EXT. SHIELD NODE, TRANSMITTER 77

Clarke quickly stands. The two women turn to look up at Proxima Centauri.

CLARKE: (squinting at the sky) “Polarize your visor.”

They both tap buttons on their wrists; their faceplates darken.

From Baxter’s POV, