sensors go blank.

                          TED
               What's going on?

                          NORMAN
               Jerry...Jerry...Jerry...if you can hear
               me, it's Norman.  If we've made you
               angry, or if you're upset about
               anything...

                          BARNES
               Norman, you're psycho-analyzing a
               toaster.
                   (looking at control monitor)
               Oh, we've got a pressure drop.  Ted, go
               into the control room. Wait there for my
               instructions.

                          TED
               Why?

                          BARNES
               Just go, please!

     Ted exits at a run... Then they hear a METALLIC CLANKING...

                          NORMAN
               What's that sound?  What is that?

                          BARNES
               It sounds like he's right above us.

                          NORMAN
               I know where it is, but what is it?

     Then suddenly the MONITORS FLASH ON...

                          THE SPHERE
                   (on computer)
               I AM HERE.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. CORRIDOR - LATER

     A view of the empty corridor as it SHUDDERS... The harsh sing-
     song of METAL UNDER STRESS...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. CAFETERIA - SAME TIME

     Like an earthquake -- doors swing open on their hinges,
     DISHES CRASH to the floor... The large viewing SKYLIGHT
     CRACKS...

     INSERT - SEAM IN WALL

     As it slightly fissures...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. HABITAT CONTROL SHAFT - SAME TIME

     Ted fights his way through debris to arrive at the Control
     Shaft.

                          TED
                   (to intercom)
               I'm in the control shaft.  We've got a
               leak in here.  Hello!

     More water gushes towards Ted.

                          BARNES
                   (over intercom)
               Ted... Ted...

     Ted doesn't hear him.

                          TED
               Holy shit!

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME

     Barnes fusses with the controls...

                          BARNES
                   (to intercom)
               Ted, do you hear me?

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. HABITAT CONTROL SHAFT - SAME TIME

     Ted drenched with water.

                          TED
               Yeah, glad you could join me.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME

     Barnes into intercom.

                          BARNES
               Alright, Ted, listen to me carefully.
               The computer's showing we've got
               structural damage.  We've got seams
               compromised, and we're taking on water
               all over the habitat.  You've got to
               increase the positive air pressure and
               drive the water out, do you understand
               that?

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. CONTROL SHAFT - SAME TIME

     Ted stumbles to his feet, looks for the knob...

     INTERCUT WITH VIDEO ROOM

                          TED
               Increase the pressure? Won't that use up
               the air supply?

                          BARNES
                   (over intercom)
               Ted, you're a smart guy, try to follow
               this one.  If the Habitat is full of
               water, you'll be dead.  Now, open the red
               gate valve.

                          TED
               Don't get technical with me, Barnes.
               What's a gate valve?

                          BARNES
                   (over intercom)
               It's a red knob.

                          TED
               Good.  I can understand knobs. Er...which
               knob?

                          BARNES
                   (over intercom)
               Ted, the pressure is dropping.  It is
               dropping, Ted!  We'll be crushed like a
               tin can!  Find the red knob, Ted!  It's
               the only one in the room.  It's over the
               console.

                          TED
               Which console?

                          BARNES
                   (over intercom)
               It's the one with the schematics on it,
               you cretin.  What do you have a Ph.D
               for?!

     Ted looks for the knob.

                          TED
               Layout...layout...layout...layout. Bad
               time not to have my glasses.  Shit!

     Then he finds it.

                          TED (cont'd)
               Got it!

                          BARNES
                   (over intercom)
               Turn it counter-clockwise right away.
               Alright, good. We're getting positive
               pressure.  Alright, not too much now.
               Start to ease it back.

     BANG!  Electric sparks fly into Ted.  He hits his head and
     falls to the floor.

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. HABITAT - SAME TIME

     Bubbles emerge from the seams in the walls...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. HABITAT - SAME TIME

     As Beth and Norman run.  Norman stops and watches as water
     outflows--as if the film is in reverse motion.

     INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME

     Barnes watches the digital and analog gauges as the gas
     pressure climbs...

                          BARNES
               Ted, turn it back.  We've got too much
               pressure, you'll blow the Habitat.
               Clockwise, Ted, closes it.

     CLOSE ON GAUGES

     As the pressure continues to climb...

                          BARNES
               Ted, turn it back...the pressure is too
               high.  Ted, we'll explode!  Can you hear
               me?  Ted, turn it back!

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. CONTROL SHAFT - SAME TIME

     Ted unconscious, his hand clawlike on the pressure knob...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. HABITAT CORRIDOR - SAME TIME

     Norman and Beth run till -- BANG! -- another impact bounces
     them like pinballs along the narrow corridor...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. CONTROL SHAFT - SAME TIME

     A seam bursts and water surges into the control room as
     Norman and Beth rush in and see Ted, practically unconscious.

                          NORMAN
               We're here!  Jesus, Ted.

                          BETH
               I got him...I got him...

     She pulls Ted upright out of the water as Norman shuts off
     the pressure gauge...

                          BARNES (V.O.)
                   (over intercom)
               Norman?  Norman?  Can you hear me?

                          NORMAN
               What?  Jesus!!

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME

     The monitor crashes next to Barnes.  Barnes struggles up off
     the floor, reaches for his headset...

                          BARNES
               Norman, turn the red gate valve.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. CONTROL SHAFT - SAME TIME

     INTERCUT WITH VIDEO ROOM

     Norman struggles to regain his footing...

                         NORMAN
               Which way?

                         BARNES
                   (over intercom)
               Clockwise.  Close it.

     Norman closes the valve.  The pressure goes down.

                          BARNES (cont'd)
                   (over intercom)
               Good.

                          NORMAN
               Done. Barnes!  We're still leaking.

                          BARNES
                   (over intercom)
               It's not the outer shell, it's the
               internal pipes.  They're just leaking.
               We're okay.

     BANG!  Another impact and the habitat shakes violently...

                          BETH
               What the hell's out there?

                          BARNES
               Norman, listen to me, whatever this is,
               it's not letting go.  You've got to pull
               the green lever marked 'High Voltage
               Defense System.'

                          BETH
               No!  He said it would start a fire.
               Don't do it!  Barnes, you said it would
               start a fire.

                          BARNES
                   (over intercom)
               We're gonna die down here.  Pull it!

                          BETH
               Don't do it!

                          NORMAN
               Barnes, do you hear her?

                          BARNES
                   (over intercom)
               Don't listen to her, she's crazy. Pull
               the green lever.  Norman, pull the lever!

                          BETH
               What are you trying to pull?  He's trying
               to pull something. Don't do it!

                          NORMAN
               Do you hear her?!!

     CLOSE ON NORMAN

     Torn by indecision... Then another JOLT to the habitat...

                          BARNES
                   (over intercom)
               You can't listen to her. Pull the goddamn
               lever!

                          BETH
               Norman, what do we do if there's a fire
               down here?  It'll eat up all our oxygen.
               Don't do it.

     WHAM!  Another strike throws Norman against the box... He
     grips the lever... He and Beth exchange a look.

                          BARNES
                   (over intercom)
               We've got failures all over the place,
               Norman...we're taking on water...

                          BETH
               No, don't do it, Norman!

                          NORMAN
               What am I gonna do?

                          BETH
               Norman, it'll start a fire.  There's no
               way out!

                          NORMAN
               Shut up!  What am I gonna do....what am I
               gonna do?

                          BETH
               Don't do it!!

                          BARNES
                   (over intercom)
               You're gonna be squid food.  Pull it!

                          NORMAN
               What am I gonna do? We're falling apart.

     Norman and Beth exchange a look.  Then Norman pulls the
     lever...

                          NORMAN (cont'd)
                   (relieved)
               We're okay.  We don't have to be right
               all the time. Right? Okay.

                          BETH
               Right.  Okay.

     Ted suddenly stands up, somewhat dazed.

                          TED
               Has anybody got some Advil?

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. HABITAT - VARIOUS ANGLES - LATER

     on the corridors as a loud ELECTRICAL HUM suffuses the
     habitat... The lights brown out...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. CONTROL SHAFT - SAME TIME

     Beth looks around, listens, but suddenly it's guiet -- just
     the HISS and CHIRP of WATER LEAKING...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME

     Barnes picks himself off the floor... Poised for another jolt
     that doesn't come.  He checks the monitors, the gauges...

     ZOOM IN -- a red light...
         
     On a fire annunciator... Beneath a label marked

     "COMMUNICATIONS ROOM..."

     BACK ON BARNES

     As he sees this...

                          BARNES
               Oh, hell.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. COMMUNICATIONS ROOM - SAME TIME

     FIRE ROARS through the walls... Seems to jump out from the
     walls to flammable materials on the tables, the chairs, that
     EXPLODE in sudden flame...

     INT. CONTROL SHAFT - SAME TIME

     Beth, Ted and Norman all look around as the FIRE ALARMS and
     red lights activate...

                          BARNES (V.O.)
                   (over intercom)
               Oh, God!  Norman, we've got a fire in the
               Comm Room.  Get up there.  I'll meet you
               with gas masks in case we need them.

     Beth gets up.

                          BETH
               Like hell I'm staying here.

     Norman watches as Beth exits.  Then moves to help Ted.

     INT. HABITAT CLOSET HALLWAY - SAME TIME

     Barnes sloshes around the supply depot, piles his arms
     high with gas masks... Turns to see, at the end of the
     corridor...

     ANGLE ON EXIT

     As the doors automatically close to seal off the leak...

     BACK ON BARNES

     As he runs with the gas masks, out of the supply depot and
     down the narrow, winding corridor...

     BACK ON DOOR

     As it closes...

     BACK ON BARNES

     As he runs for daylight... It looks like he's going to make
     it... He smiles.

     Then he slips on the wet floor...

     The steel door closes on him... Barnes groans... Wedges a gas
     mask in the door... Wriggles to get free...

     INSERT - BARNES' HAND

     As he reaches for a handhold on the other side of the door...
     Then it's in his grasp...

     He moves to pull himself through... Then the gas mask
     slips...

     ANGLE ON BARNES

     As the steel door closes down on him... Barnes howls... Then
     a terrible CRACKLING CRUNCH --

     INSERT - DOOR INDICATOR

     As it lights up:  SECURED.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. COMMUNICATIONS ROOM - SAME TIME

     Beth runs toward the fire, grabs a fire extinguisher...She
     sprays the extinguisher on the flames...Ted arrives right
     behind Norman.

                          NORMAN
               Where are they?

                          BETH
               Over here...there's one there.

                          NORMAN
               I got it. How do you work it?

                          TED
               Pull the pin.

                          NORMAN
               Pin?

                          TED
               Are there any more?

                          BETH
               I saw some in the door.

                          NORMAN
               We've gotta get out fast or we're gonna
               die.

     Ted exits at a run... Norman takes off his sweat jacket and
     does his best to swat at the flames...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. COMMUNICATIONS ROOM - SAME TIME

     Ted runs to a supply closet... Finds two fire extinguishers.
     Turns to run.  And for the first time he notices...

     INT. DORMITORY - TED'S POV - HARRY

     asleep.  Snoozing like a baby in his bunk.  Ted takes a beat -
     - puzzled and amazed by this.  Ted tries to rouse him.

                          TED
                   (shaking him)
               Harry.  Harry!

     But Harry's out.  Ted then runs with the fire
     extinguishers...

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. HABITAT - FAST-MOVING POV - SAME TIME

     GLIDING IN ominously ON the habitat... The preternatural
     quiet of the deep...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. HABITAT - VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME

     All the monitors are down from the power drain of the high
     voltage.  Suddenly, the computer screens flash on...

                          THE SPHERE
               I WILL KILL YOU ALL.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. COMMUNICATIONS ROOM - SAME TIME

     A horrible IMPACT -- like a devastating EARTHQUAKE -- bounces
     Norman and Beth off the walls as all the lights go dead...

                          NORMAN
               It's coming through the ceiling panel.
               Try to get it through the Cafeteria.

                          BETH
               Alright. I'll go up.  Get back!

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. HABITAT - SAME TIME

     Beth makes her way to the Cafeteria as everything explodes
     around her.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. COMMUNICATIONS ROOM - SAME TIME

     As Ted runs with the fire extinguishers with flames at his
     back.

                          TED
               Norman...Norman.  You okay?

     He tries to extinguish the flames.

     Norman sits stunned.

                          TED (cont'd)
               Get out!  Go!  Go!

     A heavy console falls on top of him...Norman still sits
     stunned.

                          TED
               Norman! Norman, get out!

     He screams as he's barbecued on the grid.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. COMMUNICATION ROOM - SAME TIME

     There are explosions and the fire increases. Norman passes
     out.

     INT. HABITAT - SAME TIME

     Beth is frozen.

                                                     FADE TO BLACK.

     FADE IN:

     INT. DORMITORY - LATER

     Norman wakes up to the sound of a distant voice.

                          MALE VOICE O/C
               Dr. Goodman... Dr. Goodman... Dr. Norman
               Goodman...Dr. Goodman...

                          NORMAN
               Yes...yes....okay.

     He gets up, moves toward the door.

     NORMAN'S POV - THROUGH PORTHOLE

     The Pilot and Seaman from earlier scenes, in full dress
     uniform, stand guard across the corridor. Norman opens the
     door.

                          NORMAN
               Thank God you guys are here.

                          SEAMAN
               Yes, sir.

                          NORMAN
               It's been like a nightmare...the
               fire...Ted's dead, and the fire got out
               of control.  We did what we could.

                          PILOT
               Yes, sir.  Just follow us.

     INT. CORRIDOR - SAME TIME

     Norman walks between the Pilot and the Seaman.

                          NORMAN
               Fletcher's dead...Edmunds is dead.  I
               think Barnes is dead.

                          PILOT
               Yes, sir.

                          NORMAN
               Are we leaving now?

                          SEAMAN
               Yes, sir.

                          NORMAN
               When did you guys get here?

                          SEAMAN
               Just now, sir.

                          NORMAN
               And do the others know yet?

                          PILOT
               The others, sir?

                          NORMAN
               The others.  There's three of us
               left...Harry and Beth.  We've had a rough
               time.

                          PILOT
               I can see that, sir.

                          NORMAN
               Rough time...So, shouldn't we go and get
               them?

                          SEAMAN
               Yes, sir.

                          NORMAN
               When?

     The Seaman and Pilot walk away.  Norman stands alone in the
     corridor.

                          NORMAN (cont'd)
               When? When? When do we get 'em? When?
               When we do we get 'em? When are we gonna
               get 'em? When?

     INT. VIDEO ROOM

     Norman is asleep and wakes himself up with the same refrain.

                          NORMAN
               When are we gonna get 'em...? Get
               'em...when?  When?

     He sits up straight in his chair, looks around - nobody
     there.

                          NORMAN (cont'd)
               Jerry?
                   (beat)
               Jerry, it's Norman.  Is that you, Jerry?
               It's Norman.
                   (beat)
               Jerry, who put out the fire? Jerry?

                          THE SPHERE
                   (on monitors)
               WHERE IS THE CONTROL ENTITY HARALD
               C. BARNES?  I DO NOT SENSE THAT
               ENTITY NOW.

     Norman moves closer to the monitors...

     ANGLE ON SURVEILLANCE MONITORS

     Norman sets about flipping switches -- different views
     and angles, some flooded and sealed off, all deserted...

                          NORMAN
               I don't know, Jerry.  I just woke up.  Do
               you know where he is?

                          THE SPHERE
               HE WAS NOT FRIENDLY.  HE DID NOT
               ENJOY TO TALKING WITH ME.

                          NORMAN
               I know.  He's a difficult entity
               sometimes.  Can you tell me what happened
               to him, Jerry?

                          THE SPHERE
               I DO NOT SENSE THE ENTITY TED.

     CLOSE ON NORMAN

                          NORMAN
               I know. Something happened to Ted, Jerry.

                          THE SPHERE
               BRING HIM BACK.

                          NORMAN
               I can't.

                          THE SPHERE
               BRING BACK THE ENTITY TED.  HE WAS
               HUMOROUS.

                          NORMAN
               I can't do that, Jerry.  It's not in my
               power.
                   (beat)
               There was a fire and I froze.  I didn't
               help him.  I wanted to, but I didn't help
               him.  I knew him since he was seventeen
               years old and I let him go.
                   (beat)
               Okay, but I'd like to just deal with this
               at a later time.  So, do you want to tell
               me about the others?

                          THE SPHERE
               DID YOU LIKE THE GIANT SQUID?

                          NORMAN
               You made that, Jerry?

                          THE SPHERE
               DO YOU LIKE IT?  I CAN MANIFEST IT
               MORE FOR YOU.

                          NORMAN
               No, no.  Don't do that.  Nothing more
               right now, thanks.

                          THE SPHERE
               I DO NOT WISH TO STOP.

     ANGLE ON MONITORS

     As Norman punches a view of the galley... Harry placidly eats
     a sandwich and reads a book... Then Norman resumes punching
     up other views of the habitat...

                          NORMAN
               You see, the problem is, Jerry, your
               manifestations injure our entities. And
               pretty soon, there'll be no entities to
               play with, and you'll be all alone again.
               All because you can't control yourself.
               Because with all your power you don't
               have the power to stop, do you, Jerry.

     A long beat as Norman waits for a response.  Then:

                          THE SPHERE
               STOP CALLING ME JERRY.

                          NORMAN
               What name do you want? Jerry...Jerry.
               What name do you want? Jerry...

     Norman waits.  No response.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. CAFETERIA - SAME TIME

     Harry munches on his sandwich and reads his book -- 20,000
     LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA.  Norman enters.

                          NORMAN
               Hey, Harry.  How you doin'?

                          HARRY
                   (looks up)
               Norman.

                          NORMAN
              Wow, can you believe what happened?

                          HARRY
              What?

                          NORMAN
              You know.  The attack on the habitat?
                   (off Harry's look)
               You know there was an attack on this
               place?

                          HARRY
               I must've slept through it.

                          NORMAN
               You slept through it.

                          HARRY
                   (yawns)
               I was dead tired.

                          NORMAN
               It's a good thing you don't have a living
               will, Harry.  We would've had to have
               given all your organs away.

     Harry laughs.

                          NORMAN (cont'd)
               So the smoke didn't bother you? All the
               leaking...you know...

