OPENING SHOT EXT C-205 Troposphere cargo hauler, above Colorado: The transport craft cruises at 10,000 meters, drifting through cloud banks. The wingtip light flashes green, just slightly out of sync with the orange beacon on the tail.
SndFX: Bleep!
INT C-205 Troposphere, Flight Cabin: Room enough for six, the cabin walls are covered in multi-function LCD panels and readouts for the on-board systems. There are two rows of three swivel chairs each, with the forward two having access to the main flight controls. Two flightsuited crew members occupy these chairs with Hanlon reading a book in one of the aft seats.
Payne issues several commands on one of the multifunction boards.
SndFX: Rapid series of multifrequency tones.
One of the panels lights up with a map of the central US. She slides her index finger diagonally across the map and it zooms to southern Colorado.
Payne's fingers fly across a second multifunction console.
SndFX: Rapid series of multifrequency tones.
He reaches over to a display board and brings up a status monitor of some type.
He turns and looks at Hanlon. Hanlon notices the silence and looks up from his book.
The radio crackles sharply.
Payne picks up a handset from the console in front of him and taps a multifunction screen with his other hand.
He keys the handset.
Payne keys the handset again.
He turns to Emerson, who nods and pulls back the four throttles simultaneously. The aircraft dips dangerously and then pulls up as the autopilot attempts to compensate.
EXT C-205 Troposphere: The transport craft is barely gliding.
The plane shimmers and disappears, leaving only the faintest trail of jet smoke.
INT Blanca Mountain hangar
A roar fills the hangar as the transport fades into existence on a landing track. Air braking surfaces open from the wings seconds before the parachute braking systems deploy. The transport rolls to a stop, then turns and taxis to a spot in the parking grid.
INT C-205 Troposphere, Flight Cabin
Hanlon stands up, picking up his bag.
Hanlon punches a sequence into the keypad next to the exterior hatch.
SndFX: Multifrequency beeps, mechanical whine.
The door rises and Hanlon steps into the doorframe.
INT Blanca Mountain hangar
Hanlon climbs down the ladder which has extended itself from the doorframe, carrying his bag over his shoulder. A staffer runs up.
He follows the VR staffer across the hangar floor and out through a door marked "HANGAR ACCESS 4C."
FGSndFX: MacPherson's Lament [ambient audio off]
Fade to: INT Blanca Mountain war room
Hanlon walks in and quickly takes a seat, nodding and waving to the other officers assembled in the room. Malaclypse slaps the podium and talks for some time.
FGSndFX: Fade out [ambient audio up]
All assembled officers nod.
Hanlon stands up and walks quickly out the door.
Cut to INT Blanca Mountain transporter room
The crowd is milling around the room, and as the camera picks out Hanlon, Nexxus steps up and raises her voice.
She then steps into the portal and disappears. Five others follow suit, and then the camera cuts to Hanlon's perspective as he enters the transporter.
VisFX: Video feedback backdrop.
VisFX: Hanlon falling through space indefinitely.
Hold for 4 seconds, then cut to: EXT Marraketh landing site
Nexxus, Calculus, Phoenix, Red, Brynhild, Theseus, and Maruchan shimmer into existence in sequence as they exit the gate.
Nexxus waits for the remaining three to appear, then frowns.
Bryn and Red begin whispering to each other in low tones and glancing nervously at the other group members. Nexxus paces up and down the beach. The other group members stare at the gate and glance around impatiently.
VisFX: The gate goes through a color shift and flashes bright white, then disappears.
Nexxus turns to Phoenix, then walks down the beach. He follows.
Cut back to: EXT The Void
VisFX: Hanlon falling through space indefinitely.
VisFX: An opening in the Void appears in Hanlon's path, and he dives into it.
EXT The Crossing: A pedestal rising out of seemingly bottomless mist supports a small platform from which 6 bridges extend in uniform directions, leading to 6 doorframes which appear suspended in the air, supported only by the bridges.
Hanlon shimmers into existance on the pillar. He glances around, and a look of alarm crosses his face.
Hanlon whirls around, his hand reaching to grasp the pistol grip of the Righteous Weapon slung across his back.
VisFX: A tendril of mist extends itself from the almost solid mass below the platform, turns slightly red, and points down one of the bridges.
He stares down one of the bridges, and the Magic Voice is silent.
Hanlon walks tentatively down the bridge and stops three-quarters of the way across. He leans forward, and the camera pans to show the view through the doorway framing the far end of the bridge.
A 15-year-old high school student sits at a computer, supervising a lab. He pushes his chair backwards with his feet and rolls over to another computer, types in a few lines of code and executes a command. The computer begins a raytracing.
Hanlon turns back and walks back to the platform. He walks down several of the bridges, only to turn back and stare up at the perfect blue sky.
He walks to the edge of the platform and stares down into the mist. He remains there, pensive, for a good five minutes, then walks to the middle of the bridge leading to the timejump and the computer lab.
Hanlon walks all the way to the end of the bridge and steps through the doorframe, pulling a door which fades into existence closed behind him.
VisFX: Fade to black.
VisFX: Credit roll.
Sebastian looked up from the computer he was working at to find Allan looking over his shoulder. "Hey, what're you breaking now?" Al asked. "Oh, just working on a render...I call it the Righteous Weapon." "Looks like a paintball gun. It needs a stock," Al said. "Yeah, stock comes right after I put a trigger on it...but can you imagine actually having one of these? Double-barrelled automatic with a pistol grip." Hanlon grinned. "Nasty-ass gun."