FADE IN:

INT. ARROWAY HOUSE - EVENING

We open on the upstairs of a two-story house, where we see a young girl

talking into a radio transmitter.

YOUNG ELLIE

CQ, this is W9GFO. CQ, this is W9GFO here, come back. CQ, this is

W9GFO here, come back. CQ, CQ, this is W9GFO, is anybody out

there? (looks to her father) It抯 not getting anything.

TED ARROWAY

Small moves Ellie, small moves.

YOUNG ELLIE

CQ, this is W9GFO here, come back.

RADIO OPEARATOR

Copy W9GFO. K4WLD here.

YOUNG ELLIE

What do I say?

TED ARROWAY

Just be yourself.

YOUNG ELLIE

Where are you K4WLD? Come back.

RADIO OPEARATOR

Pensacola, over.

YOUNG ELLIE

Pensacola? Where抯 Pensacola?

TED ARROWAY

I抣l give you a hint... orange juice.

YOUNG ELLIE

Copy that K4WLD, how抯 the weather down there in Florida?

TED ARROWAY

Pensacola, Florida. I have to tell you sparks, 1116 miles. That抯

the farthest yet.

YOUNG ELLIE

Dad, can we hear all the way to New York?

TED ARROWAY

Sure.

YOUNG ELLIE

Can we hear all the way to California?

TED ARROWAY

Absolutely.

YOUNG ELLIE

Can we hear all the way to Alaska?

TED ARROWAY

Yea, on a really clear day.

YOUNG ELLIE

Can we hear all the way to China?

TED ARROWAY

On a really, really clear day.

YOUNG ELLIE

Could we talk to the moon?

TED ARROWAY

Well, if it was a big enough radio, I don抰 see why not.

YOUNG ELLIE

Could you talk to Jupiter? Or what抯 the one after that? Umm,

don抰 tell me..

TED ARROWAY

I抣l give you hint... hoolahoops.

YOUNG ELLIE

Saturn! Can we talk to Saturn?

TED ARROWAY

Uh huh.

YOUNG ELLIE

Dad, could we talk to Mom?

TED ARROWAY

I don抰 think even the biggest radio can reach that far.

TED ARROWAY

Alright, no more stalling.

YOUNG ELLIE

K. (holds up a picture she drew of a beach in Florida).

Pensacola!

TED ARROWAY

Oh Ellie, that抯 a beauty. Better get some sleep.

YOUNG ELLIE

Hey dad.

TED ARROWAY

Yea?

YOUNG ELLIE

Do you think there抯 people on other planets?

TED ARROWAY

I don抰 know sparks, but I guess I抎 say, if it is just us, it抯

seems like an awful waste of space.

INT. ARROWAY HOUSE - NIGHT

That night, Ellie sneaks back into the room with the radio transmitter...

YOUNG ELLIE

CQ, CQ, CQ, this is W9GFO. Repeat, this is W9GFO, come back. CQ,

this is W9GFO, come back. I抦 gonna need a bigger antenna.

CUT TO:

EXT. ARECIBO TELESCOPE - DAY

FISHER

What do you think Doctor Arroway? Ain抰 she a beauty?

ELLIE

It抣l do.

FISHER

The village is five miles away. There抯 a general store in the

cantina. They can pretty much order anything you need from San

Wan.

ELLIE

When can I get some dish time?

FISHER

(laughs) Dr. Clark said you wouldn抰 be able to wait. You抮e

first shift is up tonight.

ELLIE

Alright!

INT. ARECIBO CONTROL ROOM - NIGHT

Ellie is sitting in the dark, with a headset on. She removes the headset,

and we can hear the static she抯 listening to.

KENT CLARK

Go back.

ELLIE

What?

KENT CLARK

Try back a little, you had something there.

KENT CLARK

(Ellie moves the dial) There.

ELLIE

Right there?

KENT CLARK

Yea. Do you hear? Right there, yea, that抯 it.

ELLIE

Yup. It抯 by 1221.46. That抯 well in the L-band.

KENT CLARK

Check off axis.

ELLIE

Uh huh, on it. Umm, it抯 not in the neighbourhood. Ah, there it

is. J1741 plus 2748. Cataloged November 4, 1982. Pulsar. (Sigh)

Well, I don抰 know, it must have been a glitch in the timing that

threw me.

KENT CLARK

I think it抯 great that you listen. Most people don抰 do that

anymore.

ELLIE

Ah, it抯 just an old habit. You know, it makes it feel more real.

(Putting out her hand) Ellie.

KENT CLARK

Kent, Kent Clark (puts his hand out, but misses Ellie抯, we

realize that he抯 blind)

ELLIE

Hi.

KENT CLARK

They said you抎 been up at Owen抯 valley working under Drumlin.

How抎 you like him? (after Ellie doesn抰 answer) That much? And

about what I抎 expect after what he had to say about you.

ELLIE

What was that?

KENT CLARK

He said you were brilliant, driven, a major pain in the ass, and

obsessed with a field of study that he considers tantamount to

professional suicide.

Other scientist抯 enter the room, turn on the lights.

DR. THADIA

Yo, what抯 up?

KENT CLARK

Umm, those were the highlights.

KENT CLARK

Dr. Thadia, Dr. Burman... Dr. Arroway (greetings all around) and

I believe you抳e already met our tireless research assistant, Mr.

Fisher (who happens to be wearing a Cornell University Shirt).

ELLIE

Yup.

KENT CLARK

You can抰 miss his cologne.

FISHER

(laughs) hey!

KENT CLARK

Chris is looking at the Black hole at the center of M87. Eli is

studying Marcarian 541, a major Gama-ray source, and Dr. Arroway

here will be spending here precious telescope time listening for

uh, listening for uh...

ELLIE

Little green men.

INT. ELLIE扴 CABIN - NIGHT

ELLIE

(Sticking a thumbtack into a start chart) One down, couple of

billion to go.

INT. CATINA - DAY

Ellie buys two packs of thumbtacks from the general store merchant. Then

sits at a table and nurses a beer, when PALMER JOSS approaches.

PALMER

Arecibo, right?

ELLIE

Does it show?

PALMER

Yea. (opens up a box of crackerjacks, and offers some)

Crackerjack?

ELLIE

No. Thanks.

PALMER

Mind if I sit down.

ELLIE

Sure.

PALMER

I hear the locals; they call it El-Radar. They think is has some

dark military purpose.

ELLIE

I think we抮e pretty harmless.

PALMER

(holds out his hand) Palmer Joss.

ELLIE

(shakes his hand) Ellie Arroway.

PALMER

Nice to meet you, Ellie. What are you studying up there?

ELLIE

Oh, the usual. Nebulae, quasars, pulsars, stuff like that. What

are you writing?

PALMER

The usual. Nouns, adverbs, adjective here and there.

ELLIE

I抦 working on a project called SETI.

PALMER

Search for extraterrestrial intelligence? Well, now that is out

there.

ELLIE

Wait, are you a student or something?

PALMER

I抦 a writer, I抦 writing a book. Doing some research. It抯 how

technology affects third-world cultures. I抦 also looking for

this guy David Drumlin, he抯 the new head-honcho of the national

science foundation; I抦 trying to get an interview with him. I

take it you know him?

ELLIE

Uh huh. You can say that.

PALMER

SETI, man. That抯 fringe. I抳e crossed paths with this guy

before. I mean something like that must really chap his ass, huh?

PALMER

(pulls the toy out of the crackerjacks box) Compass. For you El.

ELLIE

You better keep this. Might save your life some day.

PALMER

Will you go out with me tonight?

ELLIE

I don抰 make a very good research subject. I抦 just not very

quotable.

PALMER

No quotes, no quotes, scout抯 honor. Just good meal, good

company.

ELLIE

I gotta go. (gets up to leave), but Drumlin抯 coming in this

Tuesday.

EXT. ARECIBO - DAY

A jeep pulls up with Drumlin in it. David gets out and is greeted by the

team of scientists, except Ellie.

DAVID DRUMLIN

(getting up and stretching) Now I remember why I took that desk

job. (greetings all around) How are you?

KENT CLARK

Glad you could make it David.

DAVID DRUMLIN

If I knew I was gonna take three planes, I might have

reconsidered.

KENT CLARK

How is that new office?

Ellie comes running up the hill towards them.

DAVID DRUMLIN

Well, I抦 still settling in. Of course there are... (Ellie

arrives, out of breath) Ellie. Still waiting for ET to Call?

DAVID DRUMLIN

(turning to Kent, and walking away) Well, I understand we抮e

having a little reception tonight...

ELLIE

(calling after him) Good to see you too. (and under her breath)

Asshole.

EXT. RECEPTION - NIGHT

ELLIE

Uh Oh. Look like it抯 gonna be a long night.

DAVID DRUMLIN

Science must first and foremost be accountable to the people who

are paying for it, the tax payers. We need to stop wasting money

on pie in the sky abstractions, and start spending it on

practical, measurable ways to improve the lives of the people who

are after all, footing the bill.

DR. Burman

Not unlike my L-band globular cluster experiment.

ELLIE

Wait. You抮e saying you want to do away with all pure research

now?

DAVID DRUMLIN

What抯 wrong with science being practical? Even profitable?

PALMER

(emerging from the crowd) Nothing, as long as your motive is the

search for truth. Which is exactly what the pursuit of science

is.

DAVID DRUMLIN

Well that抯 a rather interesting position coming from a man on a

crusade against technology, Father Joss.

PALMER

I抦 not against technology, doctor. I抦 against the men who deify

it at the expense of human truth.

DAVID DRUMLIN

(deciding not to further the conversation) Kent. I抳e been

meaning to have a word with you. Over here please. (Mr. Fisher

leads Kent off in another direction)

PALMER

(walking over to Ellie) I think that hurt my chances of that

interview, what do you think?

ELLIE

You抮e a priest?

PALMER

No, not really. I got my masters in divinity, then I dropped out

of seminary and went off to do some humanitarian work.

Coordinating the efforts of the third world churches. Couldn抰

live with the whole celibacy thing. You can call me a man of the

cloth... without the cloth.

ELLIE

Wanna get out of here?

EXT. ARECIBO TELESCOPE - HILLSIDE - TWILIGHT

ELLIE and JOSS sit under a tree on the hillside, looking out over the dish;

the long hanging bridge to the aiming array dwindles into twilight. They

lie back, looking up at the stars.

ELLIE

Alright, you see that large W-shaped constellation right there,

that抯 Cassiopeia. And Cassiopeia has itself a whole lot of radio

signals; I actually listen to that one a lot. It抯 a remnant of a

supernova.

PALMER

When did you know you wanted to be an astronomer?

ELLIE

Well, when I was about eight years old, I was watching the

sunset, and I asked my dad, "what抯 that bright star over there",

and he said that it wasn抰 really a start at all, but it was

actually a whole planet called Venus. (pointing to the sky) Which

should be over there soon. He said, "you know why they called it

Venus? because they thought it was so beautiful and glowing. And

what they didn抰 know is that it was filled with deadly gases and

sulfuric acid rain", and I thought, "this is it, I抦 hooked".You

know, there are four hundred billion stars out there, just in our

galaxy alone. If only one out of a million of those had planets,

and just of out of a million of those had life, and just one out

of a million of those had intelligent life; there would be

literally millions of civilizations out there.

PALMER

Well, if there wasn抰, it抎 be an awful waste of space.

ELLIE

Amen.