                          HARRY
                   (with book)
               Did you ever read this? Twenty Thousand
               Leagues Under the Sea? I found it in the
               john -- probably somebody's misguided
               attempt at levity.  I always loved this
               book. I could never get past page eighty-
               seven, though.  Too scary.

                          NORMAN
               You seem to be, uh, strangely detached,
               Harry.  Given our predicament.

                          HARRY
               I dunno, Norman. With all your panic and
               running around, what have you
               accomplished?

     Norman looks at Harry's unnerving, serene smile.  Then eases
     back into the corridor, looks up and down for Beth...

                          NORMAN
               You knew I was running around?
                   (beat)
               Have you, uh, seen Beth?

                          HARRY
                   (shrugs)
               No, I thought she was with the others.

                          NORMAN
               What others?  Barnes and Ted are dead,
               Harry.
                   (off Harry's look)
               There's nobody down here who knows how to
               run the place anymore.  The fire screwed
               up the electronics. We've used up most of
               our reserve gas...you're reading your
               book...

     Harry is saddened by the news of Barnes and Ted. Then his
     gloom lifts suddenly.

                          HARRY
               Look on the bright side, Norman.

                          NORMAN
               What's that?

                          HARRY
               With Barnes and Ted dead, we don't need
               as much gas. And with half this place
               flooded, we don't have to worry about
               filling that space with gas either.

                          NORMAN
               That's a helluva bright side, Harry.

                          HARRY
               It is what it is.

     Suddenly Beth hustles inside.  Heads for the refrigerator
     for a bottle of water...

                          BETH
               Somebody has to go reset the minisub.  If
               we don't reset it every twelve hours it
               floats to the surface.  Remember?

                          HARRY
               I'll go.

                          NORMAN
                   (quickly)
               No, no.  I'll go.

                          HARRY
               You sure?

                          NORMAN
               Yeah.

                          BETH
               It might be our only way out of here.

                          HARRY
                   (brightly)
               See, there's another bright side, Norman.

                          NORMAN
               Yeah?

                          HARRY
               With Barnes and Ted dead -- the minisub
               only holds three people!

     Norman looks at Harry, grinning at him.

                          NORMAN
               Beth, could I talk to you for a second?

     Norman grabs Beth and hurries her out of the galley. Harry
     returns to reading his book.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. CORRIDORS - LATER

     Beth and Norman head toward the moon pool.

                          NORMAN
               I don't want Harry anywhere near that
               minisub.

                          BETH
               You think he'll leave without us?

                          NORMAN
               Oh, I think he's already left without us.
               I think Harry's in a whole 'nother place.
                   (beat)
               Did you know he slept through the attack?
               You don't think that's a little strange?

     A beat between them as Beth considers this...

                          BETH
               Well, I guess it's me and you, Norman.
               Just like I said at the beginning.  It's
               good I have someone down here I can
               trust.

                          NORMAN
                   (smiling)
               You and me Beth.

                          BETH
               You'd better get going.  I'm not sure how
               much time we have.  I'll keep an eye on
               you from the control room.
                   (beat)
               And Norman...it's not like swimming, it's
               walking.

     Norman smiles.

                          NORMAN
               Not swimming, but walking.  Got it.

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. HABITAT MOON POOL - LATER

     Norman splashes down out of the air lock.  Walks out from
     under the habitat... Turns a corner...

     NORMAN'S POV - THROUGH FACEPLATE

     The minisub, illuminated, moored in an open-girdered dome
     hangar, about a hundred feet away...

     Norman starts out toward the minisub...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. SUB DOME HANGAR/INT. MINI-SUB - LATER

     The minisub rocks gently, as if someone's clambering on top
     of it.  Then the hatch opens... And Norman drops down inside.
     He hums as he situates himself in the cockpit.

     ANGLE ON CONSOLE

     As Norman's hands run over the controls...

                          NORMAN
                   (mutters to himself)
               Reset... Reset...

     Then, up above the dashboard, he finds a flashing red button
     marked "TIMER HOLE" beside a digital clock that's running
     down... Norman presses it and a small screen glows...

     TIMER RESET -- COUNT:  12:00:00

     It starts counting down... Norman smiles with
     satisfaction.

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. SUB DOME HANGAR - SAME TIME

     Norman plunges back into the water...

     NORMAN'S POV - THROUGH FACEPLATE

     Of the habitat in the distance... Then the faceplate starts
     to fog up... Norman's view is a little woozy... Then he LOOKS
     DOWN at his gas hose as bubbles slowly start leaking out.

                          NORMAN (O.S.)
               Beth, something's happened to my hose.

     ANGLE ON NORMAN

     He fumbles, all thumbs with gloves, his faceplate
     fogged...trying to tighten the valve where bubbles are coming
     from.  Instead, he loosens it, and more bubbles are released.

                          NORMAN
               Beth, I've got bubbles coming out.
                   (beat)
               Beth!

     NORMAN'S POV THROUGH FACEPLATE

     Of the habitat, the nimbus of the lights THROUGH the fog of
     the FACEPLATE.  It looks really far away.

                         NORMAN
               Beth, can you tell me what to do.  It's
               fogging me all up here.

     ANGLE ON NORMAN

     He looks like he's running in place and getting nowhere...

     His feet slipping on the silty bottom...

                          NORMAN
               Beth, there's something wrong here.  I've
               got to get out of here...I've got to get
               out of here.  Where the hell are you!

     NORMAN'S POV THROUGH FACEPLATE

     Thoroughly fogged now... Norman stomping blindly through the
     ocean, his BREATHING panicked, the INDICATORS BLEEPING in
     alarm... Then suddenly Harry breaks in over the intercom.

     BACK TO SCENE

                          HARRY (V.O.)
                   (over intercom)
               Hey, watch out for that rock.  It's me,
               Harry.

                          NORMAN
               Harry...

                          HARRY (V.O.)
                   (over intercom)
               Come around the rock... go to the right of
               the stanchion.

                          NORMAN
               Harry, I'm hurting.  Come around which
               way?  I can't breathe Harry...

                          HARRY (V.O.)
                   (matter-of-fact)
               Yes, you can.  You just have a loose
               valve. It's not gonna kill you.  You've
               got plenty of gas.  Can you see the
               airlock?  It's right in front of you.

     NORMAN'S POV THROUGH FACEPLATE

     Heavily fogged, he can dimly MAKE OUT the shaft of light
     coming down from the airlock.

     ANGLE ON NORMAN

     as he stumbles toward the airlock... then his indicator
     flatlines...Norman looks down at his loose gas hose...

     INSERT - GAS HOSE

     No more bubbles...no more gas.

     BACK ON NORMAN

     In a total panic, holding his breath.

     NORMAN'S POV THROUGH FACEPLATE

     The fogged glass and murky water... Can't see...

     BACK ON NORMAN

     thrashing through the water...

     NORMAN'S POV THROUGH FACEPLATE

     As he swims furiously, he sees the light from the moon pool
     and the ladder leading down, right in front of him... he
     grabs for the rungs of the ladder... it's a...

     SEA SNAKE

     The sea SNAKE HISSES, then snaps at Norman as Norman lets go,
     falls to the ocean bottom...

     NORMAN'S POV THROUGH FACEPLATE

     As the snake swipes at his face, its forked tongue smearing
     slime across the faceplate... then the snake scurries away
     as...

     HANDS

     Grab Norman and pull him up to safety...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. SUIT ROOM - CONTINUOUS ACTION
         
     Harry helps Norman pull off his helmet... Norman gulps for
     air... then stumbles as Harry helps him to sit down...

                          NORMAN
               Where is she?

                          HARRY
               Try and relax your breathing. You're
               gonna hyperventilate.

                          NORMAN
               Where is she?  She said she'd...keep an
               eye out for me.

                          HARRY
               I looked through the whole habitat, I
               couldn't find her.  I thought maybe she
               was with you.

                          NORMAN
               Where is she? Where is she?

     Norman looks over... we follow his gaze...

     ANGLE ON BETH'S LOCKER

     Where Beth's suit and helmet are stored, under a nameplate
     that reads "Halperin"...  It's empty.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME

     Norman and Harry watch on the monitors, scared...

     THEIR POV - MONITORS

     A surveillance view of the airlock tube, as Beth enters
     from the spaceship and it fills with water.... then Beth
     emerges and heads toward the habitat...

     BACK ON NORMAN

     He and Harry exchange a look.

                          NORMAN
                   (whispering)
               Did she tell you she was going out?

     Then Norman addresses the mike.

                          NORMAN (CONT'D)
               Beth?

                          BETH (V.O.)
                   (over intercom)
               Norman? I can't hear you.

                          NORMAN
                   (to Harry)
               If she can't hear me, why did she answer?
               Beth, what are you doing?

                          BETH (V.O.)
                   (over intercom)
               I went out looking for food. We're out
               of food.

     Harry covers the mike with his hand.

                          HARRY
               There's plenty of food.  I was just in
               there.

     Norman and Harry exchange a look.

                          NORMAN
               You went to look for food in the
               spacecraft? That seems a little odd,
               don't you think?

     INTERCUT WITH:

     BETH

     As she walks toward the habitat...

                          BETH
               Why, what's odd about it?

                          NORMAN
              If there was food? Beth, uh -- wouldn't
              it be three hundred years old?

