What Could Have Been: My "Moonbase Alpha" Screenplay

So about twelve years ago I had a cute idea: Why not take a stab at writing a screenplay for an updated version of "Space:1999"? 

The first significant change I'd have to make would be to post-date the premise. Just as the future overtook us before we were blessed with flying cars, personal jetpacks, or underwater domed cities, 1999 dawned and departed without Luna being settled, much less wrested from orbit by some scientifically implausible catastrophe. So I decided to set the action in 2112, a nicely palindromic date with a certain resonance for libertarian classic rock fans.

My original story treatment, which was composed in early 1999, was called "Nemesis." Three years later, that title was slapped onto a particularly wretched piece of cinematic pseudo-Trek. Numerous other story elements -- such as the concept of "zero point" energy, and the discovery of the wreckage of an ancient spacecraft on the Moon -- have since found their way into prominent films, at least one of which has yet to be released.

By mid-2004, I had a finished version of a screenplay. It found its way into the hands of a fellow libertarian who was a film producer by profession. He had read the story treatment, and had a reader on his staff review the finished script.

"She really liked it," he told me. "I'm eager to read it myself, as soon as I finish my current project."

He finished the film, which was very successful. Then he died. I hadn't even known he was sick. Although we spoke on the phone on numerous occasions, I never got to meet him.

Anyhow, I've been sitting on this whimsical little screenplay for years now. Since then, other people have attempted to revive 1999 in some fashion -- either as a made-for-the-Web fan series (ala Star Trek: Phase II), or by digitally tweaking the original episodes. Gerry Anderson, for some reason, doesn't display any interest in revisiting his most successful series, in spite of the fact that there seems to be great interest in updating old series for cable or the big screen -- from Battlestar Galactica to Land of the Lost to  The Green Hornet.

1999 was an odd mixture of high concept, high-end production values, and dismal science. It was also one of the first large-budget hour-long programs to be broadcast in first-run syndication. A modest hit in the U.S., 1999 was very popular overseas. For obvious reasons, it's significant that George Lucas was a fan of the program, a fact that was apparent to me as a young teenager seeing Star Wars at a small theater in Ontario, Oregon.

The first season was uneven but occasionally very compelling. Its disastrous second season was produced by Fred Frieberger -- the Dr. Kevorkian of sci-fi television, who seemed to have a calling for shepherding television shows into oblivion: As executive producer, Frieberger euthanized Trek, The Wild, Wild, West, and The Six Million Dollar Man, in addition to Space:1999. 

For some reason, Frieberger decided to "Americanize" 1999 by taking a trippy, spooky, British sci-fi program and turn it into a kid's show that would have struck Sid and Marty Kroft as a bit too puerile. In its first season (or "series," to use the British convention), 1999 was often a peer competitor to Trek. The second season rarely made it into "Far Out Space Nuts" territory. 

Were this a world in which Reason still occupied her throne and virtue found immediate reward, Paramount would buy my script and assign J.J. Abrams to direct it. Alas, that world eludes us, so I'm just gonna serialize the damn thing here on my blog. 

FADE-IN

… to focus on an Eagle emblem. SLOW PULL-BACK reveals that it is embossed on the side of what appears to be an odd aircraft; as the PULL-BACK continues we see that it is in fact a roughly saucer-shaped spacecraft -- somewhat like Nikola Tesla's theoretical craft -- somewhere in the vicinity of the Moon.

ON-SCREEN GRAPHIC

Lunar Farside
September 13, 1943

EXT. SPACE, NIGHT

Camera slowly pans in to the spacecraft's cockpit; through the window we see the pilot, JACOB BERGMAN, clad in a primitive pressure suit, busily working at his console. After pausing, he pulls out a small pouch, extracts a small leather-bound book and places it in mid-air in front of him. 

A mock-up of Tesla's flying saucer.

INT. SPACECRAFT

Camera angle shifts to POV behind the pilot as we see him don a yarmulke and prayer shawl. Reverently, he recites the "Shema" from his small Torah.

