ALIEN

FADE IN . . . . . SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE:

INT. ENGINE ROOM: Empty, cavernous.
INT. ENGINE CUBICLE: Circular, jammed with instruments. All of them idle.
Console chairs for two. Empty.

INT. OILY CORRIDOR - "C" LEVEL: Long, dark. Empty. Turbos throbbing. No other movement.
INT. CORRIDOR - "A" LEVEL: Long, empty.

INT. INFIRMARY - "A" LEVEL: Distressed ivory walls. All instrumentation at rest.
INT. CORRIDOR TO BRIDGE - "A" LEVEL: Black, empty.

INT. BRIDGE: Vacant. Two space helmets resting on chairs. Electrical hum. Lights on the helmets begin to signal one another. Moments of silence. A yellow light goes on. Data mind bank in b.g. Electronic hum. A green light goes on in front of one helmet. Electronic pulsing sounds. A red light goes on in front of other helmet. An electronic conversation ensues. Reaches a crescendo. Then silence. The lights go off, save the yellow.

INT. CORRIDOR TO HYPERSLEEP VAULT: Lights come on. Seven gowns hang from the curved wall. Vault door opens.

INT. HYPERSLEEP VAULT: Explosion of escaping gas. The lid on a freezer pops open. Slowly, groggily, KANE sits up. Pale. Kane rubs the sleep from his eyes. Stands. Looks around. Stretches. Looks at the other freezer compartments. Scratches. Moves off.

INT. GALLEY: Kane plugs in a Silex. Lights a cigarette. Coughs. Grinds some coffee beans. Runs some water through.

KANE: Rise and shine, Lambert.

INT. HYPERSLEEP VAULT: Another lid pops open. A young woman sits up.

LAMBERT: What time is it.
KANE: (voice over) What do you care.

INT. GALLEY: Pot now half-full. Kane watches it drip. Inhales the fragrance.

KANE: Now Dallas and Ash. . . . (calls out) Good morning Captain.
DALLAS: (voice over) Where's the coffee.
KANE: Brewing.
LAMBERT walks into the kitchen. Pours herself a cup.

INT. HYPERSLEEP VAULT: Two more lids pop open. A pair of men sit up. Look at each other.

INT. GALLEY: Kane enjoys a freshly-brewed cup.

KANE: Ripley...

Another moment. And then the sound of another lid opening.

KANE: And if we have Parker, can Brett be far behind.

Lid opening sound.

KANE: Right.

INT. HYPERSLEEP VAULT: DALLAS looks at his groggy circus.

DALLAS: One of you jokers get the cat.

RIPLEY picks up a limp cat out of one of the compartments.

INT. MESS: The crew of the United States commercial starship Nostromo seated around a table.

Dallas.....Captain
Kane.......Executive Officer
Ripley.....Warrant Officer,
Ash........Science Officer
Lambert....Navigator
Parker.....Engineer
Brett......Engineering Technician
Jones......Cat
Five men and two women: Lambert and Ripley.

LAMBERT: Jesus am I cold

PARKER: Still with us, Brett.
BRETT: Yo.
RIPLEY: Lucky us.

They yawn, stretch, shiver. Dallas looks over at a flashing yellow light.

KANE: I feel dead.

Kane is not yet fully awake. Yawns.

PARKER: You look dead.
ASH: Nice to be back.

PARKER: Before we dock maybe we'd better go over the bonus situation.
BRETT: Yeah.
PARKER: Brett and I think we deserve a full share.
DALLAS: You two will get what you contracted for. Just like everybody else.
BRETT: Everybody else gets more than us.
DALLAS: Everybody else deserves more than you two.

ASH: Mother wants to talk to you.
DALLAS: I saw it. Yellow light for my eyes only...Now, everybody hit their stations.

INT. COMPUTER ROOM ANNEX: Floor to ceiling data banks. Another flashing yellow light. A legend underneath. COMMAND PRIORITY ACCESS ONLY. Dallas enters. Sits at his console. Removes insignia master computer key attached to his shirt.

Plug it into the board under the light. All banks burst into life. Dallas punches up a computer code on the keyboard. Legend on the screen... What's my God damn key. Print-out from computer answers... 01335 on the binary side.

