Conflicts of the last progenitors

Seraph-9 closes the remaining twenty yards between itself and the surface, an act of levitation in reverse. The lenses extruding from the Dragonfly’s eyes fog over.

With a sound akin to a deck of cards being SHUFFLED, twenty mechanical legs unfold from the undercarriage of the vessel, each tipped with bright orange foam spheres; the HISSING hull-boosters dim and shut off.

The Dragonfly drops; the foam tips of its twenty cushioned legs SPLASH into the shallows, resting upon the lavender stone inches below.

32.

INT. DRAGONFLY SERAPH-9 - SAME

The occupants of the vehicle SNAP off the webbing that fastens them inside their foam niches. Lo-Cheun strides to the head of the cabin, stops and turns around, limned by the myriad colors illuminating the monitors.

The Bulletbranch soldiers stand at attention and then bow forty degrees, excepting Zria who bows twenty degrees. Lo-Cheun bows ten degrees in return. They stand.

LO-CHEUN

Zria will take her Cruciform first.

At her clearance, the rest of us-

and the two Bios- will join them.

(he motions to Neredth

with his Fleischwerk arm)

Neredth?

NEREDTH

As you know, the temperature swings of Option-1 are quite dramatic. If you feel faint in the Afternoon

period, speak out. We intend to be back here before Zenith, but don’t

push too hard: Abacus and I can’t

care for more than a few wounded

with the equipment on board.

The Bullets are not terribly interested in Neredth’s admonition.

ZRIA

A reminder. If you are threatened, retreat. If you must engage,

employ springblades and j-guns if

possible. Coilguns are electric

and a lot of this terrain is

covered with water. Things could

get messy.

The Bulletbranch one-stars reach into their hipcaches, pull out their dark blue, silver-whorled coilguns and type in their codes. A tattoo of SNAPS comes from the weapons.

Zria holsters her black, skull-decorated coilgun, walks toward the aft of the vehicle, kneels down to the circular portal and punches in a code. Six Bullets line up behind her.

33.

LO-CHEUN

(to Zria)

Go make history.

Zria nods stoically and inserts her fingers into the four finger holes in the center of the doorway; the ten magnetic clamps surrounding the portal CLACK and unfold.

EXT. OPEN PLAIN / OPTION-1 - SAME

A black circle four feet in diameter appears in the underside of Seraph-9; an orange fabric-ladder unfurls from the aperture and rolls down into the water below, PLISH.

Zria descends the elastifabric rungs, her eyes warily scanning the environment; the breath from her mouth steams in the cool air. She drops the final foot, SPLASHING into seven inches of water.

LO-CHEUN (O.S.)

Congratulations Zria Pohan-

Kawthuri. You are the first human

to tread Option-1.

The two-star Bullet looks at her boots, planted firmly on the lavender stone beneath scintillating water. She leans down, touches the terrain with her fingertip and admits a brief grin.

Zria stands upright and again scans the horizons: a vast stretch of hilly stone glazed with water stretches before her. She glances up into the aperture of the ship.

ZRIA

Climb.

INT. GLASS-DOMED AMPHITHEATER - MOMENTS LATER

Sven, Heinrich and five hundred PEOPLE- primarily Bluebranch-sit in the concave amphitheater, spellbound by the split-screen panorama images of Zria and her six Bullets walking upon the alien terrain. (The visuals are thermal, radio and spectral transmissions sent from Seraph-9’s eyes.) Sven leans over to address Heinrich, yet does not take his eyes from the broadcast.

SVEN

I wonder what that feels like...?

To walk on another world.

34.

HEINRICH

What are your concentrations?

SVEN

Pilot, automuscle, historian, flux

mathematics, linguistics and

javelin.

HEINRICH

Wow. Ehrgeizig.

Heinrich, very impressed, regards Sven for a moment and then turns back to the screen. (The broadcast shows the septet walking toward a depression in the water-covered plain.) HEINRICH (CONT'D)

I guess you didn’t sleep until they froze you. You trying to impress

someone?

Sven shrugs, not looking away from the panorama images.

HEINRICH (CONT'D)

With those skills you’ll be

shuttled down there for sure.

SVEN

What’s your concentration?

HEINRICH

Acoustic theory and western music--

not much use for those unless they

happen upon a symphony.

EXT. OPEN PLAIN / OPTION-1 - SAME

RECTANGLE, a tall black African man of thirty, leads the cruciform; behind him is Zria, flanked by JENFER, a Singaporian woman of twenty-six with silver hair and the Australian Man (his uniform stained from vomiting); bringing up the rear are two white FRENCHMEN in their early twenties.

The Bullets SLOSH through the cool clear water that bathes the stone terrain and- in this area- rises to their knees.

Rectangle catches a glimmer in the water just ahead of him; he stops. Zria notices him.

ZRIA

Statues. Everyone.

The cruciform stops; nobody moves at all.

35.

ZRIA (CONT'D)

Rectangle?

Rectangle looks into the water before him; his bold features stare back up at him.

RECTANGLE

I thought I saw- there!