INT. ELLIE扴 CABIN - NIGHT

ELLIE and JOSS have spent the night together.

PALMER

... there I was just looking at the sky, then I felt something. I

don抰 know. All I know is that I wasn抰 alone, and for the first

time in my life I wasn抰 scared of nothing, not even dying. It

was god.

ELLIE

And there抯 no chance that you had this experience because some

part of you needed to have it?

PALMER

Well, I抦 a reasonable intelligent guy, but this... no not this.

Not intellect; it couldn抰 even touch this, no.

ELLIE

I went to Sunday school a few times.

PALMER

(laughs) uh huh, and?

ELLIE

Well, I just kept asking all these really annoying questions

like, where did Mrs. Cain come from? Pretty soon, they called my

Dad, and asked him if he wouldn抰 mind just keeping me home form

now on.

PALMER

Your Dad? Is that this guy? (pointing to a picture of Ellie and

her father)

ELLIE

Yea.

PALMER

You抮e close to him, aren抰 you?

ELLIE

Yea, I was. He died when I was nine years old. I never got to

know my mother.

PALMER

I抦 sorry, that抯 gotta be tough.

ELLIE

Yea.

PALMER

Being alone.

PALMER

What do you say we pack a picnic tomorrow and hike up to Mount

Aricebo?

ELLIE

(getting up) I don抰 think I can, I gotta work.

PALMER

Alright, how 慴out dinner then? Tomorrow night, I know a great

place.

ELLIE

(laughs) No, I don抰 think so.

PALMER

Ellie, did I miss something?

ELLIE

Huh? No. Shit, I抦 late. I told Kent that I抎 meet him at 10:30.

PALMER

You know, I抦 not trying to push you.

ELLIE

No, no. Don抰 be silly. I抳e been wanting to look at this sector

for weeks. Look, just hang around, sleep in, and there抯 a bunch

of food in the fridge, k?

PALMER

How can I reach you?

ELLIE

Oh, just leave your number, I抣l call you.

Ellie steps outside and looks up at the sky to see a shooting start. We

FLASHBACK to the past, where a young Ellie is on an exterior balcony with

two telescopes set up in front of her.

YOUNG ELLIE

Dad. It抯 starting, you抮e gonna miss it.

YOUNG ELLIE

Dad. There抯 another one, hurry up.

TED ARROWAY

In a minute Sparks, almost done.

YOUNG ELLIE

Oh there抯 another one! Common, hurry up, Dad.

We hear a dish fall to the ground.

YOUNG ELLIE

Dad?

She goes back inside

YOUNG ELLIE

Dad?

YOUNG ELLIE

Daddy?

Goes down a flight of stairs, and sees her father lying on the ground.

YOUNG ELLIE

Dad. (starts to cry, but gets a hold of herself). Dad? Dad! I抣l

get the medicine.

Runs up the stairs to the medicine cabinet in the bathroom and grabs his

medication.

CUT TO:

EXT. FUNERAL - DAY

PRIEST

Ellie. I know its hard to understand this now, but we aren抰

always meant to know the reasons why things happen the way they

do. Sometimes we just have to accept it as god抯 will.

YOUNG ELLIE

Should have kept some medicine in the downstairs bathroom, then I

could抳e gotten to it sooner.

She goes into the house, and up to the radio transmitter.

YOUNG ELLIE

CQ. This is W9GFO, do you copy?

YOUNG ELLIE

Dad, it抯 Ellie, come back.

YOUNG ELLIE

This is Eleanor Arroway, transmitting on 14.2 Mhz. Dad, are you

there? Come back. Dad, are you there? Dad, it抯 Ellie.

INT. ARECIBO OBSERVTORY - CONTROL ROOM - MORNING

Ellie is working, sees Kent outside, and goes to join him.

EXT. ARECIBO OBSERVATORY - DAY

KENT CLARK

Ellie.

ELLIE

Hey Kent, what are you doing up so early?

KENT CLARK

I was thinking, we抎 make a pretty good team.

ELLIE

What?

KENT CLARK

We could put together a kick ass ad hoc SETI program.

ELLIE

What are you talking about?

KENT CLARK

You know the very large array in New Mexico? It would be a

dynamite place to do some serious SETI work.

ELLIE

What are you talking about, Kent?

KENT CLARK

Drumlin pulled the plug. We抮e homeless.

Ellie speeds down a dirt road in her jeep towards where Drumlin is working.

ELLIE

Is it true? Huh, did you pull the plug?

DAVID DRUMLIN

I know you can抰 see it now, but I抦 doing you a favour. You抮e

far too promising a scientist to be wasting your gifts on this

nonsense.

ELLIE

Look, I don抰 consider what could potentially be the most

important discovery of the human race nonsense, ok? There抯 four

hundred billion stars, and we have not even started!

DAVID DRUMLIN

There are only two possibilities. One, there is intelligent life

out there, but it抯 so far away you抣l never contact it in your

lifetime. And two, (she tries to cut him off, but he raises his

voice), there抯 nothing out there but noble gases and carbon

compounds, and you抮e wasting your time. In the meantime, you

won抰 be published, you won抰 be taken seriously, and your career

will be over before it抯 begun.

ELLIE

So what?! It抯 my life!

INT. CABIN - DAY

Ellie sees Joss抯 phone number and compass thumbtacked to a chart on her

wall. She takes them down and places them on her night table. Ellie picks

up the phone and makes a call.

ELLIE

Hey, Kent. You were right, screw Drumlin. We抮e gonna raise the

money ourselves. We抮e going to New Mexico.

EXT. CABIN - RAINING - DAY

Ellie, Kent, and Fisher are all packing their things into a car.

KENT CLARK

...Chicago抯 all set up, you抣l call me and let me know how it

goes. Oh, and I抳e got some more corporate stops set up on the

East Coast for you. Hey, Fish. Did that private investor from

Houston ever get back to us?

FISHER

Uh, I抦 gonna hit him up a little later, in LA.

ELLIE

Try begging for some of that Hollywood money. Why not, they抳e

been making money off aliens for years.

KENT CLARK

They say that begging is good for the soul.

ELLIE

We抣l see about that.

KENT CLARK

Just do me a favour. Try not to be too confrontational.

ELLIE

Huh, confrontational, me?! What are you mean? (laughs) Let me

just see if I left anything.

Ellie looks at the paper with Joss?phone number that she left on her night

table, and decides not to take it. The compass is nowhere to be seen, so

apparently she took that.

INT. HADDEN INDUTRIES - CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY

ELLIE

This is a unique time in our history, in the history of any

civilization. It抯 the moment of the acquisition of technology.

That抯 the moment when contact becomes possible. The very large

array in New Mexico is the key to our chances for success. With

its 27 linked radio telescopes, we can search more accurately

than any earth conventional facility. Now, we抳e already gotten

the preliminary approval to buy ourselves some time from the

government. Now, all we need is the money.

EXECUTIVE

Nice Presentation, doctor. But while our foundation arm doesn抰

mandate to support experimental programs. We must confess that

your proposal seems less like science and more like science

fiction.

ELLIE

Science Fiction. You're right, it抯 crazy. In fact, its even

worse than that, it抯 nuts. (slams her presentation books closed)

You wanna hear something really nutty? I heard of a couple guys

who wanna build something called an airplane, you know you get

people to go in, and fly around like birds, it抯 rediculous,

right?! And what about breaking the sound barrier, or rockets to

the moon? Atomic energy, or a mission to Mars? Science fiction,

right? Look, all I抦 asking is for you to just have the tiniest

bit of vision. You know, to just sit back for one minute and look

at the big picture. To take a chance on something that just might

end up being the most profoundly impactful moment for humanity,

for the history... of history.

ELLIE

I抦 sorry. I just spent the last 13 months coming to places like

this and talking to people like you, and the truth is, you抮e my

last chance, so I抦 sorry I wasted your time.

EXECUTIVE

(Picks up the phone. Ellie makes to collect her things, but he

calls after her.) Doctor.

EXECUTIVE

(Talks into the phone.) Yes sir. Yes sir. Yes sir.

EXECUTIVE

(Back to Ellie) You have your money.

ELLIE

(To executive) Thank you.

ELLIE

(To camera in corner of room) Thank you.

FOUR YEARS LATER

EXT. VLA - DAY

A children抯 size wading pool is set up and Willie is fishing in it.

WILLIE

Oh, perfect catch. common fishy. Oh Frank, look at the size of

that son of a bitch.

Van pulls up. KENT gets out.

WILLIE

Welcome back Dr. C. How抎 it go? How was the trip?

KENT CLARK

I抳e had better.

INT. VLA - CONTROL ROOM

ELLIE

What is this, a personal vendetta?

KENT CLARK

It抯 not just Drumlin, there抯 been enormous pressure from other

scientists as well.

ELLIE

It doesn抰 matter anyway, cause Hadden is funding us for another

two years.

KENT CLARK

Umm, these are government owned telescopes, they can lease them

to whomever they want, and they don抰 want the high priestess of

the desert using them anymore.

ELLIE

What?

KENT CLARK

Staring at static on TV for hours at a time. Listening to washing

machines. Did you really think these stories wouldn抰 get out?

ELLIE

I was looking for patterns in the chaos, common!

KENT CLARK

It doesn抰 matter anymore. We抮e a joke to them. They want us

out. We抳e got three months until the paperwork goes through.

ELLIE

(Sigh) Fine, we抮e still looking for other funding, I抣l just

start writing...

KENT CLARK

Could you face reality please. Just this once, Ellie. We lost,

it抯 over.

Ellie is standing in front of a sign that reads "Astronomy is looking up".

ELLIE

(Sigh) Alright. I抦 not stopping. If I have to go it alone, I抣l

go it alone, I抳e done it before.

Ellie leaves the room and slams the door behind her, and drives up to a

canyon not too far from the array, to think.

INT. VLA - CONTROL ROOM - NIGHT

Fisher and Willie are on duty, they are watching Larry King on Television.

LARRY KING

My guest tonight is author and theologian Palmer Joss. He抯

become a spiritual councilor of sorts and a recent fixture at the

White House. God抯 diplomat, according to the New York Times. His

latest book, Loosing Faith is currently number on that

publication抯 best-seller list. Thanks for being with us Palmer.

You have had quite a ride these last couple of years.

PALMER

I sure have Larry...

WILLIE

Yo, fish. I was thinking. Who would make the best astronomers?

Think about it. Who has the perfect symmetry of career and

lifestyle?

FISHER

I give.

WILLIE

Vampires! (turns around with fake vampire teeth and laughs)

LARRY KING

... are you anti-technology? Are you anti-science?

PALMER

No, not at all. The question I抦 asking is, are we happier? As a

human race, is the world fundamentally a better place because of

science and technology? We shop at home, we surf the web, but at

the same time, we feel emptier, lonelier, and more cut off from

each other than at any other time in history... (gets drowned out

by Pulses from outer space).

PALMER

... maybe it抯 because we抮e looking for the meaning, well what

is the meaning? We have mindless jobs, we take frantic vacations.

Deficit finance trips to the mall to buy more things that we feel

are gonna fill these holes in our lives. Is it any wonder that

we抳e lost our sense of direction?

EXT. VLA - BASE OF TELESCOPE - PRE-DAWN

Ellie wears a pair of headsets. We hear the SOUND of the COSMOS, the

background wash of empty STATIC and a faint BEEPING, FADING IN and OUT of

reception. Ellie slowly swims up to consciousness. After a moment her eyes

open. She sits up...