                          BETH
              I was hoping our luck would change and
              I'd find a cryogenic freezer. Or a bottle
              of bordeaux.

                          HARRY
              She's lying.
                   (off Norman's look)
              Norman, she's lying about everything.

                          BETH
              Is Harry there, Norman?

                          NORMAN
              Why don't we just talk when you get back?
              Meet me in the galley. We'll have a cup
              of coffee.
                   (charming)
              We still have coffee, don't we?

                          BETH
              Very funny.  I'll take mine black, like
              my mood.

                          NORMAN
              All right. See you soon.

     Norman turns off the microphone. Turns to Harry.

                          HARRY
              Norman, what we have here are two
              ingredients -- Beth and this underwater
              environment... you put them together and
              you've got one big ass bomb.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. HABITAT - CORRIDOR - LATER

     Beth walks up from the corridor from the moon pool toweling
     her hair dry...

     INT. CAFETERIA - CONTINUOUS ACTION

     Beth enters. Norman and Harry wait for her, drinking coffee.
     Beth takes a mug off the counter, pours for herself...

                          BETH
               How'd it go with the mini-sub?

                          NORMAN
               It was a little disconcerting out there,
               actually.

                          BETH
               Oh?

                          NORMAN
               Weren't you supposed to be watching out
               for me from the control room?

                          BETH
               Harry said he'd take over for me.
                   (off Harry's look)
               He sat down right in front of the
               monitors and -- Norman, what happened?

                          NORMAN
               I was in trouble. Where the hell were
               you?

                          BETH
               What's going on, Norman?

                          NORMAN
               All I know is, going out to find food in
               the spacecraft when there's plenty of
               food here isn't exactly normal.

                          BETH
               What do you mean, plenty of food? I was
               just here.  There's nothing in the --

     Beth goes to the cupboards, opens them.

     ANGLE ON OPEN CUPBOARDS

     Spilling over with food... Beth takes a beat to size up the
     situation -- she can sense their eyes on her.

                          HARRY
               A veritable horn of plenty.

                          BETH
               He must've hidden it.

                          HARRY
               You think I hid all this food?

                          BETH
               I don't know what's going on here, but
               twenty minutes ago I was standing right
               here and there was no food in the
               cupboards and no food in the
               refrigerator.

                          NORMAN
               Why, Beth? Why would Harry do that?  Why
               would he set you up?

                          BETH
               I don't know what happened.  All I know
               is this food wasn't here.

                          HARRY
               Paging Dr. Halperin.  Please report to
               reality.  Dr. Halperin?

                          BETH
               Shut up!
                   (to Norman)
               Okay, you can see what he's doing to me.

                          NORMAN
               You were supposed to be watching, Beth.
               That's the facts.  You think Harry said
               something he didn't.  That the cupboards
               are empty when they're full...Clinically,
               we would call that a psychotic break.

                          BETH
               I'm not crazy, Norman. What're you gonna
               do? Write me a prescription? Just get
               rid of me? Well, it's not that
               convenient down here, Norman, okay.  I am
               not psychotic.

                          NORMAN
               What about a mini-psychotic break.

                          BETH
               It's not fair.

                          NORMAN
               Beth.

                          BETH
               What?

                          NORMAN
               Beth, I'm down there...I'm
               hyperventilating, I can't breathe...I'm
               hyperventilating.  The man saved me!

                          BETH
               But I....

                          NORMAN
               Wait a minute.  Now you want me to
               believe that the man set me up.  Why?
               This isn't 'Alice in Wonderland'.
               Remember 'just you and me babe'? Is it
               unrealistic to think that at this point
               you are a danger to yourself - you are a
               danger to us...that your misguided anger
               towards me for something that I don't
               know what it was that happened decades
               ago is spewing out like poison.  I was
               out there.  You almost got me killed.
               The man tried to save my life!  You now
               want me to disbelieve Harry?

                          BETH
               Yes, I want you to disbelieve Harry.  I
               want you to look at me and believe me for
               one time, Norman. Don't you...? Just
               look at me, Norman! Am I telling you the
               truth?

                          NORMAN
               You weren't there, Beth.

                          BETH
               You want to believe Harry, Norman, then
               that's fine, because he's done everything
               but part the sea for you since we've been
               down here, but I'm telling you that he is
               not telling you the truth.

                          NORMAN
               This is not about Harry, okay?

                          BETH
                   (right back)
               He didn't tell you what's inside The
               Sphere.
                   (to Harry)
               You didn't tell him, did you?  You didn't
               tell him what's inside the Sphere, did
               he?

     An exchange of looks all around.

                          HARRY
               And how would you know that, Beth?

     Norman looks at Beth.

                          NORMAN
               Beth, did you go inside The Sphere?

     Beth smiles enigmatically.

                          NORMAN (cont'd)
               Answer me.  Did you go inside the Sphere?

     Beth just looks at him.

                          NORMAN (cont'd)
               Why won't you answer me, Beth?  It's a
               question.

                          BETH
               You don't want to talk to me, remember?

                          NORMAN
               Answer the question.

     She gives him a hard look. Then walks out.

                          NORMAN (cont'd)
               What do you think, Harry. Do  you think
               she went into the Sphere?

     Harry says nothing.

                          NORMAN (cont'd)
               Here.  You dropped your book.

     Norman picks up the book of "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" to
     hand to Harry, but sees that he's still reading the book.

     Norman thinks a beat.  Then opens a cupboard to reveal rows
     and rows of books of "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" arranged
     neatly inside.

     Puzzled and scared, Norman opens another cupboard - more
     copies of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea...row after row of
     books...

     BACK ON NORMAN

     His fear accelerating... struggling to think, to put the
     pieces together...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. VIDEO ROOM - LATER

     Norman broods alone... Then he turns to the monitors...

                          NORMAN
               What isn't Harry telling me? I know
               you're there, Jerry. What's inside the
               Sphere, Jerry?  Jerry, I know you're
               there.  You're always there.
                   (beat)
               Harry is reading this book "20,000
               Leagues Under The Sea".  What makes me
               nervous is that after page 87...
                   (he ruffles through the book)
               ...it's all blank pages.  Harry's
               upstairs sitting in the cafeteria reading
               blank pages.  Why? Why did he go into
               the Sphere and come out like this? Why?
               Why? Why, Jerry? Why is this book half
               a book, Jerry? Why? What's going on,
               Jerry?  Why, Jerry? Why? Why? Why?

     No response.

     Then Norman turns back to 87.  Reads...

     JUMP CUT

     BACK ON NORMAN

     as he works out the code of Jerry's original message with a
     pencil...

                          NORMAN
               So, it's 'g' being one spiraling out from
               the center and 2 is 'b', that means that
               h' is 3 and 4 then is 'y'.

     He completes the sentence: "My Name Is Harry." A piece of
     the puzzle may be in place.  He goes back to the dormitory to
     check on Harry.

     INT. DORMITORY - SAME TIME

     THROUGH the Porthole in the door, Norman looks in on Harry
     who is still thoroughly engrossed in 20,000 Leagues Under the
     Sea.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. ENGINE ROOM - LATER

     The noise of the various PUMPS and COMPRESSORS... Norman,
     his nerves frayed, juggles a copy of 20,000 Leagues Under
     the Sea, the printout and the pad as he confers with Beth.

                          NORMAN
               He makes it real for you, he makes it
               real for me...he has made it real for
               everybody.  It's really frightening
               because you don't know whether it's
               really real or whether he's made it real
               for us to believe it's real, and it's
               because of the Sphere.

                          BETH
               Our Harry... our Harry is Jerry?

                          NORMAN
               Come on, Beth, I'm just as tired as you
               are.  Come on, I know you can get this,
               okay?  Here.

     He hands her a copy of "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea".

                          NORMAN (cont'd)
               Harry said he couldn't get past page 87
               because he said it was too scary, okay.

                          BETH
               If there's nothing on the pages, where's
               the rest of the book.

                          NORMAN
               Read what's on page 87.

                          BETH
                   (reading)
               '... According to calculations of some
               naturalists, one of these animals, only
               six feet long, would have tentacles
               twenty-seven feet long.  That would make
               a formidable monster.'
                   (closes book)

                          NORMAN
               Yes.  And what does Harry hate?

                          BETH
               Squid.

                          NORMAN
               And when he read that, it scared him.
               Getting the picture?  Do you remember
               when all those jellyfish attacked.  What
               was Harry doing?

                          BETH
               Sleeping.

                          NORMAN
               He was dreaming, and this is the really
               wild part - what he dreamed....

                          BETH
               Happened.

                          NORMAN
               It happened.

                          BETH
               You're telling me that because Harry went
               inside the Sphere, he now has the power
               to manifest his dreams, his fantasies,
               his emotions, his fears.

                          NORMAN
               Manifest.  He manifested it...he made it
               happen.

                          BETH
               Well, we'd better not piss him off.

     INT. DORMITORY - CLOSE ON HARRY - SAME TIME

     Still reading "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea".  Then he stares
     into space.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. ENGINE ROOM - SAME TIME

     Beth and Norman still figuring things out.

