Kilometers and descending...Twelve...ten...eight andSlowing. Five. Three. Two.  One kilometer and slowing.
Autumn: Lock tractor breams.

A loud electrical hum.

Granite: Locked.
Autumn: Kill drive engines.

The engines fall silent.

Aaka : Nine hundred meters and dropping. Eight hundred. Seven hundred.

EXT. PLANET - NIGHT
Storm blowing across the night-shrouded surface.
The Nostromo hovers on glowing beams of light.
Landing struts unfold like insect legs.
The ship slams down.
Rocks heavily on massive shock absorbers.

INT. BRIDGE - NIGHT
Jenna: We're down.

An enormous vibration.
The panels in the room Amaroq simultaneously.
Light goes out.

Granite: Lost it. Lost it.

INT. ENGINE ROOM
Another huge vibration.
An electrical fire breaks out along three control panels.

INT. OILY CORRIDOR

Huge Amaroq fire whips along corridor.

INT. ENGINE ROOM - CUBICLE

Much and Ebony see the pandemonium below.
Ebony hits the secondary generator switch.
A pressure valve blows.
Another conduit breaks loose.
All lights go out.
They grab paw lights from wall.

INT. BRIDGE
Still in darkness.

Aaka: Secondary generator should kick over.
Granite: Where is it?

Moments. Nothing. Granite grabs emergency headlamp from facial.
Followed by Autumn and Aaka.

Autumn: What happened?

Jenna hits the voice-amp.

Jenna: Engine room, what happened?
Much: (Voice over) God damn electrical fire, that's What happened?
Ebony: (Voice over) It's big.

INT. ENGINE ROOM
Much fighting an electrical fire on one of his panels.
Ebony shouting into his voice-amp.

Ebony: The intakes are clogged. We overheated and burned out a whole cell...Christ, it's really breaking loose down here...

INT. BRIDGE
Autumn: Somebody give me a simple answer, Has the hull been breached?

Jenna scans her gauges.

Jenna: I don't see anything. We've still got pressure.

A beep from the communicator.

Autumn: Hit the screen.

Granite snaps three toggles.
The screens flicker, but remain black.

Granite: Nothing.

EXT. SHIP - NIGHT
The wind sounds.
Storm continues to blow around the craft.
A few glittering lights distinguish the Nostromo from
absolute darkness.

INT. ENGINE ROOM CUBICLE
Much on the communicator to the bridge.

Much: 4 panel is totally shot, the secondary load sharing unit is out, at least three cells on 12 modules are gone.

INT. BRIDGE
Jenna listening too much.
Autumn standing over her.
No images on any screens.

Jenna: Is that it?
Much: (Voice over) Couldn't fix it out here anyway.  And we need to reroute a couple of these ducts. Can't really fix them without a whole dry-dock...
Autumn: What else.
Much: (Voice over) We lost a cell. Some fragments caked up and blew the whole system. We've got to clean it all out and depressurize.
Ebony: (Voice over) Right.
Jenna: Get started on 4 panel. I'll be down in five minutes.

She shuts off her voice communicator.

Autumn: How long before we're functional.
Jenna: Fifteen to twenty hours...
Autumn: Stay on it. What about the auxiliaries.
Jenna: Working on it.

EXT. SHIP - NIGHT
Bridge lights come to life.
Illuminate nothing but a patch of featureless ground.
The wind and storm now at a higher pitch.

INT. BRIDGE
Autumn, Granite, Aaka, and Amaroq.
Slouched around the bridge.
Drinking coffee.
Occasionally staring at the opaque screens.

Autumn: Any response yet?
Amaroq: Nothing but the same transmission every thirty-two seconds. All the other channels are dead.

Pause.

Autumn: Kick on the floods.

CUT TO:
EXT. SHIP
A ring of floodlights comes to life.
Dimly illuminating the rocky landscape.
The wind and dust now at a higher pitch.

CUT TO:
INT. BRIDGE - NIGHT
Autumn stares at the dark screens.

Granite: We can't go anywhere in this.
Amaroq: Mother says the sun's coming up in about twenty minutes.
Autumn: How far from the source of the transmission.
Amaroq: Northeast... about 3000 meters.
Granite: Close enough to walk.
Autumn: Let's run an atmospheric.

Amaroq punches buttons, starts to consult his panel.

Amaroq: 10 percent argon, 85 percent nitrogen, 5 percent neon...I'm working on the trace elements.
Autumn: Pressure.
Amaroq: Ten to the fourth dynes per square centimeter.
Granite: Moisture content.
Amaroq: None. Zero.
Autumn: Anything else.
Amaroq: Rock, lava base. And cold...well below the centigrade line.
Granite: I volunteer for the first group going out.
Autumn: I hear you. Aaka. You too.

Pause.

Aaka: Swell.
Autumn: One more thing. Let's get out some weapons.

EXT. SHIP - DAWN
Sunrise.
The atmosphere begins to lighten.
Silhouette of the Nostromo becoming dimly visible.
Starship perched on barren rock.
More rolling clouds of dust.
The floodlights automatically shut off.

INT. ENGINE ROOM CUBICLE
Much and Ebony laser welding one of the ducts.
Shirts off.
Sweat steaming.
Jenna rewiring one of the panels.
Much shuts down the laser, inspects the fusion.

