DR. EDWARD MARCASE
DR. KIMBERLY SHIROMA
DR. DANEEL CASSIAN
MICHAEL HAILEY

MAJOR KATE HARRIER
B.B. SNUCKERS
DR. CARL NERICK
DR. CHAPMAN
ALLEN COVELL
SPECIALIST 4TH CLASS BUBECK
SPECIALIST 4TH CLASS TUTTLE
MP#l
MP#2
MAN BY THE FIRE

ANGLE BEHIND THEM
Several miles away are the lights of a small military compound.

Suddenly, Tuttle sees a streak of fire leave the sky and
come to earth beyond a nearby hill.

The jeep roars around the side of the hill. In front of
them is a patch of earth where the desert grass is burning.

The guys jump out and stare at it.

At the center of the burning patch is a brightly glowing
rock a little larger than a grapefruit. Tuttle begins
stomping out the fire.

Bubeck stumbles back to the jeep and pulls out a large,
military issue water jug. Suddenly, a voice screams from
the darkness.

Out of the darkness walks a young desert rat named B.B.
SMICKERS. He's 23 but looks 29. Clearly, he's more than a
little nuts. When he isn't yelling, he mumbles to himself.

Smickers circles the fire like a desert animal, glaring at
them.

Bubeck pours water on the glowing stone. It sizzles and
steam rises.

Bubeck reaches down and picks up the rock. He juggles it
like a hot potato.

Smickers rushes forward. But Tuttle pops him in the nose
and he goes straight back onto his butt.

Smickers sits in the dirt holding his bleeding nose.

The guys back away, get in their jeep and drive off, leaving
Smickers holding his nose, ranting after them.

Tuttle and Bubeck pull up to a gate in a chain-link fence
that's covered with razor wire. Beyond is a large, one-story
cement structure with no windows. An MP in desert fatigues,
opens the gate and waves them through.

Tuttle and Bubeck walk into their bunk area. The meteorite
is tucked under Tuttle's jacket. When they're alone, Tuttle
pulls it out.

Tuttle examines it. The symbol is not much more than an
ugly scratch.

He starts hitting it against the wall.

He grabs it away from him.

Tuttle and Bubeck are asleep in their racks. Tuttle is on
the top bunk.

Suddenly, in the darkness, there is the sound of dripping.
One drop. Then, another... and another...

CU ROCK ON DRESSER

A tiny hole is in the side of the rock... and it's “bleeding.”
Red drops that look like blood fall on the dresser forming a
pool.

A pool is forming on the dresser.

The guys are still asleep.

ANGLE ON CEILING

The ceiling is covered with a thick coat of the blood-red
liquid. Large drips have formed and frozen. They hang like
stalactites throughout the room.

Several have descended over the bunks.
CU TUTTLE'S FACE

As he sleeps, Tuttle's mouth is open. One of the long drops
descends into it. With excruciating slowness, it enters his
lips.

Tuttle gags and his eyes fly open. He stares up. He tries
to scream, but no sound comes.

Strange sounds. Echoing footsteps.

An old man walks down a dark corridor. He's wearing the
clothes of a mental patient.

A door opens. He hesitates...then, goes in.

He enters a room. NO walls are visible. The man has been
here before and he is frightened.

In the past, he has been known as the Chairman and before
that, Dr. Wilson Pride. But from now on, he will be known
as DR. MERICK.

In front of him, under a pool of light, sits a straight-back
chair. It faces a tall sheet of black glass in a steel frame.

A woman's voice speaks with quiet authority. This is the
VOICE OF THE DAWN.

The man obeys. He stares at the glass.

POV MERICK

In it appear a dozen sets of living eyes.

In the center--much larger than all the rest--is the symbol
of the Dawn with the empty eyes of the child.

The man's fear increases.

Suddenly, the eyes on the glass vanish and on it appears a
huge image of the old man as Dr. Wilson Pride, dead, slumped
over his desk in a pool of blood with a gun in his hand.

He turns. Behind him on the floor is a briefcase.

He picks it up. He is even more terrified. Sweat drips
down his forehead.

He does so. The first thing he sees inside is a gun.

Tremendous relief floods over the man.

Inside is a thick file with new identification papers. The
man stares at them. On them is his picture and the name,
"Carl R. Merick, M.D."