DALLAS: Thank you Mother.

Dallas punches up the combination on the keyboard. Immediately start getting a readout.

CUT TO - INT. BRIDGE: Above eye level the room is ringed by viewscreens. All of them blank. Kane, Ripley, and Lambert enter. Dallas' seat remains empty. All of them now dressed; they find their way to individual consoles. Ripley puts down the cat, straps herself into the high- backed chair.

KANE: Plug us in.

All three crew members begin throwing switches. The control room starts to come to life. Colored lights flicker. Chase each other across glowing screens.

KANE: Give us something to look at.

Lambert presses a bank of switches. Viewscreens glimmer into life.

LAMBERT: Take a look at this.

On each screen, blackness speckled with stars.

LAMBERT: Where's Earth.
KANE: You're the navigator.
RIPLEY: That's not our system.
KANE: Scan.

Lambert hits several toggles. On the screens the images begin to drift.

ONE OF THE SCREENS: A moving image of a starfield.

EXT. NOSTROMO: The Factory Starship lumbering with the depths of inter-stellar space.
Function: Petroleum tanker and Refinery.
Capacity: 2000,000,000 tons.
Length: One and one half kilometers.
Battered exterior encrusted with dark sludge.

INT. BRIDGE: Lambert pores over charts. Consults her console. Puzzled.

KANE: Contact traffic control.

Ripley switches on her transmission unit.

RIPLEY: This is commercial vessel Nostromo. Registration number 180246. Do you read me. Over.

Nothing but the hiss of static.

RIPLEY: Nothing.
KANE: Keep trying.

Turns to Lambert. Ripley attempting transmission in b.g.

KANE: You got a reading yet.
LAMBERT: We're way out in the boondocks here...
KANE: Keep trying...
LAMBERT: Working on it. . . . . Eureka. . . Found it.
KANE: Hard to believe.
LAMBERT: What the hell are we doing out here.
KANE: What are you talking about.
RIPLEY: It's not our system.

INT. ENGINE ROOM: Giant reactor system purring smoothly.

INT. ENGINE ROOM: PARKER and BRETT in a glass cubicle. Each having a beer. Huge powerplant stretching before them. All units on automatic hyper-drive. Parker hits a switch above his desk. A green light goes on.

PARKER: How's your light?
BRETT: Green.
PARKER: Mine too.

They both take a swig. Suddenly a beeper signal begins.

PARKER: Christ. What is it now.
BRETT: Right.
RIPLEY: (voice over) Report to the mess.

INT. OILY CORRIDOR - "C" LEVEL:

PARKER: I want to know why they never come down here. This is where the work is.
BRETT: Same reason we have half a share to their one, our time is their time, that's the way they see it.
PARKER: Well, I'll tell you something... it stinks. They move towards the companionway.

INT. MESS: Entire crew present.
DALLAS: Some of you may have figured out that we're not home.
BRETT: What the hell.
DALLAS: Mother is programmed to interrupt the course of out voyage if certain conditions arise. They have... (pause) We've received intermittent transmission from quadrant points QBR 157, 052. Somebody's gone down.
BRETT: So what.
KANE: We're obligated under Section B2...
PARKER: Christ. We're a commercial ship not some rescue team. This kind of duty's not in our contract.
ASH: You better read your contract. Transmissions received in non-commercial lanes...

Dallas gives Parker and Brett a look.

DALLAS: We're going in, that's it.

Brett knows when to ease up.

BRETT: Right, we're going in. (smiles) Sir.

Dallas turns to ASH.

DALLAS: Can we land on it.

He takes a print-out from Mother out of his hand.

ASH: The other ship did.
DALLAS: That's what I mean.

Studies the print-out.

ASH: It's big enough. Can't see any reason why not.

CUT TO - EXT. NOSTROMO AND REFINERY APPROACHING THE STAR/PLANET SYSTEM

INT. BRIDGE: Dallas at his console speaking to Ash.

