The Dark

Synopsis: David Penhall and Jenna Mu have met in French Guiana. She want's his help to stop the European Space Centre "ARIANNE" at KOUROU, FRENCH GUIANA from launching any more rockets with payloads to VENUS..

 	FADE IN

	EXT.  FRENCH GUIANA - DEVILS ISLAND
	EXT.  ABONDONED PENAL COLONY BUILDING
	INT.  LARGE ROOM  -  DAY  YEAR 2000	

	The opening scene is a close-up of the iron cells
	deep in the ground where FRENCH PRISONERS were
	caged. RATS are seen running across the stone
	floor and the jungle has overgrown most of it. 
	A ray of light is coming through a crack between
	two large slabs of wall.  A grinding noise is
	heard and the view is of two hands breaking a
	lock on one of the cell doors. The door opens, 
	and the image is of a woman trying to climb out. 

				IMAGE
			(groaning)
		The bastards thought they had 
		me down here forever! 

	CLOSE

	She's a beautiful woman and completely nude.
	Her body is exquisite, hair is golden blonde,
	has white skin, blue eyes and appears to be 
	in her early thirties.

				LADY
		My goodness that prison was so
		uncomfortable. 

	She lifts herself out of the cage and slowly walks 
	across the length of the stone floor. She descends
	down a long staircase and stops in a small corridor.
	Lifting a metal bar, a hidden door slides up and she 
	walks out.
				
	EXT:  ARIAL VIEW OF BEACH.  

	She is seen dragging an inflatable ZODIAC 
	boat to the beach, jumps in and disappears 
	in the surf.

			         CUT TO:

	EXT.  FRENCH GUIANA - CAYENNE
	EXT.  FRENCH GUIANA'S CAPITOL
	INT.  CAYENNE BEACH -  DAY   

	FRENCH GUIANA'S capital has a relaxed tropical
	ambience, redolent of France. It's located at
	the western end of a small, hilly peninsula
	between the CAYENNE and MAHURY Rivers on the 
	Atlantic Coast and is the country's only port.
	A beautiful young lady is laying on the beach.
	She is nude and appears to be sleeping.  A 
	young man has been SCUBA diving in a small
	Cove and is walking down the beach when
	he sees her and stops dead in his tracks.
	DAVID PENHALL is in his late twenties and has 
	just finished his graduate degree in Marine 
	Biology at SCRIPPS College of Oceanography.
	He's let his hair grow long and is wearing a
	small pony tail. He shows early wrinkles on
	his face from the tough demands of finishing
	College and working at the same time. 

				DAVID
			(Talking to himself)
		DAVID, this only happens once in a
		lifetime so don't screw it up.

	He stops and places his equipment on the
	sand and pulls his mask off his head and 
	walks to the young lady. He addresses 
	her in a kind voice.

				DAVID
			(Quietly)
		Miss, they don't allow Nude 
		sunbathing here.

	She very slowly opens her eyes and she smiles at
	him and looks at him with deep blue eyes.

				YOUNG LADY
		I'm sorry, do I offend you by not
		wearing a swim suit?

				DAVID
		No not at all, I just don't want
		you to get arrested.

				YOUNG LADY
		How very thoughtful of you.  By the
		way my name is JENNA MU.
			(extending her hand)
	
				DAVID
			(reaching)
		My name is DAVID PENHALL, please
		to meet you JENNA.  Are you from
		around here?

				JENNA
		No, actually I'm from APHRODITE.

				DAVID
			(smiling)
		Is that in GREECE?

				JENNA
			(Smiling)
		VENUS.

				DAVID
		Yeah and I'm from MARS.

				JENNA
		Why are you laughing?

				DAVID	
		VENUS?  VENUS?

				JENNA
		Yes Venus, I'm here on a mission
		and I'm looking for someone's help
		and I will pay them very handsomely!

				DAVID
		I'm a Marine Biologist, and currently
		doing research on a small Grant.
		So what kind of help do you need?

	He sees a beautiful young woman who any man would
	give his thumb to possess, and he just can't 
	believe this is happening.


				JENNA
		For what I have to do, I need no
		help, but I need a guide, just
		like when you told me to put on
		some clothes.  I'm not of this 
		Planet and I'm not familiar with
		your customs.

