Source:	Web Archive, Savant’s scripts
Published:	2003-06-15
Archived:	2008-05-10

Script – Season four

Episode 3

(music)

Hartley:	ORCA to minifin. Repeat. ORCA to minifin. Please respond. Jason, Brett, can you hear me? Come in, please, over.

Jason:	Unreal!
Brett:	This isn’t happening. We’re thousands of miles from home.
Neri:	You are sure it is Egypt?
Brett:	Remember the info we showed you on HELEN? All the same stuff.
Neri:	Yes.
Jason:	How did we get here?
Brett:	You tell me! We just happen to be in this pyramid under the pacific ocean, suddenly there’s this great swirling watery thing, Neri leads us through it and now we’re on some other pyramid of the other side of the world. Can you explain this?
Neri:	Is a plan.
Jason:	The woman? The statue.
Neri:	Yes. She says it was the beginning.
Brett:	The beginning of big problems.
Neri:	Must go this way.
Jason:	I suppose so. Okay.
Brett:	You realize mum’s going to kill us.

Dianne:	What time did they log out?
Danton:	0-9-50.
Dianne:	Why were they allowed out in the minifin at all?
Danton:	Jason falsified the permit.
Winston:	The fact that the sub was found undamaged is encouraging, don’t you think?
Dianne:	Empty, mid-ocean? What’s encouraging about that? What about Brett’s vid-phone?
Winston:	Nothing yet, but I’ll keep trying.
Dianne:	So what now? HELEN, map.
Danton:	By the way, how did your trip ashore go?
Dianne:	They’ll be making an announcement this afternoon.
Winston:	What happened?
Dianne:	I said yes and they said yes.
Danton:	Do I take this to mean…
Dianne:	Yes. As of today, I’m the new commander.
Cass:	All right!
Winston:	Well done!
Danton:	Do I call you madam commander?
Dianne:	I don’t care what you call me. I just want to know what’s happened to my boys.

Brett:	Mayday, mayday. Anybody? Hello? I don’t get it. It still got some power and the standby lights are on. It’s just not receiving.
Jason:	Okay, let’s not panic. We need some warmer clothes and some shelter.
Brett:	Yeah, and food.
Jason:	What is it?
Brett:	Egyptian take-away. Let’s go.
Brett:	Some take-away!
Jason:	It’s a dig.
Neri:	Dig?
Jason:	An archaeological site. They dig up old bones and pottery and stuff.
Egyptians:	(Foreign language)
Brett:	I’ll put it down.
Egyptians:	Visitors.

Dianne:	A pyramid? Under the ocean?
Winston:	I wouldn’t have believed it myself.
Dianne:	Who else knows about this?
Cass:	Just us so far.
Dianne:	Any progress?
Winston:	It’s most odd. The transponder shows that Brett’s vid-phone is still emitting a faint signal, but I can’t enhance it. I don’t know whether the unit is damaged or what.
Dianne:	Can you trace where the signal’s coming from.
Winston:	I’ll try, but I’ll have to scan a whole range of frequencies. It’ll take a time. It’s a most difficult task.
Dianne:	I’ll swap with you. I’ve now got to try to explain this mystery to the boys’ father.

Malakat:	Why Horace! They’re just children! Please, come in. I’m sorry if Horace startled you. I’m professor Malakat. I’m conducting an archaeological dig on behalf of the international antiquarian group of which I am the founder. And to whom do I have the pleasure?
Jason:	Oh, I’m Jason, and this is Brett. We’re from Australia.
Malakat:	And your friend?
Jason:	That’s Neri.
Malakat:	Neri. What is the origin of such a musical name?
Brett:	She doesn’t like to talk very much. She’s a bit shy.
Malakat:	I understand perfectly. What an interesting outfit she’s wearing. Is that what the young girls get about in Australia these days?
Brett:	She’s always been a bit of a hippie.
Malakat:	A hippie? Oh, how amusing. Please, make yourselves at home. And what brings three travelers to the heart of nowhere?
Jason:	Well, we’re with a tour group. And we pulled over for a rest stop and the bus left without us.
Malakat:	If only every problem were so easily solved. Just give me the name of your group and I’m sure the authorities…
Jason:	Well, um…
Malakat:	Or perhaps it would be wiser to wait until morning. You must be too tired to wander the desert at night.
Jason:	Maybe we could leave it until tomorrow.
Malakat:	Of course. Have a rest and some refreshments.
Brett:	Well, we are pretty hungry.
Malakat:	Please, take whatever you like.
Shersheba:	We have guests, professor?
Malakat:	Ah, may I present my assistant, Shersheba. This is Jason, Brett and Neri. They’re with a tour group.
Shersheba:	A pleasure.
Neri:	Yes.
Shersheba:	Brett.
Brett:	G’day.
Shersheba:	And Jason.
Jason:	Pleased to meet you, sh-sher…
Shersheba:	Shersheba.
Shersheba:	I hope you’re not thinking of hurrying away. It’s not often we have guests, especially young and attractive ones.
Jason:	Ah well, we weren’t planning on it.
Malakat:	My dear young lady, what’s wrong?
Brett:	Oh oh!
Malakat:	But you’ve drenched yourself.
Shersheba:	Yes, you’re soaking. Never mind. I’ll get you something dry to put on. I’m sure you want to change anyway. I’ve got a lot of pretty things you can choose from. Would you like to come with me?
Neri:	Yes.
Shersheba:	Come on.

