There's a Neutrino Drive in Hangar Six
that needs to be evacuated.
INT. HANGAR SIX - PLANET CIDEBA - DAY
They scramble into the hangar.
Gedden enters a code on a wall safe. He pops it open.
He retrieves a rectangular block of metal approximately one foot long. A small circular hole runs through its length. It is a Neutrino Drive Engine.
Gedden thrusts the engine into a carry bag.
Piren snatches the bag from him.
They scoot out the door.
EXT. LAUNCH FACILITY - DAY
They race back toward Hangar Five.
The mechanoid is now inside the facility's perimeter.
Its lame leg drags across the ground, launching huge chunks of rock and soil into the air with distant, slow motion arcs.
Fodder rains on several nearby hangars.
Another leg IMPACTS the ground.
Piren nearly falls.
INT. HANGAR FIVE - DAY
Gedden and Piren enter the hangar.
Piren climbs into his scoutship. He nestles the carry bag behind the pilot's seat.
PIREN
(buckling in)
What are you going to do?
GEDDEN
Don't worry about me. Just resume your
mission to Earth. That satisfies the
evacuation order. Warning beacons were
sent to all Class Three worlds. That
means Earth has already been warned.
Gedden yanks out the power cable. Pulls down the canopy. Seals it. Waves Piren out.
A Kek emerges from a dark corner of the hangar and engulfs Gedden.
Another Kek quickly cocoons itself to the scoutship without Piren's knowledge.
EXT. ABOVE LAUNCH FACILITY - DAY
Piren's ship ascends.
Three Kek mechanoids are visible in the surrounding terrain.
EXT. CIDEBA ORBIT
Laser pulses BURST from the defense satellites.
Piren's ship rises between them, then accelerates out into space.
INT. SCOUTSHIP
Images of Earth's technological advancements flood onto the screen as the EARTH chronometer rapidly advances to 2018.
The scoutship arrives in Earth orbit.
Piren taps into a satellite signal. He conducts a query.
An image of a book appears. It reads: 'THE E.T. SIGNAL OF 2018 BY ALEC STRICKLAND.'
The COMPUTER begins reading it aloud:
COMPUTER
Little is known about the transmission
received from 58 Eridani...
EXT. ALEC'S HOUSE - DAY
CAPTION: Southern Wisconsin, April 14, 2018
Springtime.
The house is small, rustic. It sits on a long, dirt road. Vast fields of young corn surround it.
An AIRCAR hovers clumsily into the end of its long, gravel driveway. Its four
turbofans WHINE unnervingly.
Rocks pelt the front of the house.
INT. LIVING ROOM - ALEC'S HOUSE - DAY
ALEC STRICKLAND, 21, handsome, healthy, spots the aircar through the living room window.
ALEC
STEVE's here.
Alec spies Steve, 20, stocky, beer belly, through a slit in blinds.
KRISTIN, 19, athletic, brunette, enters the living room.
She places a snack tray and an ashtray on the glass top coffee table.
Alec flings the front door open just as Steve is preparing to knock.
ALEC (CONT’D)
Can I help you?
STEVE
