Script – Season two

Episode 2

(music) (Sounds of jungle wildlife) (whale sounds)

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Jason:	Just letting you all know – Neri’s coming here, to ORCA, this morning.
Vanessa:	Did you check her fake I.D. And uniform are in place?
Brett:	Duuuh. Yes.
Vanessa:	Well, it’s nice to know you can do something right for a change.

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Brett:	Hi, Neri. It’s okay. The coast is clear.
Vanessa:	Hi, Neri. Your stuff’s in here. Do you mind?
Brett:	Huh?
Vanessa:	Turn your back.
Brett:	Oh.

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Dianne:	It’s so wonderful to see you!
Neri:	You also.
Dianne:	Come here. There is something I have been dying to show you.

(Whale sounds)

Dianne:	Recognize someone?
Neri:	Charley.
Dianne:	It’s an idea we’ve been working on while you were away. We want to match up different parts of Charley’s song with specific words and emotions.
Jason:	Watch out, Neri. She’s still on about the rest of us talking to whales one day.
Dianne:	Well, it might just be sooner than you think if it all succeeds, Jason. You see, these are just simple examples. He’s saying “hello,” “danger.” We want to work on more and more as we go along.
Winston:	Eventually we’ll have a dictionary, a book if you like, listing all the sounds and their meanings.
Dianne:	And now that you’re back, you can help us if you like.
Neri:	Yes, mother. I may still call you mother?
Dianne:	Of course. Always. Now, Jason tells me that you would like to find out who your people were. Is that true?
Brett:	Yeah, and we’re going to the island to help search for clues.
Dianne:	Oh, are you just?
Winston:	Just remember the old saying – the wise fox is always prepared to find more than he is looking for.

(Brett groaning)

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Hellegren:	You two, here. These tapes have just come back from re-enhancement. Look. This one was made the 15th of July. And this – nearly three weeks later. And in both there is the same thing. Some other creature swimming with the whale.
UBRI guy:	Perhaps it’s another one of those mermaids you spotted, doctor.
Hellegren:	I saw what I saw. I do not need ignorant comments. I need answers.

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Jason:	Talk about a needle in a haystack.
Brett:	Hey, that reminds me. I’d forgotten all about this. I discovered this while you were away, so I held onto it.
Neri:	Where did you find this?
Jason:	Inside one of those never-bloom plants.
Brett:	Well, you should know. You put it there, didn’t you?
Neri:	No. It belonged to my father. I have not seen it since he went away forever.
Brett:	You mean he was the one who hid it? Well, why’d he do that?
Jason:	Because he wanted her to find it some day, of course. This could be the clue we’ve been searching for. And you’ve been carrying it in your pocket all along.
Brett:	How was I to know?
Jason:	Let’s see. Funny – now I really look at it, it reminds me of something. But I can’t quite put my finger on what it is.
Brett:	Maybe we should run it past HELEN. She might know.

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Byrne:	You were both rostered to the hydroponics department at 1600 hours. Now where were you?
Jason:	We, ah, got held up out at sea. It won’t happen again.
Byrne:	No, young man, it won’t. Because I am severely restricting the use of boats for recreational purposes from now on. Particularly for junior licence holders. And I will personally be keeping an eye on that. Is that understood?
Sam:	Commander.
Byrne:	Yes, captain Phillips?
Sam:	You don’t seriously expect me to wear any of this…
Jason:	Brett. Look at the chart.
Brett:	What?
Jason:	Neri’s island. Look at the shape. It’s the same.

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HELEN:	Confirm. Match with satellite chart is complete.
Froggy:	Hey, you were right. It is the map of the island.
Jason:	This is weird.
Vanessa:	What is the matter with you?
Jason:	Well, we always thought that Neri’s people were shipwrecked.
Vanessa:	Yeah.
Jason:	But that thing’s the island from above. Like they’d seen it from the air.
Vanessa:	Maybe it was a plane crash.
Jason:	I guess.
Froggy:	HELEN, is there anything more you can tell us about that thing?
HELEN:	Affirmative. There is a mark scratched on the surface that appears to be a deliberate indentation.
Brett:	Neri’s father must have made it.
Jason:	I tell you what I think. He’s left a trail for her to follow. He’s telling her to look for the next clue – and we’ll find it – there.

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Rocky:	I remember – They kidnapped the girlfriend first and then him.
Mick:	What is this idiot talking about?
Rocky:	It’s a video that I saw. It’s so cool.
Mick:	Who cares.
Rocky:	I know one you would really have liked. It’s call “The Gallactic Warrior” It’s about this robot from Neptune.