ELLIE

Holy Shit!

She jumps back in her car and drives back to base.

ELLIE

(Yelling into a walky-talky) Right ascension, 18 hours 36

Minutes, 56.2 Seconds. Declination, left. 36 degrees 46 Minutes

56.2 Seconds.

INT. VLA - CONTROL ROOM - PRE-DAWN

ELLIE

(Over the radio) Confirm. Right ascension, 18 hours 36 Minutes,

56.2 Seconds. Hey, Is anyone awake in there? I抦 moving the

array. Confirm!

FISHER

Processing bogey.

ELLIE

Right ascension, 18 hours 36 Minutes, 56.2 Seconds. Declination,

left. 36 hours 47 Minutes and 1 Second.

FISHER

We抮e on it.

ELLIE

Don抰 touch the dishes. I抦 moving the rest of them now, and need

you to confirm the coordinates

FISHER

Check the status of the array; She抯 doing all the dishes.

WILLIE

All systems nominal. (sees the pulses on screen) Hello.

FISHER

I need a full systems check!; coordinates confirmed, Willie抯

checking the system now.

ELLIE

Stay on top of the systems diagnostic. Check the record point

offsets. I want you off axis on 27 the second we get there; and

tell Willie to break out the Big Boy!

FISHER

Copy that. Willie is... what? Go, go Ellie.

ELLIE

I can here it on the headphones, so we gotta be sure about this.

FISHER

Give me another array status.

WILLIE

Her four are online, the rest are tracking in.

FISHER

(to Ellie) Your four are online, the rest are tracking in.

WILLIE

But there抯 a bad drive on 16.

FISHER

(to Ellie) Your four are online, the rest are tracking in, but

there抯 a bad drive on 16, copy that? What do you want me to do

about the source point?

ELLIE

Forget about it and hold the queue. Go get ready to set the

target frequency to manual, the second we抮e live, do you copy? I

want you to go off axis on 27 the second we抮e there, and leave

the L-band frequency where it is. Stay on it, just don抰 let it

get away. If you lose it, just scan the band, run every frequency

you can think of.

ELLIE

(Running into to the Control Room) How you doing?

The array falls into place at the same time.

ELLIE

Talk to me guys.

FISHER

Linearly polarized, set of moving pulses, Amplitude Modulated.

WILLIE

We抮e locked. Systems check out. Signal across the board, what抯

the frequency?

ELLIE

4.4623 GHz. Hydrogen times Pi. Told ya.

FISHER

Strong sucker too.

WILLIE

I got it, I got it, I got it, I抦 patched in!

ELLIE

Alright, let me hear it.

Pulses are played through the stereo (Big Boy)

ELLIE

Listen to that. Make me a liar, Fish.

FISHER

Uh, could be AWACS out of Kirtland jamming us, but I抦 stumped.

ELLIE

Alright, let抯 see if FUDD抯 reading it too.

ELLIE

Willie, patch it back and give me the off-axis. Are we recording?

FISHER

Never stopped.

ELLIE

(Kissing computer monitor) Thank you Elmer.

FISHER

AWACS status is negative.

ELLIE

How about White Sands?

FISHER

On this frequency? No.

ELLIE

I抦 gonna punch up the charts. How抯 the sky guys? Common.

Alright.

FISHER

Florida抯 not tracking any spoofs on this vector. Shuttle

Endeavor抯 in sleep mode.

WILLIE

Ok. Point source confirmed. Whatever it is, it ain抰 local.

ELLIE

Position?

WILLIE

I checked the interferometry. Somewhere in Lyra I think.

ELLIE

Um, Vega?

FISHER

Can抰 be, it抯 only 26 Light-years away.

ELLIE

Adjust the peak intensity.

FISHER

On it.

ELLIE

Vega? Vega. Can抰 be, I抳e watched it many times at Aricebo. It

was negative results, always.

FISHER

Guys. I抦 reading over a hundred janskys.

WILLIE

Jesus. I can pick that up on my...

The pulses stop and we hear background static.

ELLIE

No.

Two pulses.

ELLIE

Come on.

Three pulses.

ELLIE

Alright. It抯 restarting. Wait a minute, these are numbers. That

was three, the one before it was two. Um, base 10 numbers, just

start counting now and see what you can get.

Five Pulses.

WILLIE

Five.

Seven Pulses.

ELLIE

Those are primes 2, 3, 5, 7. Those are all prime numbers, there

is no way it抯 a natural phenomenon.

WILLIE

Holy shit.

ELLIE

I know, I know, just calm down, and focus the stockpile on Vega.

FISHER

It doesn抰 make any sense, the system is too new. So it can抰

have a planetary system, let alone life.

ELLIE

Well, maybe they didn抰 grow up there, maybe they抮e just

visiting, I don抰 know.

FISHER

Ok, so a spacecraft? No, this system is full of debris, it would

get clobbered.

WILLIE

Well, not if they used their laser blasters and photon torpedoes

(laughs).

FISHER

That抯 not funny, Willie.

WILLIE

Well, how else would you explain it?

ELLIE

Willie抯 right. If we go public with this, and we抮e wrong,

that抯 it; it抯 over, we抮e cooked. God, I wish Kent was here.

WILLIE

Whatever the signal is, we better do something soon, Vega抯 gonna

set.

Ellie goes on a conference call with IAN BRODERICK in Australia.

IAN BRODERICK

Deposition is confirmed. We抳e got 4.4623 Ghz. Confirmed, we抳e

got 112 janskys.

ELLIE

Alright, do you have a source location yet?

IAN BRODERICK

We put it right smack in the middle, Vega.

ELLIE

Ok, thanks Ian. Just keep tracking and we抣l get back to you.

IAN BRODERICK

Yea, right-O.

FISHER

Ok, 101. The pulse sequenced through every prime number between 2

and 101.

WILLIE

Who we gonna call now?

ELLIE

Everybody.

EXT. VLA - DAY

The next day, the VLA is swamped with news people.

NEWS REPORT 1

Rumours are a fly, the implications extraordinary. This morning,

detection of an unidentified radio source from deep space can

neither be confirmed, nor denied...

NEWS REPORT 2

... living outside of our solar system. Again, there is no

confirmation that an official...

MICHAEL KITZ steps off a helicopter.

KITZ

I want all these people out of here.

INT. VLA CONTROL CENTER - DAY

FISHER

...twice the stations worldwide now confirming the signal. Vega

is currently below our horizon, so what you抮e hearing is the

signal from the original recording.

DAVID DRUMLIN

Let抯 get the decryption people in here. Lunacharsky抯 visiting

at Cal-Tech.

KITZ

Explain this to me. If the source of the signal is so

sophisticated, why the remedial math?

SENATOR

Exactly, why don抰 they just speak English?

ELLIE

Well, maybe because 70% of the planet speaks other languages.

Mathematics is the only truly universal language, Senator. It抯

no coincidence that they抮e using primes.

KITZ

I don抰 get it.

ELLIE

Prime number. That would be integers that are only divisible by

themselves and 1. Well, we think that this may be a beacon. Some

kind of announcement to get our attention.

DAVID DRUMLIN

Well, if its attention you want, I think you got that. One thing,

Vega. People have been looking at Vega for years, no results, and

now yesterday they start broadcasting primes, why?

ELLIE

Well, it抯 hardly yesterday, because the signal has been

transmitting for 26 years.

KITZ

Doctor Arroway?

ELLIE

Excuse me, who are you?

DAVID DRUMLIN

Ellie, this is Michael Kitz, national security advisor.

KITZ

Doctor, let me first say that your reputation...

ELLIE

Actually, first could you ask the gentlemen with the firearms to

wait outside? This is supposed to be a civilian facility.

The soldiers leave the room.

KITZ

Doctor, with all due respect, your scientific knowledge...

ELLIE

(Kent walks in) Excuse me. (she goes over to him) Hey, hey. Hi.

I抦 so glad you抮e back. Come on, I have something for you to

hear.

KENT CLARK

Who are all these people?

ELLIE

I have no idea. Sit down, and we could use some help with the

spectrum analysis, ok?

KENT CLARK

Oh god, listen to that. I抣l get right on it.

ELLIE

I抣l get you a headset.

KITZ

So I抣l get right to the point, shall I? Your having sent this

announcement all over the world may well constitute a breach of

national security.

ELLIE

This isn't a person-to-person call. You can抰 possibly think that

a civilization sending this kind of message would intend it just

for Americans.

KITZ

I'm saying you might have consulted us; obviously, the contents

of this message could be extremely sensitive.

ELLIE

You want to classify prime numbers?

DAVID DRUMLIN

Um, Mike, please. Because of the Earth抯 rotation, we抮e only in

line with Vega so many hours a day. And the only way to

completely monitor the signal is to get the cooperation of other

nations. If doctor Arroway hadn抰 acted quickly, we could have

lost key elements.

Kent is turning up the volume on the stereo.

KITZ

Ok, so they got the primes; but if you抮e right about there being

a more significant transmission still...

ELLIE

We抳e asked everyone who抯 helping to receive it, to decode it

KITZ

Doctor, do you understand my job?

KENT CLARK

Shhh. You hear that?

ELLIE

I hear it.

KITZ

Hear what?

ELLIE

Harmonics?

KENT CLARK

Bingo. Retune to 8.9247 Ghz. There抯 a lot more here folks.

ELLIE

Alright Fish, let抯 get on the negative side band.

FISHER

On it.

KITZ

What is going on?

ELLIE

We抮e tracking the signal at double the frequency, it looks

like... somebody get a TV monitor.

ELLIE

Alright, patch the recording into this processor.

FISHER

You want the new data?

ELLIE

Yea, the new frequency, the one we just recorded.

FISHER

Alright.

KITZ

David, would you explain this to me please.

DAVID DRUMLIN

Along with the primes there抯 another signal, looks like a TV

transmission.

WILLIE

We抮e on.

ELLIE

Alright, do me a favour, go get the blinds. It has a lot of

glare.

FISHER

You抮e patched in.

ELLIE

It抯 definitely an image. Try to stabilize it. What do you make

if this, Fish?

FISHER

It抯 almost like there抯 two different interlaced frames. Frame

one.

ELLIE

Nah, it抯 just noise.

FISHER

Trying frame two.

WILLIE

Uh, I抳e got an offset carrier here, I think it抯 audio.

ELLIE

Plug it in, plug it in.

DAVID DRUMLIN

Center that segment.

FISHER

Centering.

ELLIE

Can you clear it up anymore Fish?

FISHER

I抦 working on it.

KITZ

What the hell?

ELLIE

Try zooming out.

FISHER

What is that?

DAVID DRUMLIN

Reverse values.

ELLIE

Try zooming out again.

ELLIE

Rotate 90 degrees counterclockwise.

DAVID DRUMLIN

Oh my god.

Video of Hitler.

KITZ

O-Kay.

KENT CLARK

Uh, What抯 going on?

WILLIE

You抮e not gonna believe this.

ELLIE

Does Anybody speak German?

KENT CLARK

Umm, I declare the games in Berlin, at the celebration of the

first Olympics of the new era, as open.

INT. WHITE HOUSE - DAY

CONSTANTINE

Twenty million people died defeating that son of a bitch and he抯

our first ambassador to outer space?

ELLIE

Actually...

DAVID DRUMLIN

(Cutting Ellie off) The broadcast of the ?6 Olympics was the

first television transmission of any power that went into space.