PULL BACK

MARCASE, SHIROMA, HAILEY and CASSIAN are gathered in the lab
conference room.

CU MONITOR

The satellite photo is on a monitor. It zeroes in on the
western United States. Then, to California.

The computer map zeroes in even closer. A picture of the
facility appears on the screen.

The ten board members of the Washington cell of the Dawn are
seated around the conference table. They're all very nervous.
At each place is a sealed manila envelope.

Into the room walks Dr. Merick, looking at ease and dressed
in an expensive suit. He sits down in the head chair.

The board members begin hurriedly signing the paper that was
in the envelope.

The board members place their resignations into the envelopes,
lick the flaps, seal them and pass them to Merick. When he
has them all, he smiles.

One by one, three of the board members begin trembling,
then slump over with their lips coated in blood. When the last
one is gone, Merick smiles at the remaining group.

A sweating DR. CHAPMAN stands up.

A C130 lands.

The lab van pulls up in front of the gate leading into the
chemical weapons depot. Military vehicles are parked,
blocking the road. The lab van doors open. Marcase, Shiroma,
Hailey and Cassian get out. A young, female major walks up
and greets them. This is MAJOR KATE HARRIER. She's 29 years
old, and very beautiful with a lot of built-in attitude.
Especially at this moment. She isn't happy at all.

They enter the lab van.

Marcase and Harrier are driving down a desert road. There
isn't a sign of life anywhere.

Suddenly, ahead, they see a man with a bandaged nose, standing
in the middle of the road. It's B.B. Smickers and he's
holding a hand-painted sign that reads, “U.S.GOVERNMENT –
GIVE GOD BACK HIS STAR.”

They pull up to him.

Harrier and Marcase exchange a look.

Smickers walks off towards a hill.

Smickers leads Marcase and Harrier to the impact site. He's
put up a shabby little pup tent near it. The grass is still
charred and there is a hole in the ground where the rock
struck. Marcase and Harrier examine it.

Marcase and Harrier go back to their jeep.

Hailey and Shiroma enter the top level of the chemical weapons
depot. They're wearing special bio-hazard suits with
reflective silver stripes and slightly tinted face masks.

Hailey is armed and he's carrying a small piece of tracked
equipment. Shiroma carries special electronic measuring
gear. Hailey speaks into his radio.

Cassian is inside the lab van.

Shiroma is taking air samples.

He touches a button on the small, tracked device.

Cassian stares at a screen. on it he sees the view from a
small video camera on the tracked device.

They come to a door. Hailey opens it. And looks inside.
Then, he enters.

Shiroma enters the staircase behind him.

Slowly, they make their way down the stairs. Finally, they
come to the door leading into the second level.

Hailey cracks the door open ... and slides the tracked vehicle
through. He holds a tiny monitor in his hand. On it he can
see the view from the floor as the vehicle enters a room.

VIEW ON SCREEN

The view on the screen is of an equipment storage area.

ANGLE ON HAILEY

He watches the screen.

It continues tracking until the room has been scanned.

They enter.

Slowly, they make their way through the storage room.

ANGLE ON CEILING

As they walk, they do not see that blood drops are beginning
to form on the ceiling.

They grow larger until oozing stalactites of blood-red are
dripping downward.

Suddenly, a drop falls on Kimberly. She looks up.

He looks up.

The ceiling is covered with the ooze. Hanging above them is
the vague form of a gigantic hand with eight fingers.

Kimberly screams.

The hand falls.

Marcase, Cassian and Harrier are in the lab van. A really
heated argument is going on. Cassian looks especially shaken.

CU MONITOR
On the screen appears an eerie group of organic circles linked
together as though in an endless chain. They seem to glow.

Harrier and Marcase stare at each other.

Cassian looks at them for a moment, then picks up a telephone.

Kimberly Shiroma lies on the floor.

CU HER FACE

Her face inside the helmet is covered by the thick, red
substance. It bubbles over her skin as though it's crawling.
She sucks in her breath.

Singing voices. Slowly, Kimberly awakens.
At first, she doesn't know where she is. Then, she
realizes ... and a look of shock and pain comes to her.