BERGMAN [In Hebrew]

“Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God – the Lord is One.”

A red light suddenly begins to blink insistently, joined by the urgent wail of an alarm. The ship starts to weave erratically as BERGMAN wrestles with the controls. Through the cockpit's windshield we now see the grim surface of the moon, approaching at a terrifying rate. It's clear that the astronaut is doomed.

                     BERGMAN

       

                    ….Miriam….

HARD CUT TO

EXT. SPACE/LUNAR SURFACE; SFX

We see BERGMAN's saucer-craft plummet and crash into the Moon's surface.

FADE OUT

FADE IN

EXT. LUNAR SURFACE – NIGHT

ON-SCREEN GRAPHIC

Lunar Farside
January 10, 2110

EXT. LUNAR SURFACE

Two spacesuited figures NORDSTROM and STEINER, cross the darkened surface in a Moonbuggy.

                                                         

NORDSTROM

   ISA Control, Nordstrom here. We've located the suspected lithicite deposit.

 CONTROL

[Filtered] Copy that, Nordstrom. Proceed with caution.

NORDSTROM

Right.[To Steiner]How far away are we now?

STEINER

About half a click [gestures] - that way.

CROSS-FADE to the two astronauts as they bound over to a curious rock formation - a small crater partially occluded by a rocky overhang. Camera pans back - to show that the formation is actually the crash site of BERGMAN's saucer.

NORDSTROM

Steiner, have I lost my mind?

STEINER

I seem to have misplaced mine, too.

Camera focuses on the same Eagle symbol, in a SLOW PAN that shows a Nazi swastika as well. SLOW PULL-BACK to depict the entire unlikely tableau … then the entire darkened half of the Moon … then the Earth-Moon system …

FADE OUT

FADE IN

POV from high above the plane of the Milky Way galaxy. We zoom in to an outlying arm, to the distant outskirts of a young solar system.

POV shot zooms past Saturn, Jupiter, Mars - closing in on a warm, glowing body.

Shot changes to show a large planetoid arcing toward the primordial earth. The two bodies collide, causing an unfathomably huge detonation, and rupturing earth. A stream of planetary material flows outward, coalescing into a spherical body in near-earth orbit: The newly formed Moon.

PROFESSOR VICTOR BERGMAN [V.O..]

Astrophysicists have long believed that our sun has a companion called “Nemesis.”

CHANGE OF PERSPECTIVE reveals that we have been watching a holographic simulation. Camera pulls back to reveal BERGMAN, late 40s, trim, casually dressed; he could be a rock-climber in his spare time.

ON-SCREEN GRAPHIC identifies the scene as

Hayek University
Vienna, Austria
March 15, 2112

Addressing a class in a futuristic college auditorium, BERGMAN continues.

Liev Schreiber as Dr. Victor Bergman

BERGMAN

"Nemesis" is means "destroyer" - and the occasional near approach of our sun's unseen companion has been linked with episodes of violent destruction in our solar system.

The holographic program continues, illustrating BERGMAN's lecture. Among his students is SANDRA BENES – a pretty Asian girl, obviously younger than her classmates.

BERGMAN

Nemesis is believed to have caused a collision between earth and a large planetoid, resulting in the creation of our Moon. This in turn caused tidal effects that aided the emergence of life.

The simulation ends. BERGMAN descends from the dais with a distant look on his face.

CHANGE OF POV shows TED SIMMONDS enter the classroom. BERGMAN notices, but continues his lecture.

BERGMAN

Is Nemesis a bane, or a benefactor? Will it someday make another appearance and annihilate us? Is humanity itself merely an odd biochemical fluke - or are we somehow the point of these apparently random developments?

JARED [young student]

Professor Bergman, could this new planet you helped discover - Meta - somehow be connected to Nemesis?

A tremor of concern and disapproval ripples through the classroom.

JARED

It seems to be very earth-like, in spite of its distance from the sun, and some people on the nets claim that it's emitting signals that can't be of natural origin….