DALLAS: We're coming into range of the planet. What kind of orbit do you plan for the cargo.
ASH: Z local vertical mode.
DALLAS: You figure it will hold that.
ASH: You worried about redundancy management disabling CMGS control.
DALLAS: Yeah.
ASH: CMG control is inhibited via DAS/DCS. We'll augment with TACS and monitor through ATMDC and computer interface. (pause) Feel better?
DALLAS: A lot.

EXT. NOSTROMO: Moving within range of the planet.

INT. BRIDGE: The crew strap themselves to their seats.

DALLAS: Prepare for separation and orbital insertion of the cargo.

Much preparation for separation, etc.

DALLAS: Give me an EC Pressure reading.
ASH: 3.45 n/c m^2 squared (5 psia)
DALLAS: Shout if it changes. Deactivate probe retract system.
KANE: What about the pressure seal.

Dallas hits appropriate switches.

DALLAS: Now the probe retract system.

Kane hits other equally appropriate switches.

KANE: Okay.
DALLAS: Release captive hatches and disengage probe.

Kane working switches and buttons.

KANE: Disengaged.

Dallas punches buttons of his own.

EXT. NOSTROMO: The Refinery separates from Nostromo.

INT. BRIDGE: Dallas watches the refinery moving away on a viewscreen.

KANE: All free and clear.
DALLAS: Ash.
ASH: Orbital insertion complete.
DALLAS: Okay. The money's safe. Let's take it down.

EXT. NOSTROMO: Engines coughing to life. Nostromo begins its descent. Below night's tide rolls across the planet's surface.

INT. BRIDGE: The viewscreen shimmers.

RIPLEY: Turbulence.

EXT. NOSTROMO: Tug-module hydroplaning downward. A set of brilliant lights switch on. Cut through the thick atmosphere.

INT. ENGINE ROOM - CUBICLE: Parker and Brett strapped in their seats. Begin rocking from the sudden, extreme turbulence.

PARKER: Christ. Overloading. What the hell are we going through.
BRETT: Dust fritzing the compressor.
PARKER: There goes the conversion stabilizer.
BRETT: I don't know if the digital solenoid...
PARKER: Forget it. If we don't crash, dollars to your aunt's cherry we get an electrical fire...

INT. BRIDGE: The turbulence continues unabated. Lambert's eyes follow cross-plot gauges.

LAMBERT: Drop begins...now. Fifteen kilometers and descending... twelve...ten...eight and slowing. Five. Three. Two. One kilometer and slowing.
DALLAS: Lock tractor breams.

A loud electrical hum.

KANE: Locked.
DALLAS: Kill drive engines.

The engines fall silent.

LAMBERT: Nine hundred meters and dropping. Eight hundred. Seven hundred.

EXT. PLANET - NIGHT: Storm blowing across the night-shrouded surface. The Nostromo hovers on glowing beams of light. Landing struts unfold like insect legs. The ship slams down. Rocks heavily on massive shock absorbers.

INT. BRIDGE - NIGHT:

RIPLEY: We're down.

An enormous vibration. The panels in the room flash simultaneously. Light go out.

KANE: Lost it. Lost it.

INT. ENGINE ROOM: Another huge vibration. An electrical fire breaks out along three control panels.

INT. OILY CORRIDOR: Huge flash fire whips along corridor.

INT. ENGINE ROOM - CUBICLE: Parker and Brett see the pandemonium below. Brett hits the secondary generator switch. A pressure valve blows. Another conduit breaks loose. All lights go out. They grab hand lights from wall.

INT. BRIDGE: Still in darkness.

LAMBERT: Secondary generator should kick over.
KANE: Where is it.

Moments. Nothing. Kane grabs emergency headlamp from facia. Followed by Dallas and Lambert.

DALLAS: What happened?

Ripley hits the voice-amp.

RIPLEY: Engine room, what happened.
PARKER: (voice over) : God damn electrical fire, that's what happened.
BRETT: (voice over) : It's big.

INT. ENGINE ROOM: Parker fighting an electrical fire on one of his panels. Brett shouting into his voice-amp.

BRETT: The intakes are clogged. We overheated and burned out a whole cell...Christ, it's really breaking loose down here...

INT. BRIDGE:

DALLAS: Somebody give me a simple answer, Has the hull been breached.

Ripley scans her gauges.

RIPLEY: I don't see anything. We've still got pressure.

