EPISODE UNKNOWN

NEW PACIFICA FLASHBACK

FADE IN:


EXT. PANORAMIC VIEW OF TAU CETI IV FROM LOW ORBIT

The UESC Marathon is seen from an overhead angle of 30 degrees, looking down at the surface of Tau Ceti IV beyond with the planet's curved horizon in the upper screen background.  We zoom in toward the planet.

FADE OUT:

FADE IN:

EXT. PLANET TAU CETI IV

We see three young explorers in a buggy, decked out in futuristic land survey gear, cresting a sand dune with alien scrub brush and a blue sky background.  The buggy stops just shy of the crest and the three explorers get out of the vehicle.  One of the two males waves a handheld instrument in front of him and fixes a direction.

BRIEF CLOSE-UP SHOT OF HAND PANS OUTWARD TO PANORAMA:

Reveals instrument to be some kind of ground penetrating radar device with a false color display screen of the topography ahead.  On the screen, barely visible and broken in many places, appears to be a track tread where soil compression is still present.  Panning forward from the hand a short ways reveals no tread on the ground to the naked eye.  Panning forward still further reveals a broad beachfront with a wide sandbank projecting to the right into a crystal blue sea.  A half mile to the left are low scrub dunes surrounding a marshy pond. Upon the broad stretch of sand in the middle, a dilapidated city of white micrograin sandstone can be seen.  A few of the surviving towers are six stories high, but many buildings on the right side have crumbled or are missing, victim to beach erosion.  A handful of disturbed whirligig critters (that use spiral rotors to fly) take off from nearby as the trio stops to admire the desolate beauty of this apparent ghost town on the shore.

MALE ONE

Well, this is obviously it.

FEMALE

(stares out at the azure ocean beyond the city and runs fingers through her hair with her free hand)

It's so <long pause> blue.

MALE ONE

(points with his hand)

That way.

(all start walking down dune towards the left as seen from behind)

FADE INTO MARSH POND DUNE AREA (imply short time has passed)

FEMALE

(runs ahead of the others toward a pair of scraggly trees and a tree of a different type that stands alone nearby.  All are dwarf sized)

Look!  Fruit trees!  They've survived!

MALE ONE

(looks at male two)

Should we leave them here?  Maybe just try to take some fruit back?

MALE TWO

Whatever is here should all be self-pollinating varieties.  I doubt we'll see any fruit, though.

MALE ONE

(watching female examine the trees)

Why not?

MALE TWO

Among other things, such as seeds, nitrogen-fixing bacteria, and fungi, the MetaCrawler had bee larvae in suspended animation.  Do you see any of the bees that are supposed to be here?

MALE ONE

(glances around and frowns)

No, I don't.

(fixes gaze to derelict city on right with reverence as if for the dead)

Maybe they should stay with this place.

FEMALE

(kneels on the loamy sand, folds out a digging instrument from her pack)

I don't know about you two, but I'm taking these back to Alpha site.

(begins digging the first dwarf tree with her impliment)

MALE ONE

Come on Rachel, New Terra doesn't need any more fruit trees.

FEMALE

It's my dream, Horatio.

(smiles in Male One's direction)

I can do what I please.

(returns to digging)

MALE ONE

(looks at Male Two)

So what do you think?

MALE TWO

I think the program had precise plans for our desired colony.  But it didn't have contingencies for local conditions, such as a seawall.  Plus, saline solutions and nanites don't mix.  That was always a weakness.  If we wanted to salvage this mess as a secondary site, we'll have to make repairs and build a proper seawall ourselves.

MALE ONE

(waves ground penetrating radar device toward the nearest structures, peering intently first, then shutting off the device and mutters)

Useless.

MALE TWO

This place may be arid, but a cyclone or two is sure to have hit here in the last couple of decades.  Judging by the ventiforms in the terrain we passed through, wind erosion could have erased the tracks by now.

MALE ONE

I think the unit deployed over there.

(looks down to think a moment, then looks at Female)

Rachel!  Leave those.  We're coming back.

FEMALE

Horatio, are you thinking what I think you're thinking?

MALE ONE

You are the proprietor of New Terra's Garden.  Why not run a second Garden right here?  This was supposed to be our Alpha site.  It can still be salvaged as a Beta site for the colony.

FEMALE

Okay then, let's go see where the meta popped.

(joins the two males, all step up onto a concrete pavement surrounding the derelict city and walk the sand-covered roadway past the nearest buildings.  After a short time wandering, they spot it.)

PANNING SHOT:

We see a panning shot of a bus-sized metacrawler, rusted out and covered in sand, looking like a monument to desolation.  It is surrounded by our three explorers as they continue to talk.

MALE TWO

(absently examining the giant defunct probe)

This nanoprobe was launched in the late 2400's, nearly two decades after Marathon's launch date.  The probe's relatively tiny mass allowed it to arrive decades ahead of us.  It's on-board program contained the blueprints for this original Alpha site, and instructions for guiding the cocktail of self-replicating nanites in its construction using native silica materials.  When the work was done, the probe released its compliment of organics in a discrete and well-timed dispersal pattern.  The bee larvae should have thawed and been released ten years afterward.

(half inside the probe, examining something unseen)

It looks like that never happened.  That would explain the lack of Terran flora here.  I did notice some grass in the marsh by those fruit trees.

MALE ONE

This sandy stretch hardly seems like the ideal location to deploy.

MALE TWO

It's not.  But think of the rough terrain we went through to get here.  The probe was instructed to find flat ground of a given number of hectares, but in an area with a high enough ratio of silica to allow the nanites to do their work.  The metacrawler was unable to find a suitable location to deploy before its internal battery pack ran low.

FEMALE

(pointing to sand-covered solar panels on the metacrawler's roof)

I thought it used solar energy to recharge it's battery packs.

MALE TWO

Yes, but in this arid, dusty environment, the cells would have become useless after a decade of use.  It needed power to keep its organic retinue in suspended animation as well as orchestrate its program directive through the nanites once deployed.  Once its power uptake dropped to a certain level, the metacrawler simply chose the best location it had encountered during its grid search up to that point.  Though the area seems a bit small, beach sand is rich in silica.

MALE ONE

So the battery packs died before the bees were due to be matured and released?  Good thing the Marathon backed up everything we needed.

MALE TWO

Agreed.  Although the storm surge from a strong cyclone could have knocked out the metacrawler before then at this elevation.

MALE ONE

(looking up into the sky, shielding his eyes from the G4 sun)

We'll need to send down a few supply shipments from the Marathon before we can get started rehabbing this place.

MALE TWO

What do you think we should call this place?  New Terra two?

MALE ONE

(looks at Female)

Well, Rachel.  You're the one that talked us into going on this little expedition.  I'm going to leave the naming part up to you.

FEMALE

(takes a deep breath of fresh air)

Well, let's see now . . .

(looks around for a bit, settles her eyes between two of the leeward towers, between which ocean breakers can be seen in the distance)

This place could use a little bit of home.

(breaks into a smile and raises her arms in a grand gesture)

Gentlemen, welcome to New Pacific!

FADE OUT:

PANORAMIC SHOT

We see a final parting panoramic view of New Pacific, drawing back past the scarp of high dunes that the explorer's buggy vehicle sits on before fading to white.