BERGMAN

Now, Jared, haven't I told the class not to rely on GlobeNet gossip as research? [A beat as the tension in the class subsides; Jared grins somewhat sheepishly.] My best guess - and it's conjecture at this point - [casts a glance at a disapproving Simmonds] is that Meta is somehow connected to Nemesis.

Ricky Gervais as Simmonds (yes, really).

SIMMONDS

[Huffily] Assuming, of course, that Nemesis, unlike Father Christmas, really exists.

BERGMAN's eyebrows momentarily knot in annoyance before he continues with an
air of mock geniality.

BERGMAN

Ah - yes, my friends, you may have noticed the august presence in our classroom of Commissioner Ted Simmonds of the International Space Authority. Dr. Simmonds is much better informed than I about such things as Nemesis.

SIMMONDS looks warily at BERGMAN as the professor continues.

BERGMAN

After all, the ancient Greeks taught that Nemesis was the punishment for hubris – the overbearing pride that goes before a fall.

SIMMONDS does a slow burn as the bell rings.

BERGMAN

I will be in my office tomorrow morning prior to leaving for Moonbase Alpha, and once I'm there you will be able to text-message me.

The class breaks up; SANDRA and SIMMONDS approach BERGMAN from different angles. SANDRA reaches him first and casts SIMMONDS a slightly reproachful look.

SIMMONDS

Victor, that was a most entertaining lecture … even if it was a bit speculative, even by your standards.

BERGMAN gives a look that says, "Whatever."

SIMMONDS

It does seem somewhat - um, ill-advised - to fuel adolescent curiosity about Meta…. How long do you think it will be before this Jared kid hits the nets to tell the entire cyber-community that the Nobel laureate who helped discover Meta has linked it with this Nemesis idea?

BERGMAN

Oh, I'm pretty sure it's all over the nets already. Jared has a cerebral implant, so my comments were probably uploaded to GlobeNet in real time.

SIMMONDS’ slow burn worsens as BERGMAN continues.

BERGMAN

Besides, how are we supposed to learn anything if we can only ask approved questions?

SIMMONDS

You've made no secret of your disdain for established channels, Victor. But you seem to keep your scruples in check when you need ISA's help – the occasional grant, perhaps, or an all-expenses trip to Moonbase Alpha...?

BERGMAN

Well, it's not as if I haven't paid my share of taxes. And it’s not as if consulting on the Meta probe was my idea, as you well know.

SIMMONDS is about to blow when SANDRA interjects.

SANDRA

Professor, I would like you to reconsider taking me along.

BERGMAN

Ah, Commissioner Simmonds – Miss Sandra Benes.

SIMMONDS

[curtly] How do you do? [To Bergman] Now, Victor –

BERGMAN

[interrupting]Sandra's father was Captain Samuel Benes.

SIMMONDS

[Silence for a beat]Oh… [extending his hand] Forgive me. Your father was a courageous man. I never had the pleasure of meeting him; his - the Argosy mission took place before my term. I consider myself honored to know his daughter.

SANDRA

Thank you, Commissioner. The pleasure is mine. [To Victor, using his given name, quietly] Victor, you know I could help you on Alpha. Why won't you let me go along?

BERGMAN

[Hesitantly] Sandra, there are some things about this mission that might be difficult for you….

SIMMONDS

[Butting in]Miss Benes, what the professor hasn't told you is that Alpha will shortly be under a new Commander - John KOENIG.

SANDRA is momentarily nonplussed - for reasons we

will learn later.

As SANDRA reacts –

CUT TO:

EXT. SPACE/SFX, NIGHT

An ISA courier Eagle spacecraft, a vessel that looks a little like a hybrid of the space shuttle and the lunar lander is making its transit to the Moon.

INT. EAGLE SPACECRAFT

Nate Fillon as John Koenig

We focus on John KOENIG, early 40s, athletic, a little grim; he's reviewing a sheaf of "flimsies" with briefing materials.

     COCKPIT VOICE [filtered]

Commander Koenig, we have an incoming message from Alpha.

KOENIG

On screen.

The face of Alan CARTER - Australian, late 20s - materializes on the screen in front of KOENIG.