The fact that they recorded it, and sent it back, is simply their

way of saying hello, we heard you.

KITZ

Or saying, "Hi, you抮e our kind of people."

ELLIE

Wait a minute. Hitler and his politics have nothing to do with

this. It抯 highly unlikely that they would understand what they

were looking at. People have to understand...

CONSTANTINE

The people are in very good hands, doctor Arroway. We抣l take it

from here.

NEWS REPORT

The White House has just released a statement confirming that a

message of unknown origin emanating from deep space has been

received by American scientists. Clair Shipman is at the White

House.

CLAIRE SHIPMAN

...We抳e just been told that the president will have only a few

brief remarks about today抯 extraordinary announcement, and that

he won抰 be taking any questions from the press.

BILL CLINTON

Good Afternoon. I抦 glad to be joined by my science and

technology advisor. This is the product of years of exploration,

by some of the world抯 most distinguished scientists. Like all

discoveries, this one will and should continue to be reviewed,

examined, and scrutinized. It must be confirmed by other

scientists. But clearly, the fact that something of this

magnitude is being explored, is another...

INT. VLA CONTRON ROOM - DAY

Everyone is watching the president抯 speech.

WILLIE

What is this story? I thought Ellie was supposed to be on.

KENT CLARK

Uh, Uh guys. You know those interlaced frames we thought were

noise? I抦 getting structure.

BILL CLINTON

...If this discovery is confirmed. It would surely be one of the

most stunning insights into our universe that science has ever

uncovered. It抯 implications are as far reaching and awe

inspiring as can be imagined. Even as it promises answers to some

of our oldest questions, it poses still others even more

fundamental. We will continue to listen closely to what is has to

say. As we continue the search for the answers, and for knowledge

that is as old as humanity itself, but essential to our people抯

future. Thank you.

The president is bombarded by reporter抯 questions as he leaves the room.

CONSTANTINE

(On camera) ... the message was received Friday morning at 6:31

am mountain standard time. It was largely mathematical, and

despite the reports that you may have seen to the contrary,

appears to be completely benign in nature. Let me say that again;

the message is completely benign. The president has been in touch

with heads of state from around the world, and every possible

security measure is being taken. To better explain to you the

events of the last 48 hours, I抦 turning you over to the leader

of the scientific team that made this remarkable discovery (Ellie

begins to walk toward the podium), Doctor David Drumlin, special

science advisor to the president.

DAVID DRUMLIN

(On camera) Thank you Rachel. Hello. In 1936 a very faint

television signal transmitted the opening ceremonies of the

Olympic games as a show of German superior technology. That

signal left Earth at the speed of light and 26 years later

arrived in the vicinity of the star we call Vega. That signal has

been sent back to us hugely amplified. An unmistakable sign of

intelligence. Now...

Ellie gets a page. She leaves the room, sets up her laptop, and calls Kent.

ELLIE

You抮e on line Kent, go ahead.

KENT CLARK

The Adolf transmission used 25 frames per seconds, but we抮e

receiving 50 frames per second...

ELLIE

Uh huh.

KENT CLARK

...So we put the other 25 through a series of search algorithms,

to see if there was anything else. We found a series of markers

on the top of each frame, are you ready?

ELLIE

Uh, yea, go ahead.

KENT CLARK

Ok, send it Willie. Ok, here it comes.

Ellie receives the picture.

KENT CLARK

It抯 digital, massive amounts of data, which extend right to the

higher harmonics.

ELLIE

Jackpot!

INT. WHITE HOUSE - CABINET ROOM - DAY

ELLIE

Alright, as you抣l see, interlaced with the frames of the

original Hitler image, we found these sections. Now we thought

they were just noise, but they抮e actually data, huge amounts of

it. And when we combine this, with the data from the

amplification of the original signal, we get these encrypted

pages of text. Now, no two are alike, and we抳e uncovered over 10

000 already.

CONSTANTINE

What does it mean, doctor?

ELLIE

Well, we have no idea. It could be anything. It could be the

first volume of an encyclopedia Galactica...

KITZ

...Instructions to acquaint us with their colonization

procedures.

DAVID DRUMLIN

...Maybe a few billion new commandments.

CONSTANTINE

How long will it take to decode it?

ELLIE

It could take forever, we really need a primer, uh...

DAVID DRUMLIN

(Cutting off Ellie) We need to get the best decryption people we

have. I intend to use the VLA as my command post, in the

meantime, my office has made up a preliminary budget.

ELLIE

Wait a minute. This is a privately funded operation. We抮e only

leasing this time from the government.

KITZ

Doctor, if there抯 a precedent case in this domain, I抳e never

seen it. I抦 going to recommend to the president that we

militarize this project immediately.

ELLIE

What?! This is my project! I mean nobody knows more about these

scenarios than I do, David, tell them how many years...

DAVID DRUMLIN

Ellie, I抦 sorry.

CONSTANTINE

Can we calm down here? Now, I抦 going to recommend that Dr.

Drumlin administer and coordinate the decryption effort. However,

in light of Dr. Arroway抯 long experience in these matters, for

the time being, she will continue to direct operations at the

VLA. With the express understanding that any future discoveries

will be kept in the strictest of confidence, until such time as

the president can decide the most suitable course of action.

Understood?

Every television station is talking about the message...

JAY LENO

So it turns out there抯 life on other planets, boy this is really

gonna change the Miss Universe contest, don抰 you think...

NEWS REPORT

Health officials from around the world are concerned that the

message from Vega might trigger a rash of mass suicides not

unlike the recent cult deaths near San Diego.

NEWS REPORT 2

...even a scientist has to admit that there are some pretty

serious religious overtones to all this.

NEWS REPORT 3

...let抯 hear from someone who抯 organization has been accused of

conducting it抯 own inquisitions in recent days. Richard Rank,

head of the conservative coalition.

RICHARD RANK

Thank you. This is yet another example of science intruding into

matters of faith. Now...

JAY LENO

... a TV signal that was sent off in the 1930s, they抮e just

getting it. Imagine how disappointed they抮e gonna turn out to be

if they抮e Cubs fans.

NEWS REPORT 4

... we now go to the very large array in New Mexico.

REPORTER

Like a bolt from the blue it came. What is being called the

message from Vega has caused thousands of believers and

non-believers to descend upon the VLA facility here in the remote

desert of New Mexico. Many have come to protest, many to pray,

but most to come to participate in what has become the best show

in town.

EXT. VLA - AERIAL SHOT - DAY

Campfires, BBQs, tents of all shapes and sizes litter the plains

surrounding the telescope array in all directions. A huge banner in the

distance reads "There are Aliens Among us." Lines for the porta-potties a

quarter mile long. Woodstock, 2001. Songs such as "Flying Purple People

Eater" can be heard. Elvis impersonators with signs reading "Viva Las Vega"

can be seen. Hot Air Balloons that say "Vega or Bust". People dressed in

green with tin foil antennae on their heads, people trying to hear the

message themselves through their RCA digital TV dishes. Neo-Nazies with

signs saying, "Hitler Lives!". even a choir singing "Hail to Vega".

EXT. VLA ENTRANCE - CONTINUOUS ACTION

As the convoy is slowed by the crush of people we become aware of a crowd

concentrated around a young man speaking on a small jerrybuilt platform;

JOSEPH. As he speaks he doesn't come off at all like a fanatic -- in fact

he seems quite rational, persuasive in his passion. His amplified voice

rings out:

JOSEPH

...but they have failed. It抯 the same people who have again and

again brought us to the brink of destruction. Who polluted our

air, poisoned our waters. Now these scientists have had their

chance. Are these the kind of people you want talking to your God

for you?

CROWD

No!

NEWS REPORT

Efforts continue around the clock, but for now, almost two full

weeks after the message抯 arrival, scientists here at the VLA

still have no answers. Only more questions. Jeremy Ross, CNN,

Socorro, New Mexico.

NEWS ANCHOR PERSON

More on the quest for the message抯 meaning after this...

ELLIE

We抳e gotta align them somehow.

DECRYPTION EXPERT

But this one doesn抰 fit either. We抳e tried over a billion

permutations.

LUNACHARSKY

Curious, I could only get 3 quarters to fit. I don抰 understand

the significance.

Ellie gets home. Her computer is flashing that she has E-mail. She sees

that it's in Real time. She starts the Chat and sees the message, "Take me

to your leader."

ELLIE

(Typing) Who are you?

The response is "I抳e got a secret", and then a picture of one of the

pages.

ELLIE

Huh, what? Somebody broke in.

ELLIE

(Typing) WHO ARE YOU?

The phone rings. She picks up.

ELLIE

Hello. Listen, I don抰 know who you are, but you broke into the

database, and I抦... what? Now? Where?

A fax comes in... showing her a location and an arrow saying, "meet me

here".

ELLIE

I抣l be there.

EXT. HADDEN扴 AIR CRAFT - NIGHT.

GUARD

You should feel fortunate, he rarely lands for anyone.

Ellie goes inside. Walks through the halls to...

INT. HADDEN扴 OFFICE - NIGHT

HADDEN

Dr. Arroway, I presume.

ELLIE

Mr. Hadden.

HADDEN

I抳e had my eye on you a long time. I consider you one of my most

valuable long term investments, and when it comes to my

investments, I always do my homework.

He starts up a video sequence on a wall monitor.

HADDEN

Eleanor Ann Arroway, born 25th August 1964 in DePere, Wisconsin.

Mother, Joanna, died from complications during child birth. Early

testing indicated high pre-disposition towards science and

mathematics. Father, Theodore, advised to provide enrichment

activities along these lines, did so conscientiously until his

death by myocardial infarction November 10, 1974. You graduated

from high school in 1979, almost two full years early. Rewarded

full scholarship, MIT, graduated magna cum lauda. Doctoral work,

Cal-Tech, where you did breakthrough work on the lansamine built

ruby maser, dramatically increasing the sensitivity of radio

telescopes. Subsequently, offered a teaching position at Harvard

University, which you turned down, to pursue SETI work at the

Arecibo observatory in Puerto Rico. Changes in NSF policy gave

rise to certain funding problems, at which point you came to my

attention.

ELLIE

You compromised our security codes.

HADDEN

Once upon a time, I was a hell of an engineer, please sit Doctor.

I have visitors so rarely, it抯 important to me that they feel

welcome in my home.

ELLIE

You live here?

HADDEN

I find it convenient to keep my interests mobile. Anyway, I抳e

had my fill of life on the ground.

ELLIE

Well, I guess I should thank you for bailing me out all that

time.

HADDEN

I know a good bet when I see one. (hands her a tea) Earl Grey, no

sugar, no milk, I believe.

ELLIE

What am I doing here?

HADDEN

(laughs) The powers that be have been very busy lately, clawing

over each other to position themselves for the game of the

millenium. Maybe I can help deal you back in.

ELLIE

I didn抰 realize that was out.

HADDEN

Well, maybe not out, but certainly being handed your hat. I抳e

had a long time to make enemies, doctor. So many governments,

business interests, even religious leaders that would like to see

me depart this Earth. I抣l grant them their wish soon enough, but

before I do, I wish to make a small contribution, a final gesture

of good will to the people of this little planet who have given

me... from whom I have taken so much.

ELLIE

You found the primer.

HADDEN

Clever girl. Lights.

Another video appears on the wall monitor.

HADDEN

Pages and pages of data. Over 63 thousand in all, and on the

parameter of each...