Shersheba:	It’s a gold necklace from the tomb of ramses the first in the nineteenth dynasty.
Neri:	It’s beautiful.
Shersheba:	You have such a golden mane, as if it was kissed by the sun. You and Jason, are you good friends?
Neri:	He is a good friend, yes.
Shersheba:	That’s nice. It’s good to have friends.

Shersheba and Malakat:
Shersheba:	It must be very exciting to live somewhere completely underwater.
Jason:	Ah well, it’s different. But so is this.
Shersheba:	Are you living on ORCA too?
Brett:	Yes. No. Um.
Jason:	No. Um. Well, what Brett’s trying to say is that she comes and goes.
Malakat:	Like the tides.
Brett:	It’s getting late.
Malakat:	And you’ve had a big day. I’ll get Horace to show you to your sleeping quarters. Horace! Show the two gentlemen to the empty western tend and we’ll put Neri in the guest tent. We’ll contact the authorities first thing in the morning. But I should warn you that things never happen quickly in this part of the world. Sleep well.
Jason:	Goodnight.
Brett:	Thanks.
	Goodnight.
Malakat:	An uncommon fabric.
Shersheba:	Very uncommon.

Brett:	That will be all, thank you, Horace. Nice guy.
Jason:	How did professor Malakat get a gorilla like that for a butler? I don’t know, something doesn’t smell right.
Brett:	So now what?
Jason:	I’m just making it up as we go.
Neri:	I do not like it here.
Brett:	Yeah, join the club.
Neri:	We must return to the pyramid.
Jason:	Not tonight, we’d never make it past Horace. Maybe we can sneak away in the morning.
Brett:	Mum will be out of her mind by now.
Jason:	Yeah, but there’s phones all over the place. Maybe we can call ORCA.
Neri:	Wait till they sleep. I think the girl, Shersheba, just pretends to be our friend.
Jason:	I thought she was, um, interesting.
Brett:	You thought she was a knock-out.
Neri:	A “knock-out” is something beautiful?
Jason:	Put a sock in it, Brett.

Winston:	It can’t be. There must be some kind of frequency overlap.
Dianne:	Anything yet?
Winston:	Every time I reset the scanner, I keep getting this phantom signal.
Cass:	The middle east? That’s ridiculous.
Winston:	Ridiculous and completely impossible. How on earth could they be there?
Dianne:	Well, just keep trying.

Jason:	Hi Cass, it’s Jase.
Cass:	Jason! Where in the world are you?
Jason:	Egypt.
Cass:	What? How could…
Jason:	I haven’t got time, Cass. Let me speak to mum.
Cass:	She isn’t here. She and Winston are out in the minifin looking for you. Are you guys all right?
Jason:	Yeah, I need–
Brett:	Oh, hi. We were just…
Jason:	Hungry. Brett always takes an apple to bed. Is that okay?
Shersheba:	Of course.
Jason:	Well, goodnight.
Shersheba:	I was just going to step outside and look at the stars. Have you ever seen the desert skies at night, Jason?
Brett:	I haven’t.
Shersheba:	It’s rather late for your little brother, isn’t it?
Brett:	Aw, no. At home it’s still early in the afternoon.
Jason:	Yeah but Brett, you were just saying how you were really, really tired?
Brett:	Oh yeah. Really, really tired.
Shersheba:	Goodnight.
Shersheba:	Your friend, there’s something about her you’re hiding, isn’t there?
Jason:	Neri? Why do you say that?
Shersheba:	You don’t trust me, do you, Jason?
Jason:	Yeah, course I do.
Shersheba:	Then why are you not telling me the truth? Come on, Jason. I’m not a fool. Who is she and why are you really here? Tell me. What’s all the mystery?
Jason:	Shersheba, I, uh…
Shersheba:	Look, I don’t know what kind of trouble you’re in, but I know there’s something and I can’t help if you don’t trust me.
Jason:	Oh, is that the time? I’d better get some sleep. Goodnight.

Dianne:	Egypt? That really isn’t funny. What kind of idiot do they think I am?
Cass:	It wasn’t a joke.
Winston:	Middle east is where the vid-phone signal was coming from.
Dianne:	What else did Jason say?
Cass:	Just that they were okay and then the line went dead.
Dianne:	Okay, we’ll be back at 1400 hours. At least we know they’re alive.
Winston:	Alive and not down here. So why are we not turning back?
Dianne:	Don’t you want to have another look at this fantastic pyramid?
Winston:	I have a feeling I’m going to whether I like it or not. Here we go again.