A beep from the communicator.

DALLAS: Hit the screen.

Kane snaps three toggles. The screens flicker, but remain black.

KANE: Nothing.

EXT. SHIP - NIGHT: The wind sounds. Storm continues to blow around the craft. A few glittering lights distinguish the Nostromo from absolute darkness.

INT. ENGINE ROOM CUBICLE: Parker on the communicator to the bridge.

PARKER: 4 panel is totally shot, the secondary load sharing unit is out, at least three cells on 12 module are gone.

INT. BRIDGE: Ripley listening to Parker. Dallas standing over her. No images on any screens.

RIPLEY: Is that it.
PARKER: (voice over) Couldn't fix it out here anyway. And we need to reroute a couple of these ducts. Can't really fix them without a whole drydock...
DALLAS: What else.
PARKER: (voice over) We lost a cell. Some fragments caked up and blew the whole system. We've got to clean it all out and repressurize.
BRETT: (voice over) Right.
RIPLEY: Get started on 4 panel. I'll be down in five minutes.

She shuts off her voice communicator.

DALLAS: How long before we're functional.
RIPLEY: Fifteen to twenty hours...
DALLAS: Stay on it. What about the auxiliaries.
RIPLEY: Working on it.

EXT. SHIP - NIGHT: Bridge lights come to life. Illuminate nothing but a patch of featureless ground. The wind and storm now at a higher pitch.

INT. BRIDGE: Dallas, Kane, Lambert, and Ash. Slouched around the bridge. Drinking coffee. Occasionally staring at the opaque screens.

DALLAS: Any response yet.
ASH: Nothing but the same transmission every thirty-two seconds. All the other channels are dead.

Pause.

DALLAS: Kick on the floods.

CUT TO - EXT. SHIP: A ring of floodlights comes to life. Dimly illuminating the rocky landscape. The wind and dust now at a higher pitch.

CUT TO - INT. BRIDGE - NIGHT: Dallas stares at the dark screens.

KANE: We can't go anywhere in this.
ASH: Mother says the sun's coming up in about twenty minutes.
DALLAS: How far from the source of the transmission.
ASH: Northeast... about 3000 meters.
KANE: Close enough to walk.
DALLAS: Let's run an atmospheric.

Ash punches buttons, starts to consult his panel.

ASH: 10 percent agron, 85 precent nitrogen, 5 percent neon...I'm working on the trace elements.
DALLAS: Pressure.
ASH: Ten to the fourth dynes per square centimeter.
KANE: Moisture content.
ASH: None. Zero.
DALLAS: Anything else.
ASH: Rock, lava base. And cold... well below the centrigrade line.
KANE: I volunteer for the first group going out.
DALLAS: I hear you. Lambert. You too.

Pause.

LAMBERT: Swell.
DALLAS: One more thing. Let's get out some weapons.

EXT. SHIP - DAWN: Sunrise. The atmosphere begins to lighten. Silhouette of the Nostromo becoming dimly visible. Starship perched on barren rock. More rolling clouds of dust. The floodlights automatically shut off.

INT. ENGINE ROOM CUBICLE: Parker and Brett laser welding one of the ducts. Shirts off. Sweat steaming. Ripley rewiring one of the panels. Parker shuts down the laser, inspects the fusion.

PARKER: Hey, Ripley, I got a question.
RIPLEY: Yeah.
PARKER: Do we get to go out on the expedition or are we stuck here until everything's fixed.
RIPLEY: You know the answer to that.
BRETT: What about the shares in case they find anything.
RIPLEY: Don't worry, you'll both get what's coming to you.
BRETT: I'm not doing any more work unless we get full shares.
RIPLEY: You're guaranteed by law that you'll get a share... Now both of you knock it off and get back to work.

Parker looks at her. Snaps on the laser weld. Starts to join another section of the duct.

BRETT: Right.

INT. MAIN AIR LOCK - DAWN: Dallas, Kane and Lambert enter the lock. All wear gloves, boots, jackets. Carry laser pistols. Kane touches a button. Servo whine. Then the inner door slides quietly shut. The trio pull on their helmets.

DALLAS: I'm sending. Do you hear me.