ELLIE

...alignment symbols, a registration marks, but they don抰 line

up.

HADDEN

Ahh, but they do. If you think like a Vegan. An alien

intelligence is going to be more advanced. That means efficiency

functioning on multiple levels and in multiple dimensions.

The video reflects this by combining three pages in 3 dimensions... they

match up.

ELLIE

Yes! Of course. Where抯 the primer?

HADDEN

You抣l see. Every three dimensional page contains a piece of the

primer, there it was all the time, staring you in the face.

Buried within the message itself, is the key...

INT. WHITE HOUSE - CABINET ROOM - DAY

ELLIE

...to decoding it. Within the layering of the matrix, we have

these basic equations. So with this very elementary foundation,

they have given us a kind of general scientific vocabulary. We

now have the symbols for true and false...

DAVID DRUMLIN

(Cutting Ellie off) ...This was the key, to put it simply, that

allowed us to decipher their language for physics, geometry,

chemistry, next frame Ellie.

ELLIE

Yes, and when we apply this to the rest of the message, we find

this...

KITZ

Those look like engineering schematics, almost like blueprints.

DAVID DRUMLIN

Yea

ELLIE

Yes, It is our belief that the message contains instructions for

building something. Some kind of machine.

CONSTANTINE

A machine? That does what, doctor?

ELLIE

Well, we don抰 know. It might be some type of advanced

communication device, or it could be a teaching machine of some

kind, or it might... turn out to be some kind of a transport.

KITZ

Transport?

DAVID DRUMLIN

There抯 no proof of that.

KITZ

The fact is, you don抰 know what it does. It could be anything.

It could be a Trojan horse. We build it and out pours the entire

Vegan army.

MILITARY GENERAL

Why bother even risking the personnel. It could be a weapon

MILITARY GENERAL 2

Right, some kind of doomsday machine.

KITZ

Exactly, every time they detect a new civilization, they fax down

these construction documents from outer space. We poor saps

build... whatever this thing is, and blow ourselves to kingdom

come.

ELLIE

There抯 no reason to believe that their intentions are hostile.

KITZ

Why is it always the default position of the eggheads that aliens

would always be benign, why is that?

ELLIE

We pose no threat to them. It would like us going out of our way

to destroy a few microbes on some ant hill in Africa.

DAVID DRUMLIN

Interesting analogy. And how guilty would we feel if we went and

destroyed a few microbes on an ant hill in Africa?

KITZ

I hope you抮e right, doctor. I really do. But right now, my job

is to protect American lives from any plausible threat, and in

that regard I am obligated to assume the worst.

RICHARD RANK

Well, yes, and I抦 forced to agree with you. My problem is this;

The content of that message is morally ambiguous at best. Now our

internal numbers show that support for this is incredibly soft,

so if the president wishes to stay this course, I guarantee

you抮e gonna find his numbers going south like a duck in winter.

ELLIE

This is nuts.

RICHARD RANK

Excuse me miss, we know nothing of these creatures' values. The

fact of the matter is we don抰 even know whether they believe in

god.

ELLIE

Now this doesn抰 make any sense, I mean if you were to ask...

CONSTANTINE

Excuse me Dr, Arroway, we won抰 be suppressing any opinions here

today.

ELLIE

No, of course not, it抯 just that the message was written in the

language of science. Now, if it had been religious in nature, it

should have taken on the form of burning bush, or a big booming

voice from the sky...

Joss walk in.

PALMER

But a voice from the sky is exactly what you found, Dr. Arroway.

I抦 sorry I抦 late, ma抋m. Now, I agree with Mr. Rank that there

are unavoidable religious implications at stake here, but that

doesn抰 justify taking an alarmist抯 position. My hope here is

that we can find a common ground, break through any obstacles

that may have kept us apart.

KITZ

Right well perhaps we can just...

ELLIE

Yea, and I need to make a point...

RICHARD RANK

...our organization will not be qualified to bang heads with

flowery, new age rhetoric from...

CONSTANTINE

Mr. President.

The president walks in, everyone stands up...

NEWS REPORT

The president met with his top advisors today regarding the

latest efforts to decode the message. While there has been

reports of some progress, the official line remains a cautious

one.

DAVID DRUMLIN

If you抮e asking me when we抣l find out what the purpose of that

machine is, maybe tomorrow, maybe next year, maybe never.

ELLIE

Here he is, the man with his finger on the spiritual pulse of a

nation, huh?

PALMER

It抯 so good to see you Ellie.

ELLIE

You too.

PALMER

Your discovering all of this, it must be a real vindication. I抦

really happy for you.

ELLIE

Are you ?

CONSTANTINE

Mr. Joss, the president抯 waiting.

ELLIE

(laughs) The president抯 waiting.

PALMER

Ellie, see you at the reception tonight?

ELLIE

Uh, yea, I wouldn抰 miss it.

PALMER

Alright, good.

ELLIE

Excuse me, Miss Constantine, may I speak to you.

CONSTANTINE

Certainly.

ELLIE

I have a big problem.

CONSTANTINE

Yes?

ELLIE

Do you know where I can find, like a really great dress.

Ellie arrives at the reception, where there is a crowd of protestors.

People are chanting, praise God. She sees Joseph again.

INT. RECEPTION - NIGHT

PALMER

Wow. You look beautiful Ellie.

ELLIE

So do you.

PALMER

Wow, you really do.

ELLIE

I read your book.

PALMER

Here we go.

ELLIE

Would you like me to quote you? Ironically, the thing people are

most hungry for, meaning, is the one thing that science hasn抰

been able to give them.

PALMER

Yea, yea.

ELLIE

Come on. It抯 like you抮e saying that science killed God. What if

science simply revealed that he never existed in the first place.

PALMER

I think we抮e gonna need to get some air.

ELLIE

What?

PALMER

And a few more of these (taking two glasses of champagne)

EXT. RECEPTION - NIGHT

ELLIE

Whew, it抯 a little chilly out here.

PALMER

Yea, this is nice.

ELLIE

Hey, I抳e got one for you.

PALMER

What have you got?

ELLIE

Occam's Razor, you ever heard of it?

PALMER

Hackem抯 Razor, sounds like some slasher movie.

ELLIE

No, Occam's Razor, it抯 a basic scientific principle. And it

says, all things being equal, the simplest explanation tends to

be the right one.

PALMER

Make sense to me.

ELLIE

Alright. So what抯 more likely (Joss puts his jacket around

Ellie), thank you...

PALMER

You抮e welcome.

ELLIE

...An all powerful and mysterious God created the Universe, and

then decided not to give any proof of his existence, or that he

simply doesn抰 exist at all, and that we created him so that we

didn抰 have to feel so small and alone?

PALMER

I don抰 know. I couldn抰 imagine living in a world where God

didn抰 exist. I wouldn抰 want to.

ELLIE

How do you know your not deluding yourself? As for me, I抎 need

proof.

PALMER

Proof. Did you love your father?

ELLIE

Huh?

PALMER

Your Dad, did you love him?

ELLIE

Yes, very much.

PALMER

Prove it.

Just then they both get a page.

ELLIE

Kent.

PALMER

The White House.

They go back inside, and someone calls Joss away.

DAVID DRUMLIN

... I don抰 want excuses, whoever抯 responsible, I want their

head on a platter, ok?

ELLIE

What happened?

DAVID DRUMLIN

You were right all along.

NEWS REPORT

The decryption team here at the VLA has been working around the

clock, and all the hard work has finally paid off. This key

section uncovered tonight, and obtained exclusively by CNN, shows

an illustration of what is unmistakenly a human figure inside a

geometric structure of some kind. This and other contextual

clues, now lead scientists to believe that the message is in

fact...

PALMER

The president抯 just called a meeting.

NEWS REPORT

... device designed to take a single human occupant into space.

Presumably to the star named Vega.

Ellie is waiting for the meeting to finish. When the door opens, everyone

floods out. Ellie walks towards Joss.

KITZ

Damn, I missed my mother's birthday party, could you get her on

the phone for me?

ELLIE

(To Joss) Tell me.

PALMER

They抮e gonna build it.

ELLIE

Who gets to go?

PALMER

The president抯 just called it international to spread the risk

and construction cost.

ELLIE

Who gets to go?

PALMER

Well, it抯 complicated Ellie.

ELLIE

What?

PALMER

They抳e formed a group of international candidates. Now, it was

your discovery, and they understand that. You抮e at the top of a

very short list. But they抮e also putting together a formal

selection committee, it抯 made of scholars, theologians,

scientists, philosophers...

ELLIE

You抮e on it?

PALMER

I抳e been asked, yes.

ELLIE

I guess that means that you抮e a selector and I抦 a selectee, and

we can抰...

PALMER

Yea, but what you don抰 understand Ellie is...

DAVID DRUMLIN

Ellie, I want you to know that whatever happens as far as I抦

concerned... well, good luck.

ELLIE

Well, whatever you do, just make sure he doesn抰 monopolize the

committee.

PALMER

He抯 not on the committee Ellie.

ELLIE

What?

PALMER

He just resigned as science advisor, he wants to be the one to

go.

And the media goes crazy again...

NEWS REPORT

The president is already beginning to feel the financial pitch.

Consortium sources say the cost of the project is spiraling to

more a third of a trillion dollars. Making this, what may be the

most expensive single project in all of human history.

NEWS REPORT 2

Meanwhile, months of debate finally reached a conclusion of sorts

last week as ten international candidates were selected by the

IMC, representing a cross section of political, philosophical and

religious figures. Many of these scientists are the same experts

who have been consulting on the machine抯 design and function. As

such, they will be actively participating on site during the

construction process. The choice of these ten candidates has not

been without controversy. Nearly one third the candidates are

American. Many international observers are asking why?

CONSTANTINE

(Being interview) The US is shouldering an enormous percentage of

the financial burden.

REPORTER

But Isn抰 it true though a lot of the large contractors, like

Hadden Industries are actually making those contributions in

exchange for technology rights.

CONSTANTINE

Different nations are being compensated in different ways. For

example...

NEWS REPORT

Japan made headlines last month when it announced it would forego

candidate representation in exchange for the lucrative systems

integration sub contract.

LARRY KING

On what basis do you choose a human being to represent humanity?

DAVID DRUMLIN

Good question Larry...

ELLIE

Yes, well, if nothing else, they should be someone who抯 fluent

in the language that the message was given in, science in this

case.

REPORTER

Dr. Arroway, despite your obvious enthusiasm, there抯 been a lot

of criticism of late that this whole endeavour is simply too

dangerous. Some of that criticism from scientists. One noble

prize winner recently noted his words, "There is every indication

that this is simply beyond our capabilities. That this endeavour

will fail, and that the machines occupant will pay for that

failure with their life." How do you respond to something like

that?

ELLIE

Well, this message is from a civilization that may be anywhere

from hundreds to millions and millions of years ahead of us. I

have to believe that an intelligence that advanced knows what

they抮e doing. All it requires on our part is...

REPORTER

Faith?

ELLIE

I was going to say a sense of adventure.

NEWS REPORT

And in other news, Major John Rusell, a former astronaut

considered to be the leading American candidate for the machine

seat, has unexpectedly dropped out of the running. Rusell met

with reporters this afternoon as his Houston home.

JOHN扴 SON (Robert Zemekis?son in real life)

(On camera) I told my dad that I didn抰 want him to go.

JOHN扴 DAUGHTER

Daddy, don抰 go.