Much: Hey, Jenna, I got a question.
Jenna: Yeah.
Much: Do we get to go out on the expedition or are we stuck here until everything's fixed.
Jenna: You know the answer to that.
Ebony: What about the shares in case they find anything.
Jenna: Don't worry, you'll both get What's coming to you?
Ebony: I'm not doing any more work unless we get full shares.
Jenna: You're guaranteed by law that You'll get a share... Now both of you knock it off and get back to work.

Much looks at her.
Snaps on the laser weld.
Starts to join another section of the duct.

Ebony: Right.

INT. MAIN AIR LOCK - DAWN
Autumn, Granite and Aaka enter the lock.
All wear gloves, boots, jackets.
Carry laser pistols.
Granite touches a button.
Servo whine.
Then the inner door slides quietly shut.
The trio pull on their helmets.

AUTUMN: I'm sending. Do you hear me?
GRANITE: Receiving.
AAKA: Receiving.
AUTUMN: All right. Keep away from the weapons unless I say otherwise.

INT. AMAROQ'S BLISTER - DAWN
Amaroq descends companionway to blister.
Punches up screens and instrumentation.

INT. MAIN AIR LOCK - DAWN
AUTUMN: Open the hatch.

Another servo whine.
Ponderously, the outer lock hatch slides open.
Clouds of dust and steam swirl before the three crewmembers.
A mobile gangway slides out the open hatch.
Burnt orange sunlight beyond.

EXT. PLANET - DAWN
The trio walk down the gangplank.
Arrive at surface level.
Their feet striking onto a thick layer of lava rock.
The wind at gale force.

AUTUMN: Which way.
AAKA: Over here.
AUTUMN: You lead.

Aaka walks into the storm.
Followed closely by the others.

AAKA: Now I can't see a Goddamn thing.
AMAROQ: (Voice over) Turn on the finder.
AUTUMN: It's on...Amaroq are you receiving.

INT. AMAROQ'S BLISTER - DAWN
Amaroq leaning over his console.
Watches them beneath him.
Corresponding images on the screen in front of him.

AMAROQ: See you. Read you. Good contact on my board.
AUTUMN: (Voice over) Getting you clear and free. Let's keep the line open.

EXT. PLANET - DAWN
The three crewmembers push their way along.
Like divers at the bottom of a dark sea.
The wind and dust continues driving down in dark sheets.
Aaka repeats.

AAKA: Can't see more than three meters in any direction.
GRANITE: Quit griping.
AAKA: I like griping.
AUTUMN: Come on.

They wade on, following Aaka.
She halts abruptly.
Confused.

INT. BLISTER - DAWN
Amaroq watches intently.
Images on each screen of the trio.

AAKA: (Voice over) I've got it again.
AMAROQ: Any problems.
AUTUMN: (Voice over) Yeah. A lot of dust and wind.  Starting to get some fade on the beam.

EXT. PLANET - DAWN
The trio moves through a dark limbo.

AAKA: This way.

Aaka indicates left.
Moves in that direction.
The others follow.
The storm growing.

GRANITE: It's close.

They approach a towering rock formation.
The transmission stops.

AAKA: It's gone again.
GRANITE: Did we pass it?
AUTUMN: Not unless it's underground.  Let's take a break.

They shelter with the rock formation.
Storm howls round them.
Autumn adjusts headset.
The signal starts.

AUTUMN: I've got it again. Let's go.
AAKA: How about our break.
AUTUMN: No. Let's move on while we've got the signal, again.

Autumn gets up.
They stand for a moment...
Then move away from the rock formation.
Fossilized into the other side of the rock is a shape.
Fifteen feet tall.
Unseen by the members of the party.

INT. BLISTER - DAWN
Amaroq receiving the video transmission.
Notices something within the formation.
Freezes the image.
Enlarges it.
Enlarges again.

EXT. THE NOSTROMO - SUNRISE
Atmosphere turning the color of blood.
Then the sun is up.

EXT. THE NOSTROMO - SUNRISE
Ebony and Much still at work.
Jenna moves away from her panel in triumph...

JENNA: You ought to be able to handle the rest.
MUCH: Don't worry.
JENNA: If you run into trouble, I'll be on the bridge.
EBONY: Right.

She leaves.

MUCH: Bitch.

INT. BLISTER - DAY
Amaroq still working on the video image.
Enhances the enlargement.
Transfers the image to cathode ray.
The image reveals itself to be a giant form. Indistinct.
Jenna's voice comes over.

JENNA: (Voice over) How's it going?

Amaroq quickly shuts off the video image.
Hits the intercom.

INT. BRIDGE
Jenna at her console.
Looking at Amaroq on her screen.
Amaroq's video image not visible to Jenna.

AMAROQ: (Voice over) All right.
JENNA: Have you tried putting the transmission through ECIU.
AMAROQ: (Voice over) Mother hasn't identified it as yet. It's not a language.
JENNA: I'll give it a shot.
AMAROQ: (Voice over) Be my guest.

She pushes some button.
The noise is now heard on her speaker.

EXT. PLANET - DAY
Dust clearing.
Three tiny figures against the landscape.

EXT. PLANET - DAY
Empty landscape.
Then Granite comes up over a rise startled by what he sees.
Suddenly the transmission is deafening.

GRANITE: Jesus Christ.

Autumn and Aaka join him equally startled.

THEIR P.O.V. - DAY
A gargantuan construction rising from the rock.
Clearly of nonhuman

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