KANE: Receiving.
LAMBERT: Receiving.
DALLAS: All right. Keep away from the weapons unless I say otherwise.

INT. ASH'S BLISTER - DAWN: Ash descends companionway to blister. Punches up screens and instrumentation.

INT. MAIN AIR LOCK - DAWN:

DALLAS: Open the hatch.

Another servo whine. Ponderously, the outer lock hatch slides open. Clouds of dust and steam swirl before the three crew members. A mobile gangway slides out the open hatch. Burnt orange sunlight beyond.

EXT. PLANET - DAWN: The trio walk down the gangplank. Arrive at surface level. Their feet striking onto a thick layer of lava rock. The wind at gale force.

DALLAS: Which way.
LAMBERT: Over here.
DALLAS: You lead.

Lambert walks into the storm. Followed closely by the others.

LAMBERT: Now I can't see a God damn thing.
ASH: (voice over) Turn on the finder.
DALLAS: It's on...Ash are you receiving.

INT. ASH'S BLISTER - DAWN: Ash leaning over his console. Watches them beneath him. Corresponding images on the screen in front of him.

ASH: See you. Read you. Good contact on my board.
DALLAS: (voice over) Getting you clear and free. Let's keep the line open.

EXT. PLANET - DAWN: The three crew members push their way along. Like divers at the bottom of a dark sea. The wind and dust continues driving down in dark sheets. Lambert repeats.

LAMBERT: Can't see more than three meters in any direction.
KANE: Quit griping.
LAMBERT: I like griping.
DALLAS: Come on.

They wade on, following Lambert. She halts abruptly. Confused.

INT. BLISTER - DAWN: Ash watches intently. Images on each screen of the trio.

LAMBERT: (voice over) I've got it again.
ASH: Any problems.
DALLAS: (voice over) Yeah. A lot of dust and wind. Starting to get some fade on the beam.

EXT. PLANET - DAWN: The trio moves through a dark limbo.

LAMBERT: This way.

Lambert indicates left. Moves in that direction. The others follow. The storm growing.

KANE: It's close.

They approach a towering rock formation. The transmission stops.

LAMBERT: It's gone again.
KANE: Did we pass it.
DALLAS: Not unless it's underground. Let's take a break

They shelter with the rock formation. Storm howls round them. Dallas adjusts headset. The signals starts.

DALLAS: I've got it again. Let's go.
LAMBERT: How about our break.
DALLAS: No. Let's more on while we're got the signal, again.

Dallas gets up. They stand for a moment... Then move away from the rock formation. Fossilized into the other side of the rock is a shape. Fifteen feet tall. Unseen by the members of the party.

INT. BLISTER - DAWN: Ash receiving the video transmission. Notices something within the formation. Freezes the image. Enlarges it. Enlarges again.

EXT. THE NOSTROMO - SUNRISE: Atmosphere turning the color of blood. Then the sun is up.

EXT. THE NOSTROMO - SUNRISE: Brett and Parker still at work. Ripley moves away from her panel in triumph...

RIPLEY: You ought to be able to handle the rest.
PARKER: Don't worry.
RIPLEY: If you run into trouble, I'll be on the bridge.
BRETT: Right.

She leaves.

PARKER: Bitch.

INT. BLISTER - DAY: Ash still working on the video image. Enhances the enlargement. Transfers the image to cathode ray. The image reveals itself to be a giant form. Indistinct. Ripley's voice comes over.

RIPLEY: (voice over) How's it going.

Ash quickly shuts off the video image. Hits the intercom.

INT. BRIDGE: Ripley at her console. Looking at Ash on her screen. Ash's video image not visible to Ripley.

ASH: (voice over) All right.
RIPLEY: Have you tried putting the transmission through ECIU.
ASH: (voice over) Mother hasn't identified it as yet. It's not a language.
RIPLEY: I'll give it a shot.
ASH: (voice over) Be my guest.

She pushes some button. The noise is now heard on her speaker.

EXT. PLANET - DAY:
Dust clearing. Three tiny figures against the landscape.

EXT. PLANET - DAY: Empty landscape. Then Kane comes up over a rise startled by what he sees. Suddenly the transmission is deafening.