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Brett:	I still don’t see why she gets to go instead of me.
Jason:	Brett! You know that the Commander’s clamped down on boats. And we can only fit two on the wave runner.
Vanessa:	Yeah, you went yesterday. So it’s my turn today.
Zoe:	Well, what about me? I haven’t been to the island at all yet.
Jason:	All right. I’ll make a deal with you. If Froggy can get HELEN to issue another wave runner, we’ll all go tomorrow.
Vanessa:	But only this once. If a lot of us keep disappearing at the same time, someone’s gonna get suspicious.

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Mick:	So, what is this anyway?
Dianne:	That’s called a u-cam.
Winston:	Basically, it’s a directional camera. It allows us to watch a whale’s behaviour while we are recording its language.
Dianne:	Yeah, you see, there’s this one whale called Charley and we’ve him tagged with monitoring devices –
Byrne:	There’s a limit to the amount of this whale business you can do now, of course, but the camera could still come in handy for other things.
Dianne:	I’m sorry, commander. I don’t quite understand.
Byrne:	Didn’t I make it clear? The condition of your staying here on ORCA was that you should make yourself and your equipment available for commercial uses, too.
Dianne:	Well, yes, but my research must come first.
Byrne:	Dr. Bates. Dianne – ORCA can no longer operate for a few scientists to conduct pet projects. Now my job is to make it pay. And yours is to do whatever extra work you’re assigned.
Dianne:	What sort of extra work?
Byrne:	All in good time. For the moment, Michael and I would like to look around the rest of the lab.

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(music)

Jason:	Hold on. Where’s the map? That way.

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Dianne:	I don’t think you understand the importance of our work.
Winston:	These creatures – they are essential to human –
Byrne:	Well, captain. In uniform, I see.
Sam:	Let’s get one thing straight, commander Byrne. The only reason I’m on this tin can is because the bank repossessed my boat. And as soon as I’ve got the deposit for a new one, this gets deep-sixed and I’m out of here.
Byrne:	That’s good. But in the meantime, I think we’ll put you temporarily on the mail run.
Sam:	Fine by me, lady. I look like a postman in this outfit.
Dianne:	Charming fellow.

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Jason:	I think this is it. Let’s spread out and start looking.
Vanessa:	For what exactly?
Jason:	Something, Vanessa.

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Dianne:	And this is the test area for our underwater equipment.
Mick:	What’s this?
Dianne:	That’s the re-compression chamber.
Mick:	Huh?
Byrne:	It’s to judge individual responses to low air pressure levels, no doubt?
Dianne:	Exactly.
Mick:	What’d happen if, say, someone got locked in this thing.
Winston:	Hardly a pleasant experience. It could be some time before someone finds you.
Dianne:	Well, as you can see, everything’s state of the art. Shall we?

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(Whale sounds)

Hellegren:	you see? Another old ORCA file. There it is again.
Kellar:	Perhaps even without our chopper and equipment we could find this whale and then work out –
Hellegren:	No. He could continue to elude us for years. We must resort to another technology. I have decided to bring Parker Forsyth to UBRI.
Kellar:	The computer expert?
Hellegren:	Yes. His work with image synthesizers is outstanding. Once he has his equipment set up, maybe he will be able to tell us what that creature actually is.

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(Birds chirping) (music)

Vanessa:	Neri! Jason! Come here! I think I’ve found something! See?
Jason:	Or maybe “look for.”
Vanessa:	“Water.” That’s got to mean water.
Neri:	Charley!
Jason:	Well, a whale, anyway. Look for water where a whale swims.
Vanessa:	It’s crossed out, thickhead. Look for water where no whale swims.
Jason:	Look for an arrow!
Vanessa:	Make any sense to you?
Neri:	Water out from badlands. Charley will not go there. No whale will come close.
Vanessa:	That’s got to be it.
Jason:	Well, we can’t go now. I’ll never make it back in time to my hydroponics duties. Byrne’ll kill me if we miss again.
Vanessa:	Well, first thing tomorrow, then.
Jason:	Yeah, all right. But write that stuff down next to it. Maybe Froggy and HELEN can make some sense out of it.