                          NORMAN
               It's like an E-ticket ride for Harry's
               subconscious.  It's the wildest ride you
               could imagine.  It's the ultimate acting
               out.  It's not that different when you're
               a child.  A child when it imagines
               something, thinks that it's real, but
               it's not.
               In Harry's case, it's in fact so real
               that it's not only real to Harry it's
               real to all of us...and what I can't
               understand is that ever since he went in
               the Sphere, the Sphere has some kind of
               power that projects every subconscious
               thought that Harry has, out to the
               computer. It prints it out, and we
               interact with it.  We thought it was
               Jerry.  It's not Jerry, it's Harry.
               Harry's Jerry.

                          BETH
               Does Harry know this?

                          NORMAN
               No, and what I don't understand is that
               you went in The Sphere and nothing
               happened.

                          BETH
               'Cos with my subconscious, can you just
               imagine?  It'd be like Liquid Drano out
               there.

                          NORMAN
               But nothing happened.

                          BETH
               Obviously I didn't go in the Sphere.

                          NORMAN
               Beth.  You never went inside the Sphere.
               You didn't go in there?

                          BETH
               I was so angry at you, I wanted you to be
               scared.

                          NORMAN
               Maybe you had a right to be.

                          BETH
               Thanks.

     Norman looks at her.

                          NORMAN
               You're sure you didn't go in there?

     Beth thinks a long beat.

                          BETH
               We have to kill Harry.

                          NORMAN
               No, no.  We don't have to kill Harry.

                          BETH
               Yeah, we do.

                          NORMAN
               Why?

                          BETH
               Because, I don't know about you, Norman,
               but I don't feel like dying down here.

                          NORMAN
               We don't have to kill him.  We just have
               to find something to put him under,
               right?  So he's in some kind of deep,
               unconscious sleep.

                          BETH
               Dreamless sleep, I hope.

                          NORMAN
               A dreamless sleep, yes. How do we do
               that?

                          BETH
               Well, I've got a bunch of drugs up there.

                          NORMAN
               Fancy that.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. LAB - LATER

     Norman and Beth fumble through the habitat's pharmacy...

                          NORMAN
               Diphenyl paralene.

                          BETH
               Burns.

                          NORMAN
               Ephedrine hydrochloride.

                          BETH
               Motion sickness.

                          NORMAN
               Valdomet.

                          BETH
               Ulcers. You might want to keep that.

                          NORMAN
               Sintag.

                          BETH
               Sintag is a synthetic opiate. It's a
               painkiller.  I might want to keep that.

                          NORMAN
               What about Parasolutrine?

                          BETH
               Really?  I've got paracin trichloride -
               that's an anesthetic.

                          NORMAN
               What do you do, combine it?

                          BETH
                   (holding up vials)
               Huh, huh.  If you've got 20 cc's of this
               one, six of this one, you're in business.

                          NORMAN
                   (vial in hand)
               Here's some more Parasolutrine.  Will
               that be enough?

     ANGLE ON HUGE HYPODERMIC

     Norman looks on as Beth fills it from the vials...

                          BETH
               This'll put him under for three to six
               hours.

                          NORMAN
               Can't we give him a little boost?

                          BETH
               You want to kill him?

                          NORMAN
               Yes and no.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. DORMITORY - SAME TIME

     Harry sleeps.  A shaft of light as the door opens and Beth
     and Norman tiptoe in, Beth with the hypodermic.

                          NORMAN
                   (whispers to Beth)
               I'm gonna hold him.

     They exchange a look.  Then Norman grabs Harry as Beth
     plunges the needle into him.  Harry howls, more from surprise
     than pain, as Beth pushes the plunger and injects him.

                          HARRY
               What's going on?

                          NORMAN
               Nothing.  Go back to sleep.

                          HARRY
               I was asleep.

     Harry's eyes roll back into his head and he falls asleep.

                          BETH
               I wasn't sure it would be that fast-
               acting.  Thank God.

                          NORMAN
               We didn't kill him, did we?

                          BETH
               I don't think so.

                          NORMAN
               Okay.

                          BETH
               Okay.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. VIDEO ROOM - NIGHT

     Beth sits at the monitors while Norman stands close by.

                          BETH
               Come on!  Come on!  Come on!

     ANGLE ON MONITORS

     CQX VDX MOP LKI...

     BACK ON BETH AND NORMAN

                          BETH
                    Here we go.
                          NORMAN
               It's a code. How the hell are we supposed
               to be able to...oh, it's decoding itself.

     ANGLE ON MONITORS

     As the letters unjumble and resolve into a decoded message...

     WEATHER CONDITIONS NORMAL SURFACE SUPPORT VESSELS RETURN.

     ETA:  16:00:00 hours

     Then the 16:00:00 begins to count down...

                          BETH
               Weather conditions normal surface
               support vessels return."  16 hours and
               we're out of here.

     CLOSE ON NORMAN

     As he breaks into a smile... Turns to Beth.

                          NORMAN
               It's over.  If you trust it.

                          BETH
               You know me.  I believe everything.

                          NORMAN
               Do you trust it?

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. BATHROOM - LATER

     The sound of RUNNING WATER as Norman washes his face.
     Then turns OFF the WATER.  He hears a HISS like water
     leaking.  He tightens the faucets again.  Still that HISS.
     Norman runs his hands along the pipes, reaches under the
     sink...

     INSERT - NORMAN'S HANDS

     As they run beneath the sink... To where the pipe turns
     into...

     BELCHER'S SEA SNAKE

     A wriggling white streak with a long thin fin and black
     stripes...

     CLOSE ON NORMAN

     As he freezes... His skin goes cold and clammy... He peers
     around the edge of the sink to get a look...

     NORMAN'S POV - SNAKE

     As it HISSES and SLURPS its forked tongue at him, bares its
     fangs... Its body coiling and uncoiling...

     BACK ON NORMAN

     As he faces the snake... Then hears another HISS... Looks
     down and sees a SECOND SNAKE coiling its way up his leg...

                          NORMAN
               Aaaaargh!!!  Get out!  Get out!
               Aaaaargh!  Get out!  Get out!

     Then the door opens and Beth enters.  Sees the snakes...

                          BETH
               What time is it, Norman?

                          NORMAN
               What?

                          BETH

               What time is it, Norman?

     It is all Norman can do to unstick his dry mouth and reply...

                          NORMAN
               What?

                          BETH
               Norman. What time is it?

                          NORMAN
               I don't know.

                          BETH
               Norman, you're scaring me.

                          NORMAN
                   (struggling with snake)
               Aaaaargh!  Get out!

                          BETH
               Look at your watch, Norman!

                          NORMAN
               What, are you crazy!

     NORMAN'S POV - LOOKING DOWN

     The SNAKE around his leg HISSES and bares its fangs as Norman
     slowly turns his wrist... But the crystal is fogged.

     BACK TO SCENE

                          BETH
               Is it day or night?

     Norman thinks hard, trembling with fear...

                          NORMAN
               It's day. It's morning.
                   (to snakes)
               Get out!!  Get out!!!! Get out!!!!

     With cat-like quickness, Beth plunges in, grabs the snakes
     right behind the head... Holds them up to inspect them...

                          BETH
               They're Belcher's sea snakes, Norman
               They're the most poisonous snakes in the
               world, but they're nocturnal. They're
               only dangerous at night.
                   (holding up snake)
               Say "Good morning, Beth."

                          NORMAN
                   (weakly)
               Good morning.

     Beth moves with the snakes to exit.  She turns, holding the
     snakes in her hands...

                          BETH (cont'd)
               Freud would have a field-day with this.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. HABITAT - SAME TIME

     Beth's voice comes OVER the INTERCOM.. as we see Norman
     slowly climb the stairs to the lab.

                          BETH (V.O.)
                   (over intercom)
               Norman, it's Beth could you meet me at
               the lab, please?  Norman, can you meet me
               at the lab, please?  I want to show you
               something. Norman!
                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. LABORATORY - LATER

     Norman enters.  Beth's not there  He enters further, looking
     around... Looks on a notepad to see if she left a note...

                          NORMAN
               Beth?

     Then, on the dissecting table, Norman sees something... He
     moves closer...

     NORMAN'S POV - DISSECTING TABLE

     Alone on the table, a hypodermic needle filled with fluid...

     BACK ON NORMAN

     As he hears a CLICK behind him.  Turns to see that the DOOR
     is now closed... The wheel spins... Norman hurries to the
     door.  Can't budge it.  He locks eyes with Beth THROUGH the
     porthole in the door...Then a SUCTION noise as the DOOR SEALS
     SHUT... And Beth disappears.  Norman knocks on the glass.

                          NORMAN
               Beth?

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. HABITAT - SAME TIME

     Beth hurries down the hallway toward the video room...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. LABORATORY - SAME TIME

     Norman, struggling not to panic, tries to figure a way out...

     INTERCUT VIDEO ROOM WITH LABORATORY

                          NORMAN
               What are you doing?
                   (beat)
               Beth? Why are you locking me in here?
               Beth!  Beth!

     He looks around the lab and sees jars full of liquid on
     shelves.

                          BETH (V.O.)
                   (over intercom)
               Norman!  Norman!  Up here...up here.
               Norman, it's me, Beth.  I'm up here.

                          NORMAN
               Why aren't you here? Why am I talking to
               you like this.

                          BETH
               I'm talking to you from the video room.
               Norman, listen to me.  Turn around. Turn
               around and look on the table.

     Norman turns around and sees a hypodermic needle on the
     table.

                          BETH
               Do you see the hypodermic needle, Norman?

                          NORMAN
               Yeah.

                          BETH
               I want you to inject yourself, Norman.

                          NORMAN
               What?

                          BETH
               It's the same thing we gave Harry.  It's
               almost the same amount.

                          NORMAN
               We gave that stuff to Harry because he
               was manifesting -- to make him
               unconscious.  I don't need to take that
               stuff.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME

     Beth talks into the intercom, watches Norman on the monitors,
     like a caged laboratory rat, pacing off the perimeter...

                          BETH
               Norman, you're manifesting your fears.
               The snakes, Norman...the snakes were you.
               Harry is asleep.  It's your fears.  You
               manifested the snakes.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. LABORATORY - SAME TIME

     Norman, trapped, looks at the snakes in their specimen
     jars... He searches the room for a way out...

                          NORMAN
               Why would the snakes have anything to do
               with me?  I didn't go inside The Sphere.

                          BETH (V.O.)
                   (over intercom)
               Then how did the snakes get there,
               Norman?

                          NORMAN
               Maybe they're just snakes. I mean...did
               you ever think of that?

                          BETH
                   (over intercom)
               Pick up the needle and inject yourself.

                          NORMAN
               I'm telling you, I didn't go in the
               Sphere.

                          BETH
                   (over intercom)
               Obviously you went in the Sphere, Norman.

                          NORMAN
               If I went in the Sphere I would have told
               you now.

                          BETH
                   (over intercom)
               If you don't use the hypodermic needle,
               I'm going to have to defend myself.
               Norman, don't make me do this.  I don't
               want to do this.

                          NORMAN
               I didn't manifest anything. I didn't
               manifest anything....I didn't manifest
               anything...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME

     Beth moves a slide switch marked "A CYL--LAB"... As the gas
     pressure gauge dips...

     INT. LABORATORY - SAME TIME

     There's a SOFT HISS and the ALARM BADGE on Norman's wrist pad
     starts to BEEP...

                          NORMAN
               Beth, what are you doing?
                   (beat)

     The pressure gauge begins to dip.

                          NORMAN (cont'd)
               Beth.  Why does it say that its low
               level? Why are you taking the oxygen out
               of this room?

                          BETH (V.O.)
                   (over intercom - squeaky voice)
               It's not oxygen.  It's gas, remember?

                          NORMAN
               Beth, why are you taking the gas out of
               the room? Beth? It's my air...

     A glass explodes.

                          BETH (V.O.)
                   (over intercom)
               Think it through.  Whose childhood fears
               were the jellyfish?  Remember, Norman...
               remember?

                          NORMAN
               Yes, but -- anyone could be afraid of
               jellyfish, Beth.

                          BETH
                   (over intercom)
               Norman, look at your wrists.  Remember
               when you told me about getting burned.
               You're manifesting fire, Norman...you're
               manifesting jellyfish.  The squid were
               Harry's, but everything else is you.
               Isn't it possible that you went inside
               The Sphere and you just don't remember.

                          NORMAN
               Beth, you would've seen it on the video.

                          BETH
               The video blanked out and you were gone
               for two hours.  So, where were you,
               Norman?

                          NORMAN
               Your logic is screwy, okay.  Because if
               I'd gone in the Sphere, I would have been
               different when I came out.  I'd have been
               strange like Harry.

                          BETH
                   (over intercom)
               Just use the hypodermic needle, Norman.

                          NORMAN
               Okay, we're not gonna have time to go
               back and forth on this.

     Norman opens and closes his jaw, wiggles a finger in his ear
     as his ears pop... The water level rising on the floor...
     Then Norman jumps as the medicine BOTTLE BURSTS...

                          NORMAN
               Beth.  What's with this water?

     The bottles with liquid, now contain snakes. The bottles
     explode and the snakes are released.

                          NORMAN (cont'd)
               Beth...Beth...It's not me!

                          BETH
                   (over intercom)
               It's not me.  You're doing
               it.

                          NORMAN
               Beth...Beth...oh, my God!  Beth!  Beth!

     More bottles explode.

                          BETH
                   (over intercom)
               Norman, you're manifesting this. Water
               is your fear, Norman. You said you
               hadn't been in the water since you were a
               kid.  Norman, inject yourself with the
               hypodermic needle.

                          NORMAN
               Oh, my God!!

                          BETH
                   (over intercom)
               Norman, use the hypodermic needle.  It's
               snakes, it's fear.  You can make it go
               away, Norman.  You can make it go away.
               Pick up the hypodermic needle and inject
               yourself, Norman.

                          NORMAN
               No.  I'm not going to.

                          BETH (V.O.)
                   (over intercom)
               Norman, you can make it go away.

                          NORMAN
               No, I'm not going to use it.  I told you,
               it's not me!  I can't breathe, Beth.

     Then a BANG! as another BOTTLE EXPLODES...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME

     Beth watches Norman on the monitors.

                          BETH
               Norman, I'm begging you.  Pick up the
               hypodermic needle.

     INT. LABORATORY - SAME TIME

     Water rises around Norman.

                          NORMAN
               No, I'm not gonna use it.  It's not me!
               It's too late anyway! Beth...Beth...what
               are you doing? You're going to kill me!

                          BETH (V.O.)
                   (over intercom)
               I can't help you, Norman.  I'm not doing
               this.

     Norman pulls himself up out of the water, hanging onto
     equipment in the habitat.

                          NORMAN
               Beth....!

                          BETH (V.O.)
                   (over intercom)
               Try not to be so afraid, Norman.  Let go
               of your fears and it will all go
               away...and the ships will come and we'll
               all get out of here and we'll be fine.
               You're doing the right thing.

     CLOSE ON NORMAN

     Terrified as he watches the water rise around him...

                          BETH (V.O.)
                   (over intercom)
               Just climb up.  Just get as high as you
               can get.  Try to take a deep breath,
               Norman.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME

     Beth watches as water rises in the lab...

                          BETH
               Try to pull yourself together, Norman.
               Your fears are going to kill all of us.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. LABORATORY - SAME TIME

     Norman opens a cupboard and finds a first aid box...
     Inside, a small gas tank with a fire mask... He breathes
     deeply.

                          BETH (V.O.)
                   (over intercom)
               The oxygen in that tank will only last
               about three or four minutes.  It's not
               gonna save you, Norman.
               Just get a hold of yourself.  Take a few
               breaths.  It'll calm you down.

     WIDE ANGLE - LAB

     As water rises rapidly...

                          NORMAN
               The water's gonna blow you out, Beth.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. LABORATORY - SAME TIME

     Norman falls into the water. Then he looks up...

     NORMAN'S POV - HATCH

     At the ceiling of the lab... Carrying his fire mask, Norman
     climbs up on the counters...

                          BETH (V.O.)
                   (over intercom)
               Norman, Norman...you can stop it. Norman,
               what are you doing? Norman, don't open
               the hatch, you'll kill yourself. Norman,
               please!

     He shoves hard at the lever... Shoves again and the hatch
     door flies open...

     WATER

     explodes down into the laboratory as Norman shoots out...

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. HABITAT - SAME TIME

     As Norman shoots out in a cloud of bubbles... The gas tank in
     one hand, he grabs wildly at a steel pipe that runs along the
     habitat... Without weights he has to pull hard to keep from
     floating to the surface...

     INSERT - NORMAN'S HAND

     Purpled by the cold, as Norman pulls himself along the
     pipe... Then, from below, a thick flock of jellyfish drift
     out from beneath the habitat...

     ANGLE ON NORMAN

     In a panic, he fumbles the fire mask... Jellyfish swim past
     him, brush against his flesh, his face... Norman looks
     down...

     NORMAN'S POV

     The fire mask as it tumbles, bubbling, to the bottom... The
     GAS TANK COLLIDES with the habitat WALL with a CLANK!

     ANGLE ON NORMAN

     Desperately, he pulls himself down, reaches for the fire
     mask -- can't get it... Reaches again as it continues to
     leak... His fingers clumsy from the cold... He reaches
     again... And suddenly the bubbles stop...

     No more gas.

     CLOSE ON NORMAN

     The veins bulging in his face, his neck... He uses the pipes
     to pull himself under the habitat -- eyes closed against the
     pain... Then his eyes flutter open and he sees the airlock...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME

     Beth watches as all the monitors go static and flash on and
     off.

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. HABITAT - SAME TIME

     Barely conscious, Norman bangs his head against the habitat
     and begins to float.

     WE HEAR the echoed voice of Harry.

                          HARRY (V.O.)
               ....if we never told anyone, it means we
               never made it back. Hence, we die down
               here....

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME

     Beth watches the monitors as the words we're hearing from
     Harry are printed on the screens.

     "WE DIE DOWN HERE.  JUST AS A MATTER OF DEDUCTIVE LOGIC."

     Beth rushes out of the video room.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. MOON POOL - SAME TIME

     Norman bursts up into the moon pool, gulping for air...  He
     clumsily pulls himself up, then slips and falls back into the
     pool... flails in the water...

     Then he heaves his chest over the rim and flops onto the
     deck of the airlock... He peers through heavy-lidded
     eyes...