She is sitting alone in a small chapel. A casket surrounded
by candles is at the front. It's closed. On the lid is the
picture of a handsome, young man. It's ALLEN COVELL. Tears
fill her eyes.

She gets up and rushes to the door at the back. She tries
to open it, but it's locked. Then, she hears a quiet voice
calling to her.

Slowly, she turns. Standing near the casket is ALLEN COVELL,
her fiance.

He touches her hair. Suddenly, it's as though she's really with him again.

Tears run down her cheeks.

Slowly, the image of Allen begins to fade away.

Slowly, she walks toward the front and stares at the picture
on the casket.

Her voice echoes away.

CU HER FACE

Slowly, over her face appears the red, bubbling substance.

Shiroma’s body still lies on the floor.

Kate walks back from talking with military personnel. Marcase
meets her.

He leads her behind one of the vehicles.

He walks away. She stares after him. There's an obvious
attraction.

CU HAILEY'S FACE

Michael Hailey lies against a wall. Inside his bio-hazard
suit, half his face is covered with the thick, red substance.
The other half is clear. He is unconscious.
The red substance begins to bubble.

Twisted sounds The rumble of distant explosions.

Michael Hailey awakens. He's lying on his back in the middle
of a surreal desert. Not far away, is a blazing campfire.
But the color of the flames is strange and eerie.

A man is sitting at the fire. But his back is turned and he
is nothing more than a silhouette.

Instantly, Hailey is alert, he pulls out his Glock. The man
speaks. But still he doesn't turn.

In combat stance, Hailey moves slowly toward the seated
figure.

Hailey keeps it ready.

Hailey circles to the opposite side of the fire. Suddenly,
he sees the man's face, and sucks in his breath.

CU MAN'S FACE

There is a bullet hole in his forehead. Two more bullet
holes are in his chest...and his face is deathly pale.

Hailey stares at him.

The man stands up and walks toward him.

CU THE MAN'S EYES

CU HAILEY'S EYES

They're filled with pain. Hailey hears a gunshot and screams.

CU HAILEY'S FACE

Slowly over part of his face re-appears the bubbling red
substance.

The outer door opens. Marcase and Harrier enter the main
level of the chemical weapons depot. They're carrying
flashlights.

Cassian is in the lab van.

Cassian is filled with sadness.

Suddenly, a monitor near Cassian flashes on.

CU MONITOR

The image is strange. It's a view of the video camera
crawling along at floor level.

Cassian stares at the monitor.

Cassian touches some keys.

Marcase and Harrier walk toward a steel door.

He tries the door. It's locked.

Cassian stares at the video screen.

CU MONITOR

The crawler is coming closer and closer to a steel door.

ANGLE ON FLOOR

The video unit creeps toward the door. It's covered with
the thick, blood-red liquid.

Suddenly, as Marcase and Harrier stare at the door. A faintly
glowing spot appears in the metal. Then, straight through
it rolls the crawler as though the steel had turned to liquid.

The glow disappears. The machine stops at their feet and
its lights turn off. The blood-red substance is bubbling
all over it.

FADE IN:

A light shines down on the crawler. A military team of four
in hazmat suits is working to lift the blood-red mass and
place it in a plexiglas box that sits on a gurney. On the
side of the box are electronic controls. Two sets of gloved
arm extensions hang inside.

The team is using long steel rods with scooped ends to make
the transfer. Cassian, Marcase and Harrier are watching. A
team with a flame-thrower is standing by.

The team eases the camera into the box and closes the lid.
They walk over and look down at it.

Cassian walks out of the room. Harrier presses several
buttons on the controls. Blue-white light comes on in the
box.

Very gingerly, they stick their arms into the protective
sleeves.

B.B. Smickers stands a distance away looking at the lights
of the chemical weapons depot. He's still carrying his sign.

He drops the sign and begins walking toward the lights.

Smickers knows his way around. Quietly, he goes to the razor
wire fence at the rear of the building. He drops to the
ground as two young MP's walk past.

When they're gone, Smickers crawls through a small gully and
under the fence.

ANGLE ON BOX

Marcase and Harrier have their arms in the gloves. Sweat
covers their faces as they try to peel off some of the red
substance. Every time they touch it, it bubbles and oozes.

Suddenly ' a great deal more of the blood-like substance begins
flowing from the red mass. It streams down.

Cassian is watching a monitor aimed directly into the box.

Marcase fills a tiny scoop with the liquid and pours it into
a slot near the electronics.

Marcase and Harrier step back from the box.

B.B.Smickers moves through the darkness to a loading dock at
the rear of the chemical weapons depot. The sliding steel
door that covers the entrance to the dock is open about two
inches at the bottom.

He tries to pull it up. It won't budge.

He pulls on the door with all his strength. It opens three
more inches, but it won't budge beyond that.

It's not really enough for him to crawl through, but he tries
anyway. He's stuck half in and half out when the M.P.'s
come around again.

As they argue, they don't see Smickers sticking out of the
door in the darkness. When they're gone, he drags himself,
puffing and grunting on through.

Turning on a flashlight, Smickers moves through the dock to
another door. It's unlocked. He opens it and enters the
building.

Quietly, Smickers makes his way down the stairs to the second
level.

He enters the large storage room. He shines his flashlight
around, but sees nothing unusual.

In the lab van, Cassian stares at a monitor.

CU MONITOR

The monitor is filled with what appears to be a blood-red
universe. It's really a mass of sub-microscopic objects.

Harrier and Marcase stare at a monitor.

CU MONITOR

On it appears the same image that Cassian is seeing.

The image focuses smaller. Microscopic objects come into
view. They look like bacteria, but there is something
metallic about them.

Harrier stares at the box. The "blood" level is growing.

Harrier looks over at the box.

They turn. Out of the box extends a large, blood-red hand
with eight fingers. It reaches straight up toward the sky.
Then, it sinks back down and disappears into the ooze.

B.B. Smickers enters the bunk area where Tuttle and Bubeck
were sleeping. He finds the meteorite on the dresser. But
there is no red ooze anywhere in the room.

Carrying the rock, he walks out of the room.

Still carrying the rock, Smickers walks down a long, eerie
corridor.

As he walks, suddenly, he passes a door. Strange sounds
come from behind it. It's like unearthly singing.

He looks at the floor.

From under the door flows the thick, red substance.

For a moment, he stares ... listening to the voices.

He pulls the door open ... and walks inside.

CU SMICKERS' FACE

Only Smickers' face is.visible. His eyes are wide with wonder
and amazement. In them is the reflection of blood-red star
light. And the singing is all around him.

ANGLE ON TANK

The tank is filled with the bloody substance. Suddenly, it
begins to bubble.

But suddenly, they begin to hear the same strange unearthly
singing.

As they stare, the singing grows louder. Suddenly, in the
tank they see the sleeping, blood-red faces of Shiroma and
Hailey. A whispering voice speaks to them.

Then, the faces vanish in the ooze.

Cassian has rejoined Marcase and Harrier. All other personnel
are gone. They're staring into the glass box. It's
completely empty except for the crawler video camera. There's
not the slightest trace of the red substance anywhere.

Marcase walks across the room to the inner door. He pulls
it open.

He looks back at them.

They join Marcase.

The team makes its way down the stairs. They come to the
second level door and open it.

Cautiously, they enter the large storage room where Hailey
and Shiroma were attacked.

They shine their lights around the room. There is no red
substance anywhere.

But, as they approach the door at the opposite end, they
begin to hear the strange, unearthly singing.

ANGLE ON FLOOR

The blood-red ooze is seeping under the crack.

Carefully, Marcase pulls the door open. The team looks
in ... and their eyes grow wide.

Slowly, they enter a long hallway. A faint mist hangs above
the floor. The ceiling and walls are covered with the red
substance. And embedded in it are people.

Tuttle and Bubeck are there, as well as the three members of
the military hazmat team, and five other army personnel.

At the very end are Hailey and Shiroma. All of them look
dead. Marcase and Cassian examine their friends.

In front of them is a steel door covered with chemical warfare
warning symbols. With a crash it slides open.

Marcase heads toward it. Cassian and Harrier follow.

They stare into the chemical storage chamber.

In front of them is an amazing sight. Mist drifts above the
floor. The blood-red substance hangs everywhere.

Canisters of chemicals lie broken, their deadly contents
spilled. Lying in the center of them, covered with the red
ooze is B.B. Smickers. His eyes are open, but he is
unconscious.