CARTER

Commander - it's good to see you.

KOENIG

Alan, it's been too long. Are we on schedule?

CARTER

[Ambivalently] That's … a complicated question, sir. The training is on schedule, and I'm told that the Meta probeship is ready for our launch window, and we're waiting for Dr Bergman to give us the updated flight data.

KOENIG

Right behind me, Alan. He took a later flight.

Chris Hemsworth as Alan Carter

KOENIG notices that CARTER is puzzled and a bit uneasy.

KOENIG

What is it, Alan?

CARTER

Sir, why all the secrecy? We need some time in the actual bird. You're a pilot, sir; you understand.

KOENIG stews for a bit; he's obviously chewing over the possibility of sharing something with CARTER, but he thinks better of it.

KOENIG

Alan, I'll bring you up to date as soon as I'm moonside. There is no way I'll allow you to take off for a mission in deep space without giving you adequate hands-on time in the probeship.

CARTER's skepticism mellows into the most guarded of optimism.

CARTER

Very good, commander. I'll see you on Alpha.

Moonbase Alpha, located in the crater Plato.

The screen goes blank, leaving KOENIG with a pensive look.

COCKPIT VOICE [V.O.]

Commander – orbital meterology just informed us of an aberrant solar flare – it registers about a Force Eight in magnitude.

KOENIG

That strong ... it could cause some trouble for navigation, but we should be all right. When will it hit?

COCKPIT VOICE

It should hit Lunar Farside in about ... ten minutes.

HARD-CUT to

EXT. LUNAR SURFACE, NIGHT

Camera pans over a grim, airless vista cloaked in shadow as a moonbuggy crawls across the surface.

ON-SCREEN GRAPHIC

Lunar Farside
Nuclear Waste Disposal Area 2

Two spacesuited figures - MATT HENSON and TOM SKINNER – ride the buggy to the edge of a large complex of domed buildings guarded by a laser field. HENSON operates a comlock control to lower the laser curtain; once inside the buggy proceeds, and the curtain is raised again.

HENSON

So how did they get you to pull this shift?

SKINNER

Same as you, I suppose – Our kind friends at Burtonhallow offered me triple scale. [He works a small sensor apparatus] I don't know what this theta-wave radiation business is all about, but we shouldn't be exposed to it long enough to do any harm.

                          
HENSON  

Yeah, we all know how valuable we are to the human resource department. [He works his own apparatus] And we know that our beloved employer knows how to make a nickel scream –

Just then, SKINNER's apparatus registers a spike of some kind.

SKINNER

Hey, whoa - there are your theta waves. [A beat] So - what are they, a new energy source? Did we just hit a lunar gusher?

HENSON is distracted; a close-up shows him suddenly transfixed in horror.

HENSON

I've got to get out of here.

SKINNER

Yeah, bud, I hear you. Just let me wrap up my readings here and we'll head back. I'll even buy you a pint.

HENSON

[Frantically] No, no, no - I'VE GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE!

Suddenly frenzied, HENSON knocks SKINNER to the ground and begins bounding toward the laser barricade. Close-up on SKINNER's comlock (a small remote control-type device) as it falls from his toolbelt.

SKINNER

[Horrified] Hey, Henson, what are you doing? Stop – you’ll kill yourself! [Adjusting a communications control] Farside Central Command -- Skinner at Disposal Area Two. My partner's in trouble.[SKINNER struggles to his feet, desperately trying to reach HENSON. He doesn't realize that his comlock is missing.]

CENTRAL COMMAND

[Filtered] Say again, Area Two?

SKINNER

[Desperately] Matt, stop!

HENSON, heedless, continues his frantic dash toward the barrier.

SKINNER

Matt, use your comlock!

SKINNER reaches for his own comlock, only to realize that it isn't there. He looks up, horrified -

-- to see HENSON collide with the laser barrier. He is cast through the void head-over-heels, landing awkwardly in the dust. His faceplate strikes a jagged moonrock, creating a pebble-sized hole from which radiates a spiderweb fracture.