				DAVID
			(Laughing)
		Not of this planet, that's rich.
		Ok, Miss not of this planet, . .
		How much do I get paid for being
		your GUIDE?

				JENNA
		How much do you need?

	She places her hand on his shoulder and caresses
	his arm down to his fore arm.

				DAVID
		Two-hundred a day plus expenses.

				JENNA
		Done. Pause. When was the last time
		you were with a woman?

				DAVID
		Are you hitting on me?

				JENNA
		Hitting on you?

				DAVID
		When do we start?

				JENNA
		When can you start?

				DAVID
		How about today?

				JENNA
		DONE!

	She puts her clothes on and grabs her personal
	things and they walk up to the small rows of
	buildings in TWIN HARBORS.

	INT.  TWIN HARBORS HOTEL LOBBY	

				CLERK
			(Looking at David)
		May I help you Sir?

				DAVID
		Yes, my wife and I need a room.

				CLERK
		We just had a cancellation, so
		your in luck. Let's see this
		room has a King Size bed.  Is 
		that satisfactory?

				DAVID
			(Looking at Jenna)
		Ok, dear?

				JENNA
		Fine, it's fine, let's take it!

	The BELL-HOP relieves them of the bags and they
	follow him up the stairs to ROOM 201.

	INT:  ROOM 201

	The BELL-HOP places the bags in the small closet
	and brings a full container of Ice.

				BELL-HOP
		If you folks need anything just
		call me, I'm option 6 on the phone.

	David slips him a five dollar bill and walks out
	placing the DO NOT DISTURB sign on the outside of
	the door. After the door closes, she throws herself 
	on the bed and sighs with relief.

				JENNA
		David, come and lay down with
		me on the bed, I'm lonely.

	He sheepishly complies and lays down next to her.
	He notices a strange odor when he gets close to
	her. In making a face she gets a surprised look 
	on her face.

				JENNA (Cont.)
		What's wrong, do I offend you?
	
				DAVID
		I'm sorry, but I tend to be
		allergic to some PERFUMES and
		COLOGNES. 

				JENNA
		The one I'm wearing Is called
		NECTAR OF THE GODS. It's very
		popular in APHRODITE.

				DAVID
		Ok, you've hired me, now can
		you please tell me where you're
		from?

				JENNA
			(Thinking)
		I'm from the PLANET VENUS.

				DAVID
		Yeah right.  How old
		are you?

				JENNA
		How old do you think I am?

	Looking at her face and body, smiling and rubbing
	his chin.

				DAVID
		TWENTY-EIGHT?

				JENNA
		That's a very good guess, I'm
		TWENTY-NINE.  How old are
		you?

				DAVID
		I just turned THIRTY-FIVE.

				JENNA
		I'm hot, do I have your
		permission to remove my 
		clothes?

				DAVID
			(Smiling)
		Go for it.

	He watches her as she removes all her clothes and
	lays on the bed naked. His heart is racing by looking
	at this beautiful creature, and reaches over to kiss 
	her. He gives her a quick kiss because the smell is
	so bad.

				JENNA
			(Disturbed)
		Why are you making a face, my perfume
		offends you?  Why don't you take off
		your swimsuit.

	He looks at her with a puppy look on his face.

				JEANNA
		You must be shy, or you would
		remove everything.

				DAVID
		Yes, you're right . . .
		I am shy.

				JENNA
		I know you don't believe me that
		I'm from Venus, but I am!

				DAVID
			(Laughing)
		Ok, I'll bite, tell me about VENUS!
	
				JENNA
		A NEW WORLD VIEW is being born,
		and Such claims are often made 
		and are usually suspicious, but 
		in this case I mean, not your 
		world but VENUS, the world next 
		door. Your MAGELLAN SPACECRAFT
		has so radically and suddenly 
		removed the shroud of secrecy 
		around my planet Are you listening 
		to this or are you more 
		interested in looking at my body?

				DAVID
		Yes of course, I'm just doing both.