JOHN RUSELL

Nothing would give me more pride than to represent my country,

but what can I say to this?

NEWS REPORT

Consortium officials have no comment, but sources within the

American delegation have disclosed that Dr. Arroway appears to be

the front runner for the machine seat.

EXT. WASHINGTON PARK - DAY

ELLIE

"Meet me at noon, must talk". I wasn抰 expecting any messages

from you.

PALMER

Thanks for coming.

ELLIE

So is this kosher? Fraternizing with the enemy? Selectors and

selectees mingling around (laughs).

PALMER

Can we talk about Einstein?

ELLIE

Yea, sure, ok.

PALMER

Special relativity. This machine, now if it works and you travel

to Vega at even close to the speed of light when you come back...

ELLIE

...if you come back.

PALMER

If you come back, you will only be 4 years older, but over 50

years will have passed here on Earth, and everybody that you care

about will be gone, dead and buried.

ELLIE

If you came back, if you survived it all, which is... look

Palmer, no one抯 saying that this isn抰 dangerous, alright. I -

The rest of the candidates and myself we fully understand the

implications, the risks that we抮e taking.

PALMER

Why?

ELLIE

Because it抯 a historic opportunity, because the world needs...

PALMER

You, Ellie, you. You personally. I mean by doing this you抮e

willing to give your life to it, you抮e willing to die for it...

why?

ELLIE

For as long as I can remember, I've been searching for something,

some reason why we're here -- what are we doing here, who are we?

If this is a chance to find out even just a little part of that

answer, I don抰 know, I think it's worth a human life, don't you?

PALMER

You抮e an incredibly brave Woman, Ellie.

ELLIE

Incredibly Nuts.

They kiss, and then just hold each other.

ELLIE

Palmer, I抦 confused.

PALMER

So am I.

INT. IMC BUILDING -DAY

FRENCH REPRESENTATIVE

I think I speak for us all when I thank you for your patience.

Myself, I have one final question Dr. Arroway. If you should meet

these Vegans and were permitted only one question to ask of them.

What would it be?

ELLIE

Well I suppose it would be, umm, how did you do it, how did you

evolve, how did you survive this technological adolescence

without destroying yourself. That more than any other question is

the one that I would personally like to have answered.

And in an office somewhere watching what抯 happening.

CONSTANTINE

Not too bad, Mike.

KITZ

Eh.

Back at IMC.

CHAIRWOMAN

I join Dr. Bergeron in expressing thanks for your patience Dr.

Arroway. We抳e all been more than impressed with your candor and

your stamina. I believe we are ready to move on to your final

statement.

PALMER

Madame Chairman, I have one more question.

CHAIRWOMAN

Yes Mr. Joss.

PALMER

Dr. Arroway. Would you consider yourself a spiritual person?

ELLIE

I don抰 really understand the point of the question. I consider

myself a moral person.

CHAIRWOMAN

I抦 sure we all agree that is the case, but I think what Mr. Joss

is in fact asking is...

PALMER

Do you believe in God, Dr. Arroway?

ELLIE

As a scientist I rely on imperical evidence, and in this matter,

I don抰 believe that there is data either way.

CHAIRWOMAN

So your answer would in fact be that you don抰 believe in God?

ELLIE

I - I just don抰 understand the relevance of the question.

ENGLISH REPRESENTATIVE

Dr. Arroway, 95% of the world抯 population believes in a supreme

being in one form or another. I believe that makes the question

more than relevant.

CHAIRWOMAN

Dr. Arroway?

ELLIE

I believe um, I believe I抳e already answered that question.

DAVID DRUMLIN

I抦 proud of what we抳e achieved as a species, and as a

civilization. I would hate to see all we stand for, all that we

have fought for, for a thousand generations, all that God has

blessed us with, betrayed in the final hour because we chose to

send a representative who did not put our most cherished beliefs

first. Thank you.

INT. ELLIE扴 ROOM - NIGHT

Ellie is packing her bags. There抯 a knock on the door. Ellie opens it. She

sees its Joss and goes back to her packing.

ELLIE

Why did you do it?

PALMER

Our job was to select someone to speak for everybody. I just

couldn抰 in good conscience vote for a person who doesn抰 believe

in God. Someone who honestly thinks the other 95% of us suffer

from some form of mass delusion.

ELLIE

I told the truth up there and Drumlin told you exactly what you

wanted to hear.

She retrieves the crackerjack compass from her bags. She gives it back to

Joss.

EXT. CAPE CANAVERAL - DAY

DAVID DRUMLIN

With full humility and utmost gratitude I accept this great

honor, and I promise I will do my best to represent my nation, my

planet, and my God on this historic journey. I thank you from the

bottom of my heart.

NEWS REPORT

There抯 a carnival atmosphere here at Cape Canaveral. As the

International Machine Consortium holds as much a media event as a

systems test. David Drumlin is supervising the on-site portion of

the test. We spoke to him earlier today.

DAVID DRUMLIN

(on camera) We抣l be able to monitor the stresses and effects

using the robot passenger who we loving call Elmer.

Ellie pulls up in a car.

REPORTER

Dr. Arroway, we would like to ask you a few questions as soon as

you抮e done with Dr. Drumlin.

DAVID DRUMLIN

...there will be a substantial amount of energy generated at the

core. We抣l be able to monitor the stresses and effects using the

robot passenger who we loving call Elmer.

ON SITE WORKER

Sir, they抮e ready for you at the site.

DAVID DRUMLIN

Uh, ya. Just a minute.

DAVID DRUMLIN

Ellie.

ELLIE

Congratulations David.

DAVID DRUMLIN

Glad you could come. I didn抰 expect to see you here.

ELLIE

Well, I抦 still crew ops at the control center, and I suppose the

fact that I discovered the message means that I have PR value.

DAVID DRUMLIN

Of course. Ellie, I know you must think this is all really

unfair. Maybe that抯 an understatement. What you don抰 know is

that I agree. I wish the world was a place where fair was the

final line, where the kind of idealism you showed at the hearing

was rewarded, not taken advantage of. Unfortunately, we don抰

live in that world.

ELLIE

Funny; I抳e always believe that the world is what we make of it.

ON SITE WORKER

Excuse me, Dr. Drumlin, sir.

ELLIE

Good luck on the tests.

INT. CAPE CANAVERAL - CONTROL ROOM - DAY - MAIN MONITOR

The alien, spherical pod rests on a complex drop mechanism that in turn

hangs from an overhead track. The track extends out along the long gantry

arm that hangs over the top of the machine's three immense concentric

rings.

DAVID DRUMLIN

Test director, everything looks good up here, we抮e ready to go.

DIRECTOR

Alright people, I want things double and triple checked here. We

only get one shot at this, let抯 get it right.

DIRECTOR

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are ready to start up. For all

controllers, I need a go/no go for test initiation. Mechanical?

MECHANICAL

Go.

DIRECTOR

Electrical?

ELECTRICAL

Go.

DIRECTOR

Dynamics?

DYNAMICS

Go.

DIRECTOR

Communications?

COMMUNICATIONS

Go.

DIRECTOR

Life Support Systems?

LIFE SUPPORT

Go.

DIRECTOR

Safety?

SAFETY

Go.

DIRECTOR

Crew Ops? Verify all pretest procedures are complete.

ELLIE

Yes, verified, am go.

DAVID DRUMLIN

Ground leader, we抮e looking good here, everything ok with you?

GROUND LEADER

Roger, the pad is a go.

DAVID DRUMLIN

Test initiation on my mark. 5...4...3...2...1...mark. System?

SYSTEM

Rings are unlocked. Power levels indicate a good start.

Rings start spinning.

NEWS REPORT

... and we have begun the full scale test of Earth抯 first system

built by the sharing of knowledge with a neighbour in our

Universe.

SYSTEM 1

Power sources are going up to bust.

SYSTEM 2

IPV Power transfer complete.

SYSTEM 3

Ring motion detected on Alpha, Bravo, Charlie.

DIRECTOR

Jerry. How we looking?

JERRY (Ground Director)

Looks good. We抮e underway.

DAVID DRUMLIN

Looks like we have a normal start up.

DIRECTOR

Roger. David, It抯 looking good here.

DIRECTOR

Mechanical, we still happy?

MECHANICAL

Roger that.

DAVID DRUMLIN

I抣l tell you, this is very exiting from up here.

SYSTEM

We抳e got 4%.

DAVID DRUMLIN

We抮e confirming, 4%

SYSTEM

Frequency, niner point eight five. Dynamics in the green. Queue

level one point one. 5%

DIRECTOR

Confirm, we are at 5%. David how抯 it looking to you?

DAVID DRUMLIN

Ok, I抦 gonna take a look and show you what we抳e got.

SYSTEM

All test subject instrumentation looks good.

SYSTEM 2

Confirmed. We have a good picture from Dr. Drumlin抯 PRD.

DAVID DRUMLIN

I hope you guys can see what I抦 seeing.

SYSTEM

All systems are go.

DAVID DRUMLIN

Now this is really something.

NEWS REPORT

For the purpose of this test, Dr. Drumlin will on top of the

gantry frame that抯 over the machine. We抳e got some video

animation to show you just this machine, it is thought, will

work. The passenger pod will be released, it抣l come down to the

center of the rings, and into the machine抯 core. The big

question everyone here is asking is of course, what happens then?

Some believe that the rings?function as some sort of an

accelerator or something, sending its energy into this passenger

pod making it rocket away at near the speed of light. Other

people believe it might open up doorway to some other dimension.

Who抯 right? That抯 what today抯 test is all about.

SYSTEM

35%... 40%

SYSTEM 2

We抮e ready

SYSTEM 3

Confirm, 40%

DIRECTOR

All controllers stand by to initiate drop sequence, on my mark.

SYSTEM

All systems ready for drop sequence.

SYSTEM 2

45%

SYSTEM 3

We抮e ready at 45%

DAVID DRUMLIN

Can Verify closure.

SYSTEM

46%

DIRECTOR

All controllers stand ready to initiate IPV drop sequence, on my

mark.

SYSTEM

49%

DAVID DRUMLIN

System Director, I抦 feeling a very strange vibration, are you

reading it down there?

DIRECTOR

Jerry, can you confirm any vibration out of place?

JERRY

Negative, everything looks good here.

DIRECTOR

Crew Ops?

ELLIE

Nothing wrong with Elmer.

DIRECTOR

David, we抮e not seeing anything abnormal here.

DAVID DRUMLIN

No good, hold the sequence, I抦 gonna take a direct reading.

DIRECTOR

What the hell抯 he talking about?

SYSTEM

Can anyone say Grand standing?

SYSTEM 2

He sure knows he抯 on TV.

SYSTEM 3

Back home, that抯 what we call an overcooked ham.

DAVID DRUMLIN

What抯 your reading on the G levels?

SYSTEM

G levels are right on.

DYNAMICS

Director, we just reconfirmed all readings. We抮e go.

DIRECTOR

Copy that dynamics. I think we抮e ok, but we抣l let him finish.

Mechanical you still ok?

MECHANICAL

Roger that...

ELLIE

(who抯 been moving one of the cameras and sees Joseph on the

gantry) We抳e got a security problem here.

DIRECTOR

Ellie, are you sure?

ELLIE

Yea, this guy, he shouldn抰 be there, I know him.

DIRECTOR

Jerry, execute the rapid shut down sequence...

ELLIE

Get me Drumlin on a secure loop please.