     NORMAN'S POV - MOON POOL ROOM DOOR

     Leading inside to the habitat...

     BACK ON NORMAN

     He blows into his hands, trying to get warm.  Coughs through
     chattering teeth... He stumbles toward the airlock door...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. CORRIDOR - SAME TIME

     Beth ducks around the corner, spins the wheel of a corridor
     door and it opens... But WATER SURGES in, BLASTS the door

     Beth throws her body against the door, trying to close it,
     but the force of the water is too strong.  She slips and
     falls... The water sweeps her down the hall.  Then a huge
     wave sweeps toward her, carrying --

     BODY OF BARNES

     Beth finds himself in a macabre embrace with Barnes'
     severed torso, Barnes' face flush against her...

                          BETH
               Aaaaaaaargh!

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. DORMITORY - CLOSE ON HARRY - SAME TIME

     He wakes up with a start.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. HABITAT - ANOTHER CORRIDOR - SAME TIME

     Lights flicker in the hall. A DISTANT BEEP... BEEP...
     BEEP...

     ANGLE ON NORMAN

     Wading furiously through knee-deep water like a Marine
     storming a beachhead...

     CLOSE ON

     a limp hand knocking against the floor.  It's Beth.  She's
     rolled up in a ball on the floor and is in a stupor.

                          NORMAN
               Beth...Beth...Beth...

     She looks up at him.

                          BETH
               Norman...? Are you real?

                          NORMAN
               What?

                          BETH
               Are you real?

                          NORMAN
               Real as the water that almost killed me.
               What are you doing?

                          BETH
               Part of Barnes....
                   (she sobs)

                          NORMAN
               What?  Part of Barnes...?

                          BETH
               Part of Barnes went by me in the water.

                          NORMAN
               Where?

                          BETH
               Right here.

                          NORMAN
               Here?

                          BETH
               Here.

                          NORMAN
               There's no water here.  It's dry and your
               clothes are dry.  You must have
               manifested.

                          BETH
               I don't know what's real any more.

                          NORMAN
               Elizabeth?

                          BETH
               Huh?

                          NORMAN
               You went into the Sphere, didn't you?

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. HABITAT - ANOTHER CORRIDOR - SAME TIME

     WE SEE the figure of Harry making his way along the corridor.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. HABITAT - PREVIOUS CORRIDOR - SAME TIME

     Beth gets up.

                          NORMAN
               Beth.  Beth.  You want to answer me?

                          BETH
               I don't know what to think, Norman. I
               feel like I can't breathe.

     ANGLE ON HARRY watching them from a grating above them.

                          BETH (cont'd)
               I can't breathe...I'm losing it, you
               know, and I'm trying...I'm trying to get
               it back...

                          HARRY
               What's going on? Why did you put me out?
               Just what are you guys up to?

                          NORMAN
               You went in the Sphere, Harry.  So did
               Beth, so did I...I think.

                          HARRY
               And if so, what?

                          NORMAN
               Whatever the Sphere is, it makes what we
               feel, real.

                          HARRY
               Meaning what?

                          NORMAN
               It happens.  What we're thinking, what
               we're feeling...happens.  Like those
               three astronauts in the spacecraft, Beth,
               remember? We went in there...the guy,
               the astronaut in the chair, what did you
               say about his head?

                          BETH
               He had blunt force trauma.  He got hit in
               the head.

                          NORMAN
               They went in the Sphere one by one, and
               they became more and more afraid of each
               other until they killed each other off,
               and we're doing the same thing.

                          BETH
               I don't want to kill you, Norman.

                          ALARM VOICE (V.O.)
               Your attention please.  All construction
               personnel must exit the blast area
               immediately. PANTHER explosives are now
               activated. Mark thirteen minutes and
               counting...

                          HARRY
               Does somebody want to tell me what that
               voice is?
         
                          BETH
               They had explosives down here to blast
               through the coral, so when I went out
               before, I set up a defense perimeter
               around the door of the spaceship.  You
               know, when I went to look for food,
               Harry. Something must've triggered  it.

                          HARRY
               What?

                          BETH
               Something from inside the Sphere.

                          HARRY
               There's nothing in the Sphere, Beth.  You
               know that.  You've been inside it.

                          NORMAN
               Then what?

                          HARRY
               I don't know.

                          NORMAN
               Then who...?

                          BETH
               It's me.

                          NORMAN
               What?

                          BETH
               Oh, God!  I was just thinking about the
               explosives...they just flashed inside my
               mind, and it must have triggered them.
               I was thinking about wanting to die.

                          HARRY
               You put explosives near the spacecraft?

                          BETH
               Yes, I did, but they're about a hundred
               yards away.

                          HARRY
               There's a lot of liquid hydrogen left on
               that spacecraft.  If it explodes it'll
               disintegrate everything for ten miles.

                          NORMAN
               What do we do?

                          HARRY
               Mini-sub.  Now!

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. CORRIDOR - OUTSIDE B CYLINDER - SAME TIME

     Norman, Harry and Beth hustle through the flooded corridor...

                          ALARM VOICE (V.O.)
               Your attention please.  All construction
               personnel must exit the blast area
               inmediately...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. SUIT ROOM AND AIRLOCK ROOM - SAME TIME

     They hurry into their suits...Harry signals and they all jump
     down into the pool...

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. OCEAN FLOOR - SAME TIME

     Norman, Beth and Harry, in their suits now, run toward
     the minisub... The explosives arrayed by the spacecraft
     blink red in the distance...

                          ALARM VOICE (V.O.)
               Eight minutes and counting...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. SUB DOME HANGAR - SAME TIME

     In a panic, Norman moves to climb up onto the sub and
     slips.  The others help him... Clumsily, they climb up on
     the sub...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. MINISUB - SAME TIME

     Harry drops dawn into the minisub as Norman hustles into the
     driver's seat...

                          BETH
               Okay, hit it!  Come on, let's go!

                          NORMAN
               Wait...wait...wait...

                          HARRY
               Come on!

                          BETH
               Norman, let's go.

                          NORMAN
               Wait, wait...it's not like I drive subs,
               Beth, okay.

                          BETH
               Well, you're driving one now, honey.

     ANGLE ON CONSOLE

     Buttons that read:  ANGLE OF DESCENT... ANGLE OF ASCENT...
     SECURE... SHUTDOWN... BALLAST... THROTTLE...

                          NORMAN
               Let's see... 'Shutdown'... 'Ballast'...
               'Throttle...'

     As Norman runs his fingers over the console.  Then stops.

     REVERSE ANGLE - NORMAN'S FACEPLATE

     Reflected there, we see the monitors of the video room...

                          NORMAN
               Oh, my God!

     INT. HABITAT - VIDEO ROOM - WIDER

     They're back inside the video room...

                          BETH
               What's going on?

                          NORMAN
               I don't know.

                          BETH
               Why are we inside the spaceship?

                          NORMAN
               I don't know.

                          ALARM VOICE (V.O.)
               Seven minutes and counting...

                          HARRY
               I don't know either, guys but we don't
               have time to figure it out.  Let's get
               out of here.

     They run out of the video room...to the elevator and get
     inside.

                          NORMAN
               It's not moving.  Anybody hit the button?
               What the hell?  Wait a minute, this was
               an elevator before, right?

                          BETH
               Which one of us is doing this?

                          NORMAN
               Oh, God!

     They get out of the elevator and run down a corridor.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. HABITAT - CORRIDOR - SAME TIME

     Beth, Harry and Norman run down the corridor and come to a
     wall.

                          HARRY
               It's a dead-end.

                          BETH
               Where are we?

                          HARRY
               It's an illusion.

                          BETH
               It doesn't look right, guys. Come on.

     She leads them down another corridor.

                          NORMAN
               Beth, which way?  Harry, where do we go?

                          HARRY
               Where? Where's where, Norman?
               Around that corner -- down this corridor -
               - what's there, huh?

     THEIR POV

     ANOTHER NORMAN, HARRY AND BETH STAND AT THE END OF THE
     CORRIDOR

                          HARRY
                   (double)
               Another blind alley in the maze of our
               minds.  An illusion.

     BACK ON OUR TEAM

     As Norman, Harry and Beth stop.

                          BETH
               He's right, Norman.

     REVERSE ANGLE - TEAM TWO

                          NORMAN
                   (double)
               If he's right, we're dead.

                          ALARM VOICE (V.O.)
               Your attention please.  All construction
               personnel must exit the blast area
               immediately...

     BACK ON OUR TEAM who are frantically looking for a way out.

                          HARRY
               Just go on. Leave me.  Leave me alone.

     BACK ON SECOND TEAM

                          NORMAN
                   (double)
               Harry, no...no.  It's not your time,
               Harry.  Not your time.

                          ALARM VOICE (V.O.)
               ... Four minutes and counting...

                          BETH
               What's the point, Norman?

     She shines her flashlight on the habitat floor.

                          BETH (cont'd)
               Somebody's been here.

                          BETH
                   (double)
               There's footprints, and they ain't ours.

                          NORMAN
                   (double)
               Look, I don't know where we are, Beth and
               I don't know where we're stuck in.

                          HARRY
               Where we are, we are...stuck in the
               illusion that we can change the future.
               It's a dead-end, Norman.

