INT. TERRACAT – DAY

Baxter stands and looks out the window at the alien view as
Clarke watches her.

[Tighter shot of Baxter looking at Clarke.]

[Baxter looks at the Terracat’s right rear seat.]

Baxter removes her mask from the right rear seat, sets it aside and sits next to Clarke.

[Wider shot of Baxter sitting down next to Clarke.]

INT. TERRACAT – DAY

The women are silent as they bounce across the otherworldly
desert.

Clarke reviews the mapping scanner beside her. On the
map, she sees the rover’s icon turn to avoid a large crater.

CLARKE: “That crater was huge.” (pointing outside) “But, it’s nothing compared to that volcano over there.”

Baxter fixes Clarke’s O2 mask. She eyes Clarke suspiciously.

Baxter: “You know, it’s okay to admit you’re scared to be here. I know I am.”

CLARKE: “I’m not. But, it doesn’t matter anyway. We’re here to stay.”

BAXTER: “I guess it has to be better than being stuck on Colony One.”

CLARKE: ‘It can drive you a little nuts.” (reminiscing) “So, I fell in love with the stars.”

BAXTER: “Is that why you became a pilot?”

CLARKE: “Totally. I love to get out. Explore. Someday I might even fly to Proxima C. Take a look around. So, what was it like on Earth?”

BAXTER: “It wasn’t that different than the ship in the end. If you were lucky enough to live in the domes.”

CLARKE: “Idiots. I can’t get my brain around people destroying their own planet.”

BAXTER: “Try experiencing it firsthand.”

A question has been eating at Baxter. She broaches it.

BAXTER: “Can I ask you something?”

CLARKE: “Sure, I guess..”

BAXTER: “Did I hear you call Captain Bova ‘Dad’ before we launched?”

CLARKE: “That’s right. He’s raised me.”

BAXTER: “Hmm… Can I ask how–“

Clarke is resolute. The topic is off limits.

CLARKE: (interrupting) “No. You can’t.”

An awkward silence ensues. Clarke breaks the tension.

CLARKE: “So, you were there for it…”

BAXTER: “For what?”

CLARKE: “The Big Top.”

BAXTER: (laughing slightly) “You mean The Big Tip. The ‘Tipping Point’. Runaway greenhouse.”

BAXTER: (cringing at the thought) “No. That was before I was born.”

CLARKE: “Was it really that bad?”

BAXTER: “We’re moving to an irradiated ball of rock four light years away. What do you think?”

CLARKE: (changing the subject) “You know, when I was a kid, my Dad made printouts of Earth landmarks.” (smiling) “We’d use ‘em like trading cards. Niagara Falls for a Grand Canyon. Eiffel Tower for a Great Pyramid. Places I’d never visit.”

BAXTER: “If it’s any consolation, I never visited any of them either.”

CLARKE: “Where did you grow up?”

BAXTER: “America. Illinois. Came from a long line of farmers.”

CLARKE: “What kind?”

Baxter finishes her repair. She gives the mask a once-over.

BAXTER: “Corn. Drought ended that. My folks gave up. They wanted to go to Mars.”

CLARKE: “Ugh… Mars. Heard about that in school. What a disaster.”

BAXTER: “Yeah. And by then, aside from the Moon, we’d waited too long to colonize anywhere else. Game over.”

CLARKE: “And, here we are.”

Her work complete, Baxter hands Clarke her repaired mask.

BAXTER: “Here we are.”

Clarke takes the mask and nods a thanks.

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