SYSTEM

You got it.

ELLIE

David, can you hear me?

DAVID DRUMLIN

Yes, I hear you.

ELLIE

We抳e got a security breach here. Right behind you, the tall guy,

the technician, see him? He抯 not supposed to be there. David,

he抯 got something in his hand.

DAVID DRUMLIN

Him. Stop him, security breach.

ON SITE WORKER

A bomb, he抯 got a bomb.

DAVID DRUMLIN

He抯 on the gantry now

ON SITE WORKER 2

Security. Stage one alert.

ON SITE WORKER 3

Oh my god!

Joseph sets off the bomb, the monitors go blank one at a time. And the

machine gets destroyed in a spectacular explosion. Pieces of it go flying

in all directions.

DIRECTOR

Alright, alright, back to your stations. I need you to be

professional people, settle down.

NEWS REPORT

...today, which David Drumlin, advisor to two presidents and

winner of the national academy of science抯 lifetime award of

excellence, was laid to rest at Arlington national cemetery. And

in the latest story, last night...

VLA CONTROL ROOM - NIGHT

Ellie has returned to the VLA. She is watching the news report on a TV in

the control room. There is someone on duty there.

PERSON ON DUTY

Can I help you? Oh, you抮e... I抳e got some mail for you.

NEWS REPORT

... a video. The apparent suicide note of the leader of the

terrorist group, now believed responsible for the explosion in

Florida this week.

JOSEPH

(on video) What we do, we do for the goodness of all mankind.

This won抰 be understood, not now, but the apocalypse to come

will vindicate our faith.

Ellie walks over to the stereo system and listens to

the message at the original frequency.

KENT CLARK

Welcome home. She goes to Kent and hugs him.

INT. ELLIE扴 ROOM - NIGHT

Her room has a bunch of strange equipment scattered around. There抯 a note

that says, "hit any key". She does, and everything comes to life,

specifically a screen where she sees a cosmonaut floating around. The

Cosmonaut talks to someone in Russian and then...

COSMONAUT

Oh, Comrad Arroway, we have been expecting your call. Um, one

moment please.

Ellie sees S. R. Hadden peeling a banana in zero G.

ELLIE

Mr. Hadden?

HADDEN

Doctor. How kind of you to call.

ELLIE

Mr. Hadden, where are you?

HADDEN

The Russian government was kind enough to give me accommodations

on Mir.

ELLIE

You抮e living on a space station?

HADDEN

Its quite simple really; the low oxygen, zero gravity environment

is the only thing keeping the cancer from eating me alive.

Actually, I quite like it up here. My little room has one hell of

a view. I wanna show you something (hits some buttons on a

keypad, we see a satellite image of an island). Hokkaido Island.

ELLIE

The systems integration site.

HADDEN

Look closer (hits more buttons, image zooms further in on the

island). First rule in government spending, why build one when

you can have two at twice the price. Only, this one can be kept

secret. Controlled by Americans, built by the Japanese sub

contractors, who also happen to be recently acquired, wholly

owned subsidiaries of...

ELLIE AND HADDEN

...Hadden Industries.

HADDEN

They still want an American to go, doctor. Wanna take a ride?

INT. HOKKAIDO STATION - DAY

EQUIPMENT PERSON

... and augmenting our restraint in communications consort sub

systems, we have your personal recording unit. Normal, infrared

and Ultraviolet lenses. Digital microchip, good for thousands of

hours of recording.

ELLIE

Ok, I understand the reason for recording and documenting the

mission, I just want to go on record one more time; the

transmitted specs never said anything about a chair or a

restraining harness or survival gear. Why can抰 we just trust the

original...

SUPERVISOR

Because the IMC board and the SI team carefully reviewed the

matter and concluded that design impact is negligible. Bottom

line is we are not putting anyone aboard this machine unless

there is some sort of minimal protection. Minimal protection, end

of story.

ELLIE

Ok.

SUPERVISOR

(Handing her a tablet of cyanide) Ellie, we抳e been giving these

to the astronauts since the beginning of the space program, it抯

never been made public, of course. It抯 fast and its painless.

ELLIE

I抦 gonna travel 26 light years to commit suicide?

SUPERVISOR

Something may go wrong, there might be an unforeseen mechanical

failure, you could be marooned, unable to return. There are a

thousand reasons we can think of for you to have this with you,

but mostly its for the reasons we can抰 think of.

INT. ELLIE扴 ROOM ON HOKKAIDO - NIGHT

There抯 a knock at the door.

ELLIE

Come in.

GUARD

Dr. Arroway, time to get ready.

ELLIE

Thank you.

Joss appears at the door.

PALMER

I know you don抰 have much time, as soon as I found out about the

machine I called the President. I came with Kitz. I had to see

you one more time. Oh God, I抦 sorry.

ELLIE

It抯 ok. I抦 glad you came.

PALMER

Listen, there抯 something I gotta say to you. The reason I didn抰

want you to go, was a good reason, but it wasn抰 the real one. I

didn抰 want you to go, because I don抰 want to lose you. (handing

her back the compass) You find your way home, alright?

NEWS REPORT

...23 hours ago, the world was stunned by announcement of the

existence of a second machine, and its passenger, Eleanor Ann

Arroway. Now, the question that抯 on everyone抯 mind, will

history repeat itself? With a piece of engineering this complex,

with so many unknowns, could the unthinkable occur? The security

in Hokkaido has been incredibly tight. No reporters whatsoever

have been allowed near the site.

INT. MACHINE GANTRY - NIGHT

Ellie is escorted across the gantry by two Japanese guards. We hear the

rings spinning, and are aware of Ellie抯 breathing. She is magnetically

attached to the chair in the IPV.

SYSTEM

Magnetic restraints secure, all life support functions are

normal.

DIRECTOR

Roger that. Ellie this is control, do you copy?

ELLIE

Ellie to control. Reading you five by five.

DIRECTOR

Comm one, get me on the PRD.

ELLIE

Video unit recording, transmitting. Are you reading me?

DIRECTOR

That抯 affirmative. Video looks good.

ELLIE

Copy that, control.

DIRECTOR

Ok, Ellie, we抮e going to proceed to button you up.

ELLIE

Roger control, ready.

The walkway begins to retract, and the door begins to slide into place.

ELLIE

I can confirm the walkway retraction.

DIRECTOR

Communications?

COMMUNICATIONS

Go.

DIRECTOR

Life Support?

LIFE SUPPORT

Go.

DIRECTOR

Ellie, we are go for closure.

ELLIE

I抦 go here.

DIRECTOR

Mechanical, initiate IPV closure sequence.

Joss and Kent come into the room.

KENT CLARK

Nice to smell you again, Mr. Kitz.

KITZ

You too.

KENT CLARK

(To Joss) I wouldn抰 peg him as a polo man.

ELLIE

Got a visual on the door.

DIRECTOR

Door is looking good.

ELLIE

Door alignment looks good.

The door closes, the seams around it disappear.

DIRECTOR

Ellie, we are showing green across the board.

ELLIE

Roger that control. IPV is secure.

SYSTEM

We are at 30%

ELLIE

Copy that, 30%

KENT CLARK

How you doing in there, El?

ELLIE

Kent? Is that you?

KENT CLARK

That抯 a big affirmative.

ELLIE

Well, who let you in there, huh?

KENT CLARK

A higher power intervened. (Joss and Kent exchange glances)

ELLIE

Well, I抦 glad you came.

SYSTEM

35%

ELLIE

Copy that, 35%

SYSTEM

40%

ELLIE

I抦 picking up a moderate vibration here.

DIRECTOR

Dynamics, can you confirm vibration?

DYNAMICS

Everything looks good here. She抯 feeling the same thing they

felt at the Cape at this point.

DIRECTOR

Ellie, the vibration is normal.

SYSTEM

We抮e at 50%, all systems go.

ELLIE

Copy that, 50%.

ELLIE

Vibrations getting a little stronger now.

SYSTEM

We抮e picking up some low frequency noise.

DIRECTOR

Mechanical, can you confirm?

MECHANICAL

Looks fine to me.

DIRECTOR

Roger. Jerry what do you think?

JERRY

I say go.

DIRECTOR

People, we are still go.

ELLIE

Something抯 happening... There抯 a light, do you see that? I抦

seeing something, I can抰 tell whether its daylight or not,

its... there it is again, its coming from the bottom... Here, let

me show it to you, do you see that?

DIRECTOR

Negative. Ellie, you抮e breaking up. Comm one, can we boost her

signal?

COMM ONE

Already at maximum.

ELLIE

The material is changing. Its bordering on translucent. But the

system抯 intact. Its gotta be some kind of electro-magnetic

field. Are you reading this?

DIRECTOR

Negative, we抮e seeing only interference.

ELLIE

It抯 becoming completely translucent, I can抰 describe it, I

can抰 even explain it.

SYSTEM

70%

DIRECTOR

People, we抳e got intermittent comm, but we are still go.

Initiate secondary drive systems.

SYSTEM

Initiating auxiliary booster sequence... We抮e go for ignition...

We have auxiliary booster ignition.

Two rockets fire off one of the rings.

DIRECTOR

Life support, how抯 she doing?

LIFE SUPPORT

Heart and respiration within limits, she抯 ok.

DIRECTOR

Ellie, do you copy?

ELLIE

If you can hear me, I抦 ok to go.

SYSTEM

80%. All vibrations and T-levels are in the green.

ELLIE

Control, are you reading me? I am ok to go... ok to go.

SYSTEM

85%

SYSTEM

90%. We抮e detecting some structural instability.

DIRECTOR

Confirm, how抯 she holding?

LIFE SUPPORT

We抮e within limits, barely.

ELLIE

I抦 ok to go. I抦 ok to go.

A huge ball of energy erupts in the center of the machine.

DIRECTOR

My God!

ELLIE

Ok to go, I抦 ok.

SYSTEM

100%; target velocity.

JERRY

Steve, we抮e picking up tremendously high levels around the

machine, all field measurements are pegged off scale high...

Steve, we抮e approaching our abort limits.

The Director is about to push the abort button...

ELLIE

Ok to go.

KENT CLARK

I hear her, I hear her! Barely, but she抯 there.

ELLIE

Ok to go.

KENT CLARK

She says she抯 ok to go.

JERRY

Steve, we抮e real close.

DIRECTOR

Electrical, what抯 your reading in the core?

ELECTRICAL

The internal environment looks normal. Inside the core, the

weather is beautiful.

ELLIE

Ok to go, ok to go, ok to go.

DIRECTOR

Initiate drop sequence... on my mark.

10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...

ELLIE

Ok to go...

The IPV Drops into the core and Ellie starts falling though a tunnel of

sorts.

ELLIE

Oh God!!! Ellie to control, do you read me? I抦 gonna try to keep

recording. I抦 going through some kind of tunnel. There抯 a light

source ahead, brilliant, blue/white...

The IPV Emerges from the tunnel.

ELLIE

It抯 a star. I must have gone through a wormhole. It抯 Vega.

Ellie sees the radio telescopes that were used to send the message to

Earth, but then the IPV gets pulled into another wormhole.

ELLIE

I抦 in another wormhole now, a series of them. Some kind of

transit system...

The IPV Emerges from the wormhole.

ELLIE

Ok, I抳e gotta keep talking.

She looks out the IPV.

ELLIE

A triple, no, quadruple system. Oh, it抯 beautiful.

She sees a spaceport on the planet below her.