From HENSON's POV we see a network of fissures slowly spreading across the faceplate, as a hiss of escaping air grows to a crescendo. In a moment of sudden lucidity, the doomed astronaut - knowing what will shortly befall him - breathes heavily, then shuts his eyes and instant before -

CHANGE OF POV

HENSON's faceplate violently erupts, spewing his suit's atmosphere - along with a pink, bloody mist - into the pitiless vacuum.

SKINNER arrives an instant later; through his faceplate we see his horrified expression as Central Command’s Comm officer's filtered voice is heard in the background.

CENTRAL COMMAND [filtered]

Area Two, repeat your message - what's your status? Area Two, respond….

HARD-CUT to

INT. MOONBASE ALPHA emergency medical receiving area. Several ER medics hustle about as casualties begin to arrive. Some of them are deranged, others are clearly fatalities. A few are seriously burned.

Into this chaotic scene strides Dr. HELENA RUSSELL, an attractive but somewhat arid woman in her mid-40s. She at once visibly horrified and flawlessly professional. She is issuing instructions to Dr. BENJAMIN MATTHIAS.

DR. RUSSELL

Ben, you're in charge of triage. The radiation victims are top priority. Most of the vacuum exposure cases are DOAs.

RUSSELL's comlock buzzes.

VOICE [filtered]

Dr. Russell, there's another wave arriving.

RUSSELL

How many more?

VOICE

We're estimating between 40 and 50.

MATTHIAS

That would bring our total up to around seventy or so.

RUSSELL

[Prayerfully] Dear God. What happened out there? Was there a guidance system breakdown in the eagle fleet? A construction accident?

VOICE

No, doctor. They were all part of some project involving the farside disposal areas.

RUSSELL

[Livid] Why wasn't I informed?

Nobody can answer her question. She grabs a nearby orderly.

RUSSELL

I've got my hands full here. Get commander GORSKI – NOW!

ORDERLY

Yes, doctor.

RUSSELL turns back to her grim work.

CUT TO:

EXT. LANDING PAD as KOENIG's eagle touches down. A docking tube connects to the eagle.

INT. DOCKING AREA, DAY.

Commander PIOTR GORSKI, a muscular, bearded Russian in his late 50s is awaiting KOENIG's arrival.

GORSKI

Commander Koenig. Zhdraswitye -- welcome. [He hands KOENIG a comlock].

KOENIG

Piotr Ivanovich. [In Russian] It’s good to see you again, old friend.

GORSKI

Thank you, Commander - or should I say, Ivan Ivanovich. [They both smile] Please, this way… [he conducts Koenig to a nearby travel tube; they board and begin the trip to Main Mission].

GORSKI

          Nasty business going on in the Persian Gulf…

KOENIG

[Resigned] There’s been nasty business going on there for centuries. [A beat] Are they really going to war over this?

GORSKI

Hmmm…. As one of your American philosophers said so long ago – “Peace sells, but who’s buying?”

The two exchange wry, resigned smiles. KOENIG changes the subject.

KOENIG

[Tentatively] Piotr... there are some ramifications of this new propulsion system that leave me ... uneasy.

GORSKI

Me too, tovarich. [Confidentially] After what humanity’s been through for the last thirty years, many of my colleagues are ... unsettled by a power source with such dangerous implications. It’s devoted entirely to peaceful purposes ... but that’s what was said two about two centuries ago about atomic energy. And didn’t one of your American presidents once refer to nuclear missiles as ... “peacekeepers”?

KOENIG

[Ironically] “Peacekeepers”... [a beat as KOENIG notices a change in GORSKI’s demeanor] Piotr, what is it?

GORSKI

[Quietly urgent] Vanyka, I’ve learned some things that I can’t talk about here. Once you get access to the voiceprint-restricted Command database, you’ll be able to find it....

ORDERLY [V.O.]

Commander Gorski.

GORSKI

                      Go.

ORDERLY

We have a medical emergency. Doctor Russell needs to speak with you immediately.

At the mention of RUSSELL, KOENIG reacts. These two have a history of some kind.