Malakat:	My chemical analysis confirms it. The material couldn’t possibly have originated on this planet. Do you realize who this girl could be?
Shersheba:	I don’t believe it. She’s so awkward, so childish.
Malakat:	What better way to hide than behind the mask of innocence?
Shersheba:	But she hardly talks.
Malakat:	A wise listener hears the silences between the words. Where are you going with that?
Shersheba:	To put it back where I found it before she discovers it is missing.

Winston:	The force-field again. I was afraid of that.
Dianne:	I’ll turn back.
Winston:	Excellent judgment, commander.

Jason:	Feeling better?
Neri:	Yes.
Jason:	Good. Let’s grab Brett and split before the others wake up.
Jason:	Who’s that?

Shelby:	Agent Shelby, PRAXIS, and this is Ms. Hauser. I need to see the person in charge.

Jason:	Brett, get up.
Brett:	What?
Jason:	Two people have just shown up and I don’t think they’re looking for souvenirs. C’mon.

Shersheba:	There are some people here.
Malakat:	I know.
Shersheba:	They claim they’re from an organisation called…
Malakat:	PRAXIS. Perfect timing.
Malakat:	Unidentified radio signals?
Hauser:	Our broad-range scanners indicate that they’re being directed toward this area.
Malakat:	Directed from where, in particular?
Hauser:	Professor, our organisation specializes in the investigation of certain… Phenomena.
Malakat:	Yes, I’ve heard of PRAXIS.
Hauser:	We’d like your permission to look around the site. Just for the record.
Malakat:	That wouldn’t be convenient, I’m afraid. The dig site is a very sensitive area.
Shelby:	Yeah, well it would take about 15 minutes to drive back into Cairo and get a warrant. Your call.
Malakat:	I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that we have anything to hide. What would you like to see?
Malakat:	Leaving so soon? You might have at least said goodbye.
Shelby:	Who are they?
Malakat:	They seem to have become separated from their tour.
Shersheba:	They say they live underwater, in some sort of research facility called ORCA.
Malakat:	Frankly, their story seems to have a few discrepancies. In fact, their whole arrival here seems mysterious. But then I suppose mysterious arrivals are quite in your line of business.
Shelby:	Well now, professor, we can’t let three lost kids wander off alone into the desert, can we?
Malakat:	I couldn’t agree more Mr. Shelby.
Shelby:	Stick around, kids. I want you to tell us a whole lot more about yourselves.

Dianne:	Yes, this is their mother Dianne Bates. Who am I speaking to?
Shelby:	Jake Shelby, PRAXIS.
Dianne:	PRAXIS? I don’t understand. What’s your interest in all of this?
Shelby:	I’d just like to verify the boys’ story before contacting the local authorities.
Dianne:	I can verify they’re telling the truth. They do live here at ORCA facility and I’m anxious for them to return immediately.
Shelby:	And the young lady, Neri? How does she fit in exactly?
Dianne:	Uh, she works here at ORCA.
Shelby:	Works. Could you be more specific?
Dianne:	I’m afraid her duties are confidential. Look, I’m really only interested in getting them home as soon as possible.
Shelby:	I understand, commander. I’ll look at getting them on a flight back to Australia right away.
Hauser:	Well, everything else was true, but she was lying about the girl.

Dianne:	PRAXIS. Who are PRAXIS?
Paul:	An extraterrestrial intelligence agency. They hunt down aliens.

Hauser:	Okay, good news. We’ve just spoken with your mother in Australia and we’ll get you home as soon as we can book a flight. However, there is some delay in verifying the young lady’s immigration status, so she’ll have to remain here for the time being.
Jason:	No way! We’re not leaving without Neri.
Shelby:	You’re not getting a choice.
Malakat:	There’s no need for concern, I shall take a shall take a personal interest in Neri’s welfare.

Shelby:	Okay, more it along, tiger.
Brett:	We’ve got to get out of here. Sure you can drive this thing?
Jason:	Hold on!
Malakat:	Get after them, man! They’re getting away! Horace, the truck! Use the truck you fool!
Brett:	Man!

Brett:	Where to now?
Jason:	You tell me.
Brett:	At least noone will be following us.

Hauser:	That girl with the professor, she said the girl Neri used her brush. See. I think we should run some tests on this hair, find out what this girl Neri is all about.

tour guide:	Now approaching the pyramid of mystery, so called because archaeologist have never been able to discover why it was built. It contains no tomb of no dead king, no treasure, no riches – nothing whatsoever. Perhaps it’s true purpose will always be one of Egypt’s greatest unsolved mysteries.