ELLIE

They抮e alive.

The IPV gets pulled into another wormhole. She抯 experiencing massive

amounts of turbulence.

ELLIE

Another wormhole. This one has more turbulence.

She lets go of the compass in her hand. She notices that it抯 floating in

zero G, and unbuckles herself from the chair and begins floating. The chair

shakes itself loose, and then all is silent until she emerges from the

wormhole and the chair is pulled up to the top of the IPV. All is dark.

Ellie turns on a flashlight.

ELLIE

Some celestial event. No - No words. No words to describe it.

They should抳e sent a poet. So beautiful, So beautiful... I had

no idea.

Her words are echoed as she passes out. She wakes up on a celestial beach

that looks a little like the picture of Pensacola she drew when she was

young. She reaches out and her hands brushes against something invisible

that makes a sound. She touches somewhere else, a different sound. She

continues to do this, making beautiful music, until she sees something in

the distance... her father.

TED ARROWAY

Hiya Sparks.

ELLIE

Dad?

She gives him a hug.

TED ARROWAY

I missed you.

ELLIE

I missed you (crying).

TED ARROWAY

Oh, I抦 sorry I couldn抰 be there for you sweetheart.

ELLIE

You抮e not real. None of this is real.

TED ARROWAY

That抯 my scientist.

ELLIE

When I was unconscious, you downloaded my thoughts, my memories,

even Pensacola.

TED ARROWAY

We thought this might make things easier for you.

ELLIE

Why did you contact us?

TED ARROWAY

You contacted us. We were just listening.

ELLIE

Then there are others?

TED ARROWAY

Many others.

ELLIE

They all travel here through that transit system that you built?

TED ARROWAY

We didn抰 build it, we don抰 know who did. They were gone long

before we ever got here. Maybe some day they抣l come back.

ELLIE

All the other civilizations that you find, they come here?

TED ARROWAY

Not all.

ELLIE

Is this some test?

TED ARROWAY

No, no tests... (holding Ellie抯 hand) you have your mother抯

hands... You抮e an interesting species, an interesting mix.

You抮e capable of such beautiful dreams and such horrible

nightmares. You fell so lost, so cut off, so alone, only you抮e

not. See, in all our searching, the only thing we found that

makes the emptiness bearable, each other.

ELLIE

What happens now?

TED ARROWAY

Now, you go home.

ELLIE

Home? But I have so many questions, do we get to come back?

TED ARROWAY

This was just a first step. In time you抣l take another.

ELLIE

But other people need to see what I抳e seen, they need to see...

TED ARROWAY

This is the way it抯 been done for billions of years. Small

moves, Ellie. Small moves.

She takes one last look at the sky and the stars, and then... the IPV drops

into the net at the bottom of the machine.

DIRECTOR

She抯 though!

SYSTEM

She抯 in the net!

KITZ

She抯 alive, get a medical team over there right away...

DIRECTOR

Ellie, Ellie, this control do you copy?

DIRECTOR

Ellie, just hold tight, we抮e still trying to determine the

nature of the malfunction, but the important thing is you抮e ok.

ELLIE

What?

DIRECTOR

It抯 ok Ellie, the important thing is that you抮e safe.

ELLIE

What malfunction? Where am I? What day is this?

DIRECTOR

I抦 sorry Ellie, did you say, "what day"?

ELLIE

How long was I gone?

DIRECTOR

Ellie, the IPV dropped straight through the machine, you didn抰

go anywhere.

CUT TO:

INT. MEDICAL FACILITY

ELLIE

But I did. I did go. That抯 what I抦 trying to tell you. The

headset didn抰 record a single image?

KITZ

Just this... static. Now doctor, let me show you what we saw.

We see the IPV dropping straight through from many different angles.

KITZ

43 separate remote cameras show the exact same event. The IPV

dropped straight through. Everyone who watched saw the exact same

thing. Nothing happened. How do you explain this, doctor?

ELLIE

I can抰.

BILL CLINTON

I would encourage you not to inflame this situation beyond the

facts. Let us deal with this on the facts. We are monitoring what

has actually happened. We are taking what we believe is factually

appropriate steps.

NEWS REPORT

In a flurry of accusations and counter accusations by the nations

representing the Machine consortium. The government has ordered a

special executive inquiry. However, the appointment to the

committee of Michael Kitz, who has recently resigned as national

security advisor, has raised a number of eyebrows on capital

hill.

KITZ

(on camera) Uh, I have made no decision to run for congress. I

have announced no candidacy. And the fact that I have resigned as

national security advisor has nothing to do with anything other

than I want to devote all of my energy to this inquiry. The

people of the world have a right know what really happened.

INT. WHITE HOUSE - DAY

SENATOR

...and yet every scientific instrument confirms the IPV was out

of contact for only a fraction of a second, isn抰 that correct,

doctor?

ELLIE

A fraction of a second, Earth time, yes.

SENATOR

Earth time?

ELLIE

Senator, I believe that the machine opened up a wormhole, a

tunnel through the fabric of space-time. Also known as an

Einstein-Rosen bridge. Now because of the laws of general

relativity, what I experienced as 18 hours, passed

instantaneously on Earth.

KITZ

Now isn抰 it true that these wormholes you speak of are

theoretical predictions. There is no evidence they actually

exist, is there?

ELLIE

There is no direct evidence, no.

KITZ

Tell me something doctor, why do think theses aliens would go to

all this trouble, bring you tens of thousands of light years, and

then just send you home without a single shred of proof.

ELLIE

They said that抯 how its been done for billions of years.

KITZ

That抯 very deep, doctor. You have no proof, because they didn抰

want you to have any. A phenomenon known in psychiatric circles I

believe as a self-reinforcing delusion.

ELLIE

Is that what you think, that I was delusional?

KITZ

Oh, I do think you may have suffered some kind of episode, yea. I

do. Doctor, I抎 like to propose an alternate hypothesis, if I

may, and I抎 like you to bring your considerable scientific

expertise to bear on it. To fake a signal from Vega, what would

you need?

ELLIE

You would need a satellite to transmit the signal, but it would

be impossible to simulate something...

KITZ

...you would need a satellite, and you would need launch

capabilities to put the satellite into orbit. And of course the

message itself. To put something like this together, so complex,

drawing on so many different disciplines...

ELLIE

... would be impossible.

KITZ

Impossible? Impossible? Is there anyone who might have been up to

the challenge? Someone with extraordinary technical expertise.

Enormous financial resources. Someone perverse enough, eccentric

enough to have come up with the idea in the first place?

ELLIE

Hadden?

KITZ

S. R. Hadden.

ELLIE

You抮e implying that this was all some kind of a hoax, that he

engineered this...

KITZ

...S. R. Hadden. A legendary card broker and manipulator, in

perhaps his final bid for immortality. Maybe he wanted to explore

and exploit experimental technology and get the governments of

the world to pick up the tab. Perhaps this was his final

altruistic gesture to unite the world in some common goal. Maybe

all of the above. S. R. Hadden, a brilliant and complicated man.

Meanwhile on Mir. Cosmonauts are putting Hadden in a body bag... he抯 dead.

KITZ

Doctor, are you familiar with the scientific precept known as

Occam抯 Razor?

ELLIE

Yes, it means that all things being equal. The simplest

explanation tends to be the right one.

KITZ

Exactly. Now, you tell me, what is more likely here? That a

message from aliens results in a magical machine that wisps you

away to the center of the galaxy to go windsurfing with dear old

dad, and then a split second later, returns you home without a

single shred of proof? Or, that your experience is the result of

being the unwitting star in the farewell performance of one S. R.

Hadden? A man with the means, the motive, and the opportunity to

play you, and indeed the rest of us, as pawns in the biggest, the

most elaborate, the most expensive hoax of all times.

SENATOR

Dr. Arroway. You come to us with no evidence, no record, no

artifacts, only a story that, to put it mildly, strains

credibility. Over half a trillion dollars was spent, dozens of

lives were lost, are you really gonna sit there and tell us we

should just take this all on faith?

Ellie hesitates.

KITZ

Please answer the question, doctor.

ELLIE

Is it possible that it didn抰 happen, yes. As a scientist I must

concede that, I must volunteer that.

KITZ

Wait a minute, let me get this straight. You admit that you have

absolutely no physical evidence to back up your story?

ELLIE

Yes.

KITZ

You admit that you very well may have hallucinated this whole

thing.

ELLIE

Yes.

KITZ

You admit that if you were in our position, you will respond with

exactly the same degree of incredulity and skepticism?

ELLIE

Yes.

KITZ

(Yelling) Then why don抰 you simply withdraw your testimony and

concede that this journey to the center of the galaxy, in fact,

never took place?!

ELLIE

Because I can抰. I had an experience I can抰 prove, I can抰 even

explain it, but everything that I know as a human being,

everything that I am tells me that it was real. I was part of

something wonderful, something that changed me forever; a vision

of the Universe that tells us undeniable how tiny, and

insignificant, and how rare and precious we all are. A vision

that tells us we belong to something that is greater than

ourselves. That we are not, that none of us are alone. I wish I

could share that. I wish that everyone, if even for one moment,

could feel that awe, and humility, and the hope, but... that

continues to be my wish.

After the inquiry, Ellie goes over to Joss, and they embrace each other.

EXT. WHITE HOUSE - DAY

As they leave the White House, there is a crowd of people surrounding them

dressed in blue and carrying signs that read, "Ellie has discovered the new

world" and, "We believe you, Ellie", and things to that effect. Ellie gets

into the car avoiding any questions.

REPORTER

Palmer Joss, what do you believe?

PALMER

As a person of faith, I抦 bound by a different covenant than Dr.

Arroway, but our goal is one and the same, the pursuit of truth.

I for one, believe her.

Ellie holds his hand. He gets in the car and they drive away.

INT. - WHITE HOUSE - DAY

Constantine and Michael Kitz are video conferencing.

KITZ

So what now? We give here a medal?

CONSTANTINE

I say at least a healthy grant. I assume you read the

confidential findings report from the investigating committee?

KITZ

I flipped through it.

CONSTANTINE

I was especially interested in the section on Arroway抯 Video

unit. The one that recorded the static.

KITZ

Continue.

CONSTANTINE

The fact that it recorded static isn抰 what interests me.

KITZ

Continue.

CONSTANTINE

What interests me, is that it recorded approximately 18 hours of

it.

KITZ

That is interesting, isn抰 it?

18 MONTHS LATER

EXT. VLA - DAY

Ellie is giving a tour of the array to a group of children on a field trip

from school.

ELLIE

You can see over there, we抮e building 45 brand new dishes. And

that means that when you put them together with all the different

radio telescopes all over the world, then we get to hear further

into space than anybody抯 ever heard before.

A Kid raises his hand.

ELLIE

Yup.

KID

Are there other people out there in the Universe?

ELLIE

That抯 a good question. What do you think, huh?

KID

I don抰 know.

ELLIE

That抯 a good answer. A skeptic, huh? The most important thing is

that you all keep searching for your own answers. I抣l tell you

one thing about the Universe though. The Universe is a pretty big

place, it抯 bigger than anything anyone has ever dreamed of

before. So if it抯 just us, seems like an awful waste of space,

right?

Ellie sits in front of the canyon, contemplating life, as we...

FADE TO STARS

THE WORDS "FOR CARL" APPEAR ON SCREEN AT THE BOTTOM RIGHT

FADE TO BLACK

END