GORSKI

Put her through.

RUSSELL

[Harried] Commander, we just received 68 casualties, including 45 dead on arrival.

GORSKI

[Horrified; curses, in Russian] What happened?

RUSSELL

[Ignoring the question] Half a dozen or so just might pull through, so I'm too busy right now to get all the details, but I need to know: Just who the hell authorized a mission to the farside disposal areas without running it by me?

GORSKI

Doctor Russell, that mission was arranged through the office of the ISA Commissioner.

RUSSELL

[Very sarcastically]I wasn't aware that Commissioner Simmonds was an MD. What's gotten into him? He's not the type I'd expect to run needless risks of this sort. I'd expect that kind of thing from the thrill-addicted rocket jockey Simmonds appointed to succeed you –

GORSKI shoots an anxious look at KOENIG, who leans toward GORSKI's open comlock.

KOENIG

Speaking on behalf of the rocket jockey community, Dr. Russell, let me say that we prefer to risk our own lives, not those of others.

RUSSELL

[Embarrassed beat] John - Commander Koenig....  I'm needed in surgery. I will contact you again shortly.

The comlock goes dark. KOENIG and GORSKI exchange a grim look.

KOENIG

Piotr, how can I help?

GORSKI

Vanyka, you don't formally assume command for another [checks his

wrist chronometer] sixteen hours. It’s my mess, John. [Raises his

hand as Koenig starts to object] No, tovarich - you get settled

in, get up to date on the Meta probe. This mess goes on my

record, not yours.

KOENIG

This should go on Simmonds' record. Bureaucrats always excel at shifting blame and hoarding credit, don't they?

GORSKI

[Smiling] Vanyka -- are you sure you're an American? You not only speak Russian, you talk like a Russian.

KOENIG gives his old friend a rueful smile as we --

FADE-OUT

FADE-IN
EXT. LUNAR SURFACE, NIGHT

Another eagle shuttle docks at a large facility

ON-SCREEN GRAPHIC identifies this as

ISA Archeological Site
Lunar Farside

A portal opens in the docking area to admit Dr. BERGMAN and SANDRA. BERGMAN looks around as if expecting a reception. As they walk to the security checkpoint, BERGMAN is intercepted by a technician.

BERGMAN

Sam, it's good to see you. Why are we so short-handed?

SAM

Dr. Bergman - there's been a horrible accident. Dozens of men - we don't know what's happened, but we may have lost dozens of men at the disposal areas.

BERGMAN

Disposal areas?…. [Thinks for an instant, and then understands - and is angry] Sam, were they sent to look for theta waves? Sam?

SAM

I - I don't know, doctor. All I know is that the ISA field office authorized some special tests, there was some kind of radiation spike, and the next thing we know the emergency channel is overloaded with casualty reports.

BERGMAN

[To Sandra] Radiation spike...?

SANDRA

Maybe this could this be some more of the renowned Koenig luck.

BERGMAN shoots SANDRA a disapproving look and strides off. After a moment, SANDRA - mildly ashamed, joins him.

FADE-OUT

FADE-IN

INT. MOONBASE – GYNASIUM, NIGHT. The modest-sized room has a wrestling/tumbling mat. An oval window in the distance displays the moonscape, with a view of the earth.

In a SERIES OF SHOTS we see CARTER, a stocky man built like a gymnast, wearing workout clothes, and doing calisthenics. We see him performing "dive-bomber” pushups, handstand pushups, jumping squats, and falling backward into a bridge. At the end of the montage, the door opens and KOENIG, dressed like CARTER, walks in.

CARTER

Commander, care to join me in some PT?

KOENIG

[Stretching] I'm sure I won't be able to keep up. [Falls to the mat and begins cranking out pushups at a jackhammer tempo]

CARTER

[Spoken as he's doing a wrestler's bridge]You're not fooling me, Commander. You don't look like you've put on more than five or ten pounds since your days as the fleet grappling champ.

KOENIG

[Grunting] Yeah, back when you were in diapers. [He flips to his back and mimics Carter's perfect bridging form; at this point they are lying in parallel; they crane their heads to look at each other].

