A GREETING OFFICER floats by. He grabs hold of a fixed steel ladder. Pulls himself up through an opening.
GREETING OFFICER
Everyone up deck.
Jeremy pushes off toward the opening.
Tara comes floating up behind him. She gracefully collides with a middle aged man. He is sent into a slow, helpless spin.
After the final passenger slips through the opening, the greeting officer drops the hatch into place.
INT. NAVIGATION STATION - HIMALIA
Jupiter is visible through the window.
Jeremy enters.
A NAVIGATION OFFICER approaches him.
Two other crewmembers are present.
JEREMY
I'm Jeremy Ash. I was asked to report
here.
NAVIGATION OFFICER
The pilot of Microcore's Jovian Racer has
asked to speak with you.
JEREMY
You're in contact with CARLOS? Is he
okay?
NAVIGATION OFFICER
For now. But he apparently missed the
gravity assist that would've returned him
to Earth. There's no way that we, or
anyone else can retrieve him. Would you
like to speak to him?
JEREMY
Please.
The Navigation Officer opens a video channel to Carlos.
JEREMY (CONT’D)
Hey, buddy. How's it going?
CARLOS
Actually, a small rock or something hit
the ship just a few minutes ago.
JEREMY
Did it do any damage?
Carlos laughs, then looks frantically around the cabin. His
face comes forward to fill the screen.
CARLOS
I don't hear any hissing so I guess I'm
still sealed.
JEREMY
You seem to be handling the situation
well.
CARLOS
The external sensors started acting up a
few weeks ago, but Microcore Earth
Command assured me that the problem had
been corrected. I activated the
maneuvering thrusters on time, on target,
and at full capacity, but they never
fired. They're still not sure what went
wrong.
JEREMY
Do you think the calculations were wrong?
CARLOS
I don't know, and at this point, I don't
really care. What's done is done. Life is
too short to play the blame game. Well,
my life is anyway. I knew the risks going
in. I was the first man to reach Jupiter.
I'll live forever.
JEREMY
That's a great attitude to have.
CARLOS
Ironically, by the time my life support
fails, I'll have doubled the distance
record for a manned spaceflight.
JEREMY
I wish there was something I could do.
CARLOS
Actually, there is. Now that we've
verified I won't be returning to Earth,
will you tell me what you did to so
impress Mr. Millikan.
JEREMY
What do you mean?
CARLOS
Everyone at the complex wants to know why
he keeps you so close. Your secret's safe
with me.
JEREMY
I suppose it is.
(to the Navigation Officer)
Sir, is there a way for me to speak
privately to Captain Ruiz without being
monitored or recorded?
The Navigation Officer looks around the room.
He receives several nods from the crew.
He flips a series of switches.
NAVIGATION OFFICER
You may have ten minutes alone with your
friend. Come on gentlemen, let's give
these men some privacy.
The crew exits.
JEREMY
I'm a little nervous about telling you
this story. What if someone is monitoring
this frequency?
CARLOS
This is a short range channel. No one
cares about our private conversation.
Come on, I'm dying to hear how you won
over the richest man in the world.
JEREMY
Are you ready for the story of your life?
CARLOS
That good, huh?
JEREMY
Oh yeah. Remember the E.T. signal of
2018?
CARLOS
Of course.
JEREMY
It wasn't just the signal that reached
Earth.
INT. JEREMY AND TARA'S HABITATION MODULE - HIMALIA
Jupiter's moon, Europa, is visible through the window.
PILOT (V.O.)
The small body to starboard is Europa.
Although it's the smallest of Jupiter's
Galilean satellites, it's also the
brightest. It's also our best hope of
finding life elsewhere in the solar
system.
The habitation module's wall screen activates.
An animated video of a probe landing on Europa appears.
PILOT (V.O.) (CONT’D)
I'm sure that most of you are aware of
the NASA probe we will be retrieving
today.
The probe drops a canister beneath it.
PILOT (V.O.) (CONT’D)
The Wet Area Sample Procurement, or WASP
Probe, was launched by NASA in 2026, and
successfully landed on Europa two years
later.
The canister melts through the surface ice.
PILOT (V.O.) (CONT’D)
After disengaging from its base and
melting down through sixty miles of ice
and slush, the WASP Probe entered the
Europan sea where it retrieved a sample
of the underground ocean.
The canister collects a sample of the Europan ocean.
PILOT (V.O.) (CONT’D)
The probe then burrowed its way back the
surface where it was launched out of the
moon's gravity well.
The probe rises above Europa.
PILOT (V.O.) (CONT’D)
We will be retrieving it within the hour.
EXT. HIMALIA
The Himalia approaches the probe. Retrieves it.
The Himalia then passes near the moons Io and Ganymede before leaving the system.
INT. MAIN LABORATORY - HIMALIA
FOUR NASA SCIENTISTS are present. NASA patches adorn their lab coats.
The WASP sample is delivered under guard. A data crystal accompanies it.
SCIENTIST #1
This is it, gentlemen.
Scientist #1 removes the housing. Slides out a clear canister.
It is teeming with tiny lifeforms. The scientists gasp.
SCIENTIST #2
Extraterrestrial life in our own solar
system. Incredible. First the signal of
2018 and now this. The universe must be
filled with life.
Scientist #1 places the canister on a scanner.
The scanner detects several thousand organisms.
The readout displays that half of them are dead.
The scientists separate out the dead specimens and quickly freeze them.
They transfer the live ones to a specially designed holding tank.
They run the probe's video from the crystal.
The Europan ocean is very shallow and surprisingly clear.
Several large asteroids rest on the bottom.
Volcanic vents are visible.
A school of large creatures swim by.
Scientist #1 rewinds the video and slows it down.
They watch in awe at the replay.
Scientist #3 retrieves a live specimen from the holding tank.
He runs a preliminary analysis.
SCIENTIST #3
The organism's genetic coding appears
similar to DNA but I detect only three
different nucleotides.
SCIENTIST #4
(re-examining the data)
It appears that each nucleotide is
capable of pairing with either of the
other two. A trinary code?
SCIENTIST #3
How could a triad of potential base