Conflicts of the last progenitors

The people nearby- watching a panorama that broadcasts the image of the fallen crescentcraft- CHEER. Sven looks at Abacus; neither of them look happy.

SVEN

Somehow this situation does not

inspire me to cheer.

The Armadillo crosses the line of demarcation into daylight; sun pours into the front of the ship like the explosion of an atomic bomb.

Sven turns his head away; Abacus squints.

ABACUS

Next time I say a planet is lousy,

people should listen.

EXT. OPTION-1 OCEAN - DAWN

The transports speed inside the opened right wrist of the smoking, sparking two-and-a-half mile-long craft, Elysabeth.

EXT. OUTER SPACE - LATER

Spinning to maintain artificial gravity, Elysabeth thrusts away from Option-1.

151.

INT. COMESTIBLE QUADRANT - SAME

Sven, his eyes filled with apprehension, sits on a foam bench within the eating area; he does not communicate with any of the seventy-four EATERS peopling the room.

The concerned young man stares at the entrance way, barely breathing or blinking.

Lo-Cheun walks inside; he sees Sven and walks toward him; the Swede frowns at the sight of the Chinese man.

LO-CHEUN

Bjorlsson.

The Senior stops a yard from Sven.

LO-CHEUN (CONT'D)

We lost some Bullets on Option-1.

I’d have no problems putting in the paperwork to make that last star of yours red. Your ingenuity helped

us achieve a victory even though-

SVEN

Strange. I don’t actually consider what happened here winning. Both

sides had casualties and nothing

was gained.

LO-CHEUN

Today you get a little latitude.

Talk to me like that tomorrow and

your second star becomes hollow.

Lo-Cheun turns away; a person SLAMS into and knocks him to the ground.

Sven looks up. Mlissa clambers off of the fallen Senior.

MLISSA

Sven!

The tall woman lunges at the grinning Swede; she fervently embraces him; he holds her close.

Lo-Cheun gets up off the ground and considers chastising the woman, but simply GRUNTS and walks away.

MLISSA (CONT'D)

(whispered to Sven)

I did that on purpose.

152.

Sven starts to LAUGH.

Titlecard: 2981 (Sixteen Earth-Standard months later) EXT. OUTER SPACE

Elysabeth, dented, lacerated and covered with dead eyes, floats in space. (Blue foam fills and seals all of her open wounds.)

INT. MULTISTAR COUNCIL ROOM - SAME

Graynose, Thakani, Lo-Cheun, Jesca, Hector and twenty-seven other Seniors sit within the room. Outer space is visible through the vine-adorned picture window.

Wearing a new Fleischwerk nose- a narrow and upturned model-the diminutive leader addresses an active polypillar.

GRAYNOSE

Eight months from now the ship

should be fully functional. At

that time, we- all of us- return to the vaults.

Thakani stands, the polypillar refocuses on her.

THAKANI

May you- and the thirty-eight

newborns birthed and expected-

dream of a better world than the

two we’ve now left behind.

INT. SVEN AND MLISSA’S COMPARTMENT - LATER

The lone ellipsoidal window in the small blue room admits a view of luminescent solar winds and scattered stars. Sven, healthier and calmer from the intervening months, looks at Mlissa: her hair has grown longer and her lithe body supports a belly vastly swollen by pregnancy.

MLISSA

Are you sure?

SVEN

I should do this. And now-

153.

Sven gently presses his fingertips to her swollen belly and kisses her sweetly.

SVEN (CONT'D)

-now I can do this.

Mlissa grins.

INT. TRANSMISSIONS BOOTH - MOMENTS LATER

Sven sits on an orange bench within a small turquoise booth.

Filling the wall opposite him is a curved panorama screen.

SVEN

Transmissions for Sven Fredrik

Bjorlsson.

ELYSABETH’S VOICE

Two transmissions.

The screen illuminates. Pictured upon the glass are Chief Bjorlsson, his chest stiff behind his four stars, and GETREN, an emaciated woman of fifty years, lying in a hospital bed.

Wires and tubes run from her into an expanding and contracting and pulsating Fleischwerk Polyorgan.

Sven stares at his parents. Upon the screen, Getren leans forward to address the camera.

GETREN

(weakly)

I’m sorry.

She COUGHS. Even strained, it is clear that her voice is the same as Elysabeth’s.

GETREN (CONT'D)

I am so, so sorry pojke...Sven

Fredrik. I know you didn’t want to go, but I couldn’t stand the

thought of you here- on this dying

world- so I asked Jan to-

(she COUGHS)

I asked him to send you.

Chief Bjorlsson grabs Getren’s hand and kisses it.

CHIEF BJORLSSON

(to his wife)

Getren...dear...don’t agitate

yourself. He’ll understand.

154.

GETREN

(to her husband)

I just...

(to the camera)

Don’t be angry with your father--

it was my idea. I just wanted you to have a chance...and I didn’t

want you to stay behind... because

of me.

Chief Bjorlsson brushes the hair from the sick woman’s face.

Getren COUGHS again and again; her paroxysms pain her deeply.

The four-star TAPS his earplug.

CHIEF BJORLSSON

Get the doctor in here again. Now.

The Chief looks at the screen.

CHIEF BJORLSSON (CONT'D)

Off.

The screen turns white for a moment.