				JENNA
		Humans have now sent more ROBOT 
		SPACECRAFT to VENUS than to any
		other planet not counting your
		MOON. The most recent of these
		has done more than all others
		combined to TRANSFORM VENUS, in
		our minds, into a JUNK YARD. The
		latest chapter, for now, in the
		saga of VENUS exploration has
		finally given us a clear view 
		of the EARTH MANS ARROGANCE.
		In a nutshell, don't send no 
		more junk or we will be forced
		to eliminate your species! 

				DAVID
			(Laughing)
		You are really serious.

				JENNA
		Dead, serious!

				DAVID
		So what do you want from me?

				JENNA
		We have information that your
		people are ready to land a
		special piece of equipment on
		Venus, and we don't want it
		there.

				DAVID
		What kind of equipment?

				JENNA
		SHAKE AND BAKE, ATMOSPHERE
		GENERATORS.  Huge big pieces
		of shit that make terrible
		noises and smell up the whole
		planet. They will run day and
		night then after a couple of
		years, thousands of your people
		will come and live on Venus.

				DAVID
		Your serious.
													JENNA
		The earliest human remains yet 
		unearthed (3 million years) have 
		been found in the ancient lake 
		beds of TANZANIA'S OLDUVAI GORGE,
		which is located within a larger
		geological structure known as the 
		EAST AFRICAN RIFT SYSTEM. Check 
		out any map of AFRICA and you
		can see a network of giant cracks
		extending north to south through
		EAST AFRICA, threatening to split
		off the "CAPE HORN". It starts in
		the north, by DJIBOUTE on the Gulf
		of ADEN. Running south from there is
		a line of lakes cutting through 
		ETHIOPIA and KENYA into LAKE 
		VICTORIA. Farther south are two 
		long, thin lakes: LAKE TANGANYIKA
		which forms the border between
		ZAIRE and TANZANIA, AND LAKE 
		MALAWI. Still further south, 
		the ZAMBEZI RIVER runs through
		MOZAMBIQUE to the Indian ocean.

	David is blinking his eyes in an attempt to stay 
	awake. 

				JENNA (Cont.)
		Am I putting you to sleep David?

				DAVID
		No, no, it just seems a little warm
		In here, go on.

				JENNA		
		These are some of the most obvious
		surface features of EAST AFRICA'S
		great rift. Seismologists' maps
		of the Earth's deep mantle show that
		a huge blob of hot material is rising 
		under EAST AFRICA, uplifting, thinning,
		and splitting the lithosphere. AFRICA
		is slowly coming apart along this
		rift, as the SOMALI PLATE pulls away
		to the East from the AFRICAN PLATE, 
		moving at a rate of one or two inches
		a year. The process has been going 
		on for about 15 million years. 

				DAVID
		Why are you giving all this information
		to me, what am I suppose to do with it. 

				JENNA
		I'm not finished. There are intriguing
		similarities between Devana Chasma, the
		giant rift running through Beta Regio,
		and the East African Rift System.
		We may not have found a Garden 
		of Eden on Venus (as some had
		hoped in the 1700's) ,but there
		is one area that reminds us of 
		the old East African hometown of
		humankind. And the resemblance 
		is not superficial: similar 
		processes are going on above and
		below the ground at these two
		great hot spots on neighboring
		worlds. 

				DAVID
		I still don't understand why you're 
		telling me all this, what do you think
		I can do about it?

				JENNA
		I'm aware you are unable to do anything
		about it, but we need to tell your people
		so they can start making survival plans.
		As the end of this century draws near, 
		men and women across the nation, wonder
 		aloud why earth's weather is becoming so
		violent. 

				DAVID
			(Laughing)
		So to follow this scenario On a New 
		York street corner a newspaper vendor
		shouts the headlines: "South Pole ice
		cap melting from greenhouse warming, 
		Florida to flood."

				JENNA
		Exactly, greenhouse warming transports
		equatorial moisture to the South Pole,
		ice cap grows larger, more unstable.
		Conflicting theories of Antarctica's 
		stability and its role in changing
		global weather patterns. 

				DAVID
		You are serious aren't you?