                          HARRY
                   (double)
               It's just like I said all along, we die
               down here.

                          NORMAN
               I'm not going to die down here.

                          NORMAN
                   (double)
               No...no, you're not going to die down
               here.  Beth's not gonna die down here.
               I'm not gonna let you die, Harry.

     They run down another corridor.

                          HARRY
                   (double)
               You have to push the button, Norman.

                          NORMAN
               What button?

                          HARRY
                   (double)
               The button.  Push the button!

                          NORMAN
               What button?

                          BETH
                   (double)
               He doesn't know.

                          HARRY
               Button...the button, Norman.

                          NORMAN
               I can't see the button.  I can't see the
               button.

                          HARRY
                   (double)
               See the button...

                          NORMAN
               I can't see the button!

                          HARRY
                   (double)
               See the button.

                          NORMAN
               I don't know what to do!

                          HARRY
                   (double)
               Push the button.  The button -- push the
               button.

                          ALARM VOICE (V.O.)
               Two minutes and counting...

                                                      SMASH CUT TO:

     INT. SUB DOME HANGAR/INT. MINI-SUB - EXTREME TIGHT SHOT

     OF RED BUTTON - SAME TIME

     as it lights up... ASCEND...

     WIDER - TEAM

     Inside the minisub now.  They look at each other.  Then a
     RUMBLE...Harry jumps in the driver's seat - Beth and Norman
     jammed in next to him, as the minisub drops down out of its
     mooring... The WHIR of the ELECTRIC MOTORS STARTING...

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. HABITAT - SAME TIME

     A high-pitched WHINE as the BALLAST TANKS FILL WITH AIR
     and the minisub noses sharply up, pulls away from the
     habitat...

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. OCEAN/INT. MINISUB - SAME TIME

     Harry looks at his watch, steers the minisub while Beth
     straps herself into the shotgun seat with Norman squeezed in
     between the two of them.

                          BETH
               Oh God.  Thank God. We're out!

                          HARRY
               Don't celebrate yet.

                          NORMAN
               Why not?

                          HARRY
              I don't think we're moving fast enough.

                          NORMAN
              Fast enough for what?

                          HARRY
              A blast underwater creates a suction.
              It'll pull us right back down there.  If
              the shock wave doesn't kill us first.

     Norman looks out the rear porthole...

     NORMAN'S POV - THROUGH PORTHOLE

     The ring of explosive red cones with their little digital
     countdown timers flashing...

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. MINISUB - SAME TIME

     As the minisub accelerates...

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. HABITAT - SAME TIME

     The PANTHER explosives start to flash red as the countdown
     timers rattle down...

               Attention, please.  You must exit the
               blast area immediately.  This is the last
               warning you will receive.  Thank you for
               using PANTHER brand, the first choice of
               blasting professionals, and have a nice
               day.

     INSERT - COUNTDOWN TIMER

     As it counts down from ten... nine... eight...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. MINISUB - SAME TIME

     Harry runs full throttle... Looks at the depth gauge...

                          HARRY
               Six hundred forty feet...six hundred
               thirty...six twenty...six hundred ten...
                   (beat)
               You a religious man, Norman?

                          NORMAN
               I'm an atheist.  But I'm flexible.

     INSERT - COUNTDOWN TIMER

     INT. MINI-SUB

     Inside the minisub... Five... four... three...

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. SPACECRAFT - SAME TIME

     As the countdown timer goes to zero and the EXPLOSIVES
     DETONATE... A giant underwater FIREBALL...

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. MINISUB - SAME TIME

     They all hold on for dear life as the BLAST spins the minisub
     like a toy, upends it. A blinding, blistering, white-hot
     fireball races directly toward the windshield... They all
     scream.

                          NORMAN
               Hold on! Hold on!  Hold on!  Hold on!!!

                          HARRY
               Oh, my God, we got turned around.  We're
               going into the blast.  This is the wrong
               way!!  We're piling into it!!!  Come on
               Norman, come on!!!

     And the screen goes WHITE.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. SHIP'S DECOMPRESSION ROOM - LATER

     A bright white room.

     ANGLE ON NORMAN

     As he wakes up in his bunk.  Looks over.  Sees Harry snoozing
     in his bunk.  Beth looks out the porthole, then turns... She
     and Norman exchange a look.  She sits on the edge of his
     bunk.

                          NORMAN
               What's going on?

                          BETH
               More of nothing.
                   (beat)
               I want to thank you for saving my life.

                          NORMAN
               An interesting life to save.

     She squeezes his hand.  Kisses him on the cheek.

                          BETH
               Get some more sleep.

     He watches her as she heads back to the porthole to look out
     at the ocean.  Then he rolls over, goes back to sleep.

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. SHIP'S DECOMPRESSION CHAMBER - SAME TIME

     TWO CREWMEN peer inside through one-way glass.

                          CREWMAN #1
               Which one is Jerry?

                          CREWMAN #2
               That's our problem, we really don't know.

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. SHIP'S DECOMPRESSION CHAMBER - LATER

     Norman, Beth and Harry sit at a card table.  A long beat --
     an unspoken question hangs in the air.  Then Beth breaks the
     ice.

                          BETH
               So, what are we going to tell them?

                          HARRY
               We can't tell them that we found an alien
               sphere on an American spacecraft from our
               own future, and we definitely can't tell
               them we discovered the power to manifest,
               just by imagining, killer jellyfish, a
               giant squid, sea snakes --

                          BETH
               No.  They're definitely not ready for
               that.

                          HARRY
               The greatest discovery in the history of
               mankind, and we destroyed it.  And it's
               better that we did. What if it fell into
               the wrong hands?

                          NORMAN
               We were the wrong hands.  That's the
               scary part, isn't it? All three of us,
               relatively enlightened, ethical, educated.
               We think of ourselves as good people.
               But when The Sphere gave us this power,
               what did we do with it?

                          BETH
               We freaked out.

                          NORMAN
               Yes.  We were given the greatest gift in
               the history of mankind.
               We were given this magic ball and it
               says: "Imagine what you will and you can
               have it", and we're so primitive, we have
               so many fears that we carry with us, that
               we manifest the worst in us rather than
               the best in us....and that ain't gonna
               change.

                          BETH
               Maybe we still have it.

                          NORMAN
               What?

                          BETH
               The power.
                   (beat)
               Maybe we still have the power to manifest
               what we will.

                          NORMAN
               If we do still have the power...
                   (off her look)
               Then we have the power to forget. To
               manifest a world in which we don't have
               the power.

     They look at each other.

                          HARRY
               I say we do that. On a count of three.

     They all hold hands.  Close their eyes...

                          NORMAN
               One... two... three.

     Then all open their eyes.

                          HARRY
               Three what?

                          NORMAN
               What?

                          HARRY
               You said three?

                          NORMAN
                   (blankly)
               Three? Why are you holding my hand?

     They all laugh.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. SHIP - DEBRIEFING ROOM - LATER

     One by one, Beth, Harry and Norman respond to questions - all
     against a WHITE BACKGROUND.  They seem confused.

                          NORMAN
              What do you mean?  What happened to the
              Habitat?

                          HARRY
              Wait...wait...something happened to the
              Habitat?

                          BETH
              The Habitat exploded?

                          NORMAN
              A sphere?

                          BETH
              Like a circle?

                          HARRY
              Sphere?

                          BETH
              Sphere?

                          HARRY
              No...

                          BETH
              Barnes?

                          NORMAN
              Barnes?

                          HARRY
              Major Barnes?

                          BETH
              Edmunds and Fletcher?

                          NORMAN
              I haven't seen Edmunds and Fletcher since
              we were brought back up.

                          HARRY
              Something happened to them?

                          BETH
              Maybe the women...Edmunds and Fletcher
              are the women.

                          NORMAN
              Ted?  Where is he?

                          HARRY
              I just assumed he had stayed wth Mr.
              Barnes.

                          BETH
              Ted Fielding?

                          NORMAN
              I would think you could tell me.

                          HARRY
              He had to go out there and change the
              tapes.

                          NORMAN
              The tapes are blank?  What do you mean
              the tapes are blank?

                          BETH
              The tapes are blank?

                          NORMAN
              Now why don't you tell us, but you're not
              telling us.

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. HELIPAD - DAY

     Norman runs to a waiting helicopter, his hair whipped
     around by the backwash of the WHIRRING ROTORS... He
     climbs into...

     HELICOPTER

     The PILOT we saw earlier turns to Norman.

                          PILOT
               So how'd it go, Doc?

     Norman looks at him, confused.

                          NORMAN
                   (blankly)
               What?

                          PILOT
               You know, what they brought you in for.

                          NORMAN
               I don't know.

                          PILOT
               Oh, I get it...classified, big secret,
               huh?
                   (beat)
               Hang on.  Here we go.

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. SHIP - SAME TIME

     Beth emerges on the bridge.  Watches as Norman's helicopter
     takes off...

     CLOSE ON BETH

     Thinking... As if she harbors some secret... We FOLLOW
     her gaze out TO the horizon and OVER the ocean... Then we
     DIVE DOWN INTO the water... The debris gets thicker as we GO
     DEEPER... The water gets murkier... Till it clears and we
     see...

     The Sphere.

     FREEZE FRAME.

                                                          FADE OUT.

     THE END