CARTER

Not bad for someone who's outlived his warranty, Commander.

CARTER sags of his bridge, curls his legs to his stomach, rolls back and explodes to his feet in a perfectly executed "nip-up."

CARTER

Would you care to spar a couple of falls?

KOENIG sags out of his bridge, and shakes his head wearily as if to say, "I'm getting too old for this" - only to shoot Carter a "Why not?" look.

KOENIG

Well … don't expect too much, Alan.

The two move to the center of the mat and clinch in a head-and-arm tie-up. They briefly pummel. CARTER snaps KOENIG’s head down; when KOENIG straightens up a bit too high, CARTER shoots around the Commander's leading left leg for a low single-leg takedown. CARTER establishes side control and begins driving KOENIG over on his back. CARTER slips a little too far forward, permitting the Commander to propel himself from underneath, sit out, and escape. The two circle each other again, both of them breathing heavily and wearing smiles.

CARTER

You're a slippery one, Commander.

KOENIG

And you’re stronger than I expected. What have you been doing – taking hormone boosters?

CARTER

[Circling] Nah, just doing bodyweight calisthenics – although I do fiddle with the artificial gravity sometimes; working out in a multiple-G environment gives me a bit of an edge.

The smiles evaporate as they tie up again; now they're serious. This time KOENIG takes the initiative, lowering his level quickly and smoothly pulling CARTER into a fireman's carry. As they hit the mat, CARTER is clearly surprised - his facial expression says, "Huh?" as he finds himself on his side, writhing desperately to avoid a near-fall. He finds the right leverage, arches his back,and reverses KOENIG - only to find himself trapped in a crooked head scissors. With a frustrated grin he slaps the mat to concede. The men disengage, resting on the mats, breathing heavily.

CARTER

First fall to you, Commander. Want to go two more?

KOENIG

I don't think I have another left in me, Alan. It's been too long.

CARTER

Yeah, sure. Now that you've knocked the rust off you'd probably be even slicker. [Reaches out his hand] Thanks, Commander.

KOENIG

[Shaking CARTER’s hand] My pleasure - although my back might not agree tomorrow morning.

After getting up, the two wander over to a bench and rest, swigging from plastic water bottles.

CARTER

So, Commander, what's the big secret? We've been training for the Meta shot in the holo-simulator for over six months, but they've not let us anywhere near the ship.

KOENIG

The orders dictate that only Commissioner Simmonds can authorize a release of the mission specs. But we don't have time to wait until everything's been worked out in triplicate.

[A beat]

KOENIG

Alan, what do you know about the artifact discovered on Farside about two years ago?

CARTER

They clamped down on that pretty quickly, Commander. [A puzzled beat] Did this artifact have something to do with Meta? Is that why the ISA has placed such a high priority on a manned mission?

KOENIG

No; we have no reason to believe that the artifact has anything to do with Meta - or with any other extraterrestrial source.

By this time CARTER is very puzzled and a little frustrated.

CARTER

Commander, I don't understand. You're saying that the artifact is of human origin - meaning that some major earth power made an unrecorded moon mission?

KOENIG [Nodding]

Yes. World War II Germany.

[A long beat as Carter sits nonplussed].

CARTER

How is that possible?

KOENIG

They really did it. But as to why … Alan, this is where it gets really strange.

[KOENIG stands and strides over to the oval observation window, looking at the waning crescent earth]

KOENIG

For the past two generations, humanity has been doing its level best to destroy itself in pointless wars. And before that, hundreds of millions of people were killed through war and genocide….[Looking again at the earth] It sometimes seems as if every advance in human knowledge merely increases our ability to slaughter each other.

KOENIG goes back to sit next to Carter on the bench.

KOENIG

[Coming to a decision] Look, why don't you join me for an off-the-record trip of our own to Farside.

HARD CUT TO --

EXT. SPACE, NIGHT

KOENIG [V.O.]


To be continued.... 

Once we're there things will become clearer - sort of….