				JENNA
		In churches fundamentalist preachers
		relentlessly exhort that we are living
		in the Biblical end of time, with 
		Armageddon to take place around
		the year 2000.The Apocalypse is here! 
		As the poles shift, it's going to 
		shift backward a quarter of a 
		turn. This will create the polar 
		ice caps melting and when this 
		happens and the water melts 
		down, it comes rushing down, the pole 
		plates of the earth will move 
		and they will come to a point 
		where they can't move any further.
		In the center part of the United
		States, the plates will buckle 
		against each other. The center 
		portion will be forced up as much 
		as 2000 feet.

				DAVID
		You know, you're scaring the shit
		out of me, that's enough!

				JENNA
		I'm not finished David, now listen!
		The continent of ice at the South 
		Pole is now larger then the 
		United States and Canada combined.
		As it continues to grow, pressure 
		from the ice on the crust of the
		earth will lead to tectonic plate 
		movement, increasing the number
		of earthquakes and volcanic disasters 
		world wide. On May 5th in the year 2000,
		our moon, the planets Mercury, Venus, 
		our Sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will
		be aligned with the earth, significantly 
		increasing the centrifugal momentum exerted
		on the earth's crust. On that day, the 
		ever growing ice build up at the South 
		Pole will upset the earth's axis sending
		trillions of tons of ice and water sweeping 
		over the surface of your planet.
				
				DAVID
		What great change or the beginning of 
		what change, if any, is to take place 
		on the earth in the year 2000 to 
		2001 A.D.?

				JENNA
		When there is a shifting of the poles.
		Or a new cycle begins. The crust is 
		again out of a state of equilibrium,
		the continental arches are right
		for buckling; and the ice caps, 
		though much smaller, are unbalanced.
		The trigger this time, however, will 
		be from an outside source. On May 5 
		of the year 2000 A.D. the planets 
		of the Solar System will be arrayed
		in practically a straight line across 
		space, and our planet will be 
		subjected to enough gravitational 
		distortion to tip the delicate balance.

				DAVID
			(Playing along with her)
		What is your planet like, Jenna?

				JENNA
		Well as you know, Venus was once 
		a vary large Comet and when it passed
		within two hundred thousand miles
		of your Earth it burnt out and went 
		into orbit around the Sun. The passing
		by Earth caused you to lose most of
		your people.

				DAVID
			(Upset)
		Ok, let's stop playing these silly
		Games, who the hell are you and where
		are you really from?

				JENNA
		Like I said my name is JENNA MU and
		like I told you I'm from Venus.

				DAVID
			(Laughing)
		Jenna MU, like MOO Cow?

				JENNA
		No, like MU, as in the Lost Continent
		of LEMURIA.

				DAVID
		LEMURIA or MU is just an old wives
		tale, told by some to put children
		to sleep. 

				JENNA
		I kid you not, it was never lost
		were standing on it right now!

				DAVID
		Yeah right, and Hawaii is the 
		capital!

				JENNA
		Actually, VAUHU ISLA a submerged 
		Island fifty miles west of Easter
		Island is the Capital,	but it's 
		under two thousand feet of water.

	David is getting tired of playing JENNA'S little
	bullshit game so job or no job, he's had it.

				DAVID
		Shit you just never quit, 
		do you?	

				JENNA
		I don't understand, have I 
		upset you again?

	In a playing fashion David grabs her by the arm
	in an attempt to shake loose her dialog, when
	she reacts by throwing David across the room where
	he ends up in a pile.

				DAVID
			(In shock)
		Shit you have the strength of 
		two men!

				            CUT TO:

	EXT.  WINWARD SIDE OF ISLAND
	EXT.  SANDY BEACH FACING A HUGE CAVE

	David and Jenna are walking along the beach and 
	have entered the large Cave.

	INT.  LARGE SEASHORE CAVE

	Jenna has taken a small remote activator out of her
	small purse and turns a switch and a medium size
	space ship resembling a stealth fighter comes into
	focus. David is exhibiting extreme shock and slowly
	sits down in the sand.

				DAVID
		JEEZE-LOUISE, you could of warned
		me you were going to show me your
		spaceship?

				JENNA
		You wanted me to prove to you
		that LEMURIA still exists, well
		now I'm going to show you.

	She leads him to the opening door of the craft 
	then after they disappear into it, a humming noise
	starts up, the craft rises and gains altitude
	then disappears. 

				CUT TO:

Back to beginning of script

OR

Go to Part 2 of The Dark