The singing grows louder.

No. K1313 - "Apparition” - Shooting Script 10/24/96 45.

64	CONTINUED: (2)	64
	WHISPERING VOICE (CONT'D) This technology was launched to bring you a warning. MARCASE What was it that destroyed you? WHISPERING VOICE We are programmed to choose a representative of your species. Into him we have placed our memories and the warning for your world. He must speak the truth without fear. We chose the only one who came to us and was not afraid. Smickers coughs and begins to awaken. Marcase turns and stares at him.   MARCASE You chose him? WHISPERING VOICE The mission of this technology is accomplished. The singing fades. CU SMICKERS' FACE The red substance starts to melt from Smickers' face.   CASSIAN (O.S.) It's self-destructing. Suddenly, the lights come on. The team stares around. All of the blood-red substance is gone.   HARRIER This could all have been a shared hallucination. Smickers tries to stand up. He's disoriented. Marcase helps him.   SMICKERS I saw it. I saw the End. The stars fell from the sky. Marcase helps him out of the room. The others follow.

No. K1313 - "Apparition” - Shooting Script 10/24/96 46.

65	INT. LONG HALL -- CONTINUOUS	65
	Here too the-red substance is gone. The people who were trapped in it are beginning to regain consciousness. Marcase bends over Shiroma and Hailey.   SHIROMA What happened? I must have blacked out. MARCASE It's okay, just take it easy. HAILEY What are you guys...doing down here? Cassian is speaking into a radio. CASSIAN Dark Night One, Dark Night One. This is Eclipse.. Code 16 Delta. Do you read? Code 16 Delta. RADIO TRANSMISSION This is Dark Night One. 16 Delta confirmed. Mission aborted. Smickers walks over to Tuttle and Bubeck.   SMICKERS A little suggestion. The next time a prophet tells you not to touch a star...LEAVE IT ALONE. DISSOLVE TO:
66	INT. BOARDROOM OF THE DAWN -- NIGHT	66
	Dr. Merick sits under a pool of light at the long table in the conference room of the Dawn. In a chair, under another pool of light, sits Major Kate Harrier. Merick is holding the meteorite that Tuttle and Bubeck found. A slight smile is on his face.   DR. MERICK So, Major Harrier, am I to understand that the great truth about the future of this planet has been entrusted to a schizophrenic desert rat named B.B. Smickers? HARRIER Well, that's one interpretation.   (CONTINUED)

No. K1313 - "Apparition” - Shooting Script 10/24/96 47.

66	CONTINUED:	66
	DR. MERICK And what is yours? HARRIER I think the red substance was some kind of life form that caused a collective hallucination. Perhaps a microbe from another planet. But it couldn't exist in our world and finally died away. DR. MERICK (rather disdainfully) And that is your “informed scientific opinion?” HARRIER Well, scientists have found microscopic fossils in meteorites. DR. MERICK Yes, of course they have. And where is the "prophet," Mr. B.B. Smickers? HARRIER Oh, he ranted for awhile then wandered off into the desert. He hasn't been seen since. DR. MERICK Did he say anything unusual before he left? HARRIER (uncomfortable) Just the same kind of lunacy he was spouting all along. DR. MERICK But surely he must have had some words of wisdom for the human race? HARRIER Words of wisdom from a schizophrenic? All he could do was rant about humans and fear. He said we fear everything except the one thing we should fear the most. DR. MERICK And exactly what is that?   (CONTINUED)

No. K1313 - "Apparition” - Shooting Script 10/24/96 48.

66	CONTINUED: (2)	66
	HARRIER (after a pause) Well, it was hard to tell from his babbling, but I think he called it ... (beat) “the One who could make the stars to fall.” He said, we fear everything... but Him. Merick stares at her for a moment. Then ...   DR. MERICK Thank you ' Major Harrier. You're dismissed. She gets up and leaves the room. Merick stares at the meteorite.   DR. MERICK (CONT'D) The one who could make the stars to fall. How very poetic. He touches a button on the table.   DR. MERICK (CONT'D) Memo. Begin a search for a derelict in the California desert. His name is B.B. Smickers. (beat) I want him found. FADE OUT. END OF ACT FOUR