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Rocky:	Where does Jason go to all the time?
Brett:	Oh, here, there. Around the place, you know.
Rocky:	Well, he could take me with him, couldn’t he? I thought we were going to be mates.
Mick:	Hey, I’ll be your mate, Rocky.
Rocky:	You?
Mick:	Yeah. Me, the big Mickmeister. The big Mickaroonie.
Rocky:	Why?
Mick:	Well, we’re both kinda cool guys. And hey, I love hearing about those video discs you watch.
Rocky:	Yeah?
Mick:	Yeah. I want you to see something. You can tell me about another one on the way.
Rocky:	Okay. Well, there’s this really cool one. It’s called “the annihilator.”
Brett:	What do you reckon?
Froggy:	Smells to me.
Zoe:	Me, too.

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Rocky:	But no one ever even suspects he’s got a false head. No, hang on. His wife does but he locks her in the cellar and –
Mick:	Just through here.
Rocky:	And she can’t get out. Anyway, while she’s trying to get out of the cellar, the annihilator starts to destroy everyone in the town.
Mick:	Yeah? Fascinating. Now, go inside that chamber and look upwards. You’ll find it something really interesting.
Rocky:	Yeah? Anyway, what happens, you see, the wife ends up escaping, you see, and while he’s –

(door clangs shut)

Mick:	Ha! Ha! I got you, you big sucker. Now, see if you can stay in there for a couple of hours without boring yourself to death!

(music)

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Zoe:	Mick, where’s Rocky?
Mick:	Don’t ask me. Why don’t you find him yourself?

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Rocky:	Help!

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Brett:	Hey, he’s in there!
Joanne:	Quick, get him out!
Brett:	Froggy.
Zoe:	Stop the pumps!
Joanne:	Rocky, it’s okay.
Froggy:	Hang on. Nearly there.

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Brett:	Honest, Jace, with Mick around, anything could happen.
Jason:	All right. I’ll try and spend a bit more time with Rocky. I suppose someone has to keep an eye on him.
Froggy:	Hey, we’re getting something.
HELEN:	Material submitted consists of two distinct writing systems. The first are simple pictograms similar to early hieroglyphics. The second is a form of script unrecorded in my memory banks.
Froggy:	Can you read it?
HELEN:	Negative. I am programmed for all known dialects spoken on earth. This does not equate with any of them.
Vanessa:	That’s impossible. It has to.
Jason:	Not if the person who wrote it didn’t come from earth.
Brett:	Jace…
Jason:	I know it sounds crazy. But think about it. Think about the clues Neri’s father left. The amulet is the same shape as the island but only if you look at it from above. So they must’ve come from the sky. The second is that their language wasn’t human.
Brett:	Well, what’s going to be next?
Jason:	I wouldn’t like to say. But if we find that arrow tomorrow – I think we’d better be prepared for – anything.

(music)

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Kimberley:	Mick Byrne, you would have to be the biggest idiot I ever met in my life.
Mick:	Well, judging from your friends, I’m sure you know a lot of them.
Joanne:	My brother could have been killed.
Mick:	Hey, it would have been his own stupid fault for turning the power on.
Kimberley:	You know, someone ought to report you.
Byrne:	Report him for what? What’s going on here, Michael?
Mick:	Nothing, mum.
Kimberley:	Why don’t you tell her the truth? He nearly killed Robert Rhodes yesterday. He locked him in the recompression chamber.
Mick:	Oh, come on. They got it all wrong. Rocky and I were just kidding around. Do you really think I’d do something to hurt him, mum?
Byrne:	No, I’m sure you wouldn’t, Michael. Now, you girls should check your stories before you start spreading them around.
Kimberley:	But –
Byrne:	Young lady – I know my son. Come on, Michael.

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Jason:	Are you sure this is “the water where no whale swims?”
Neri:	Badlands.
Vanessa:	How long are we going to keep this up?
Jason:	Until we find an arrow.
Brett:	We can’t look at every rock.
Jason:	Just keep going.
Zoe:	Hey! You’re wasting your time!
Vanessa:	What?
Zoe:	It’s not on any one rock. It’s all of them. All over them. All together. They make the arrow! And it’s pointing to the beach down there!

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Vanessa:	This way.
Jason:	Okay.
Brett:	This way!
Jason:	Hold up, zo.

(music)

Brett:	Come on, guys. Let’s look over here!

(music)

Neri:	Here. It’s here. Here! All around!
Jason:	Hey, guys, over here. Hey! There’s something metal down here.

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Zoe:	It goes all the way up here!
Brett:	It’s huge!
Neri:	It goes right out under the rocks and into the water.
Zoe:	If this thing is an airplane, it’s the wildest.
Jason:	No. It’s not an airplane.
Brett:	What do you mean?
Jason:	Neri, I think we’ve finally found out how your people got here. And this – it didn’t come from earth. It’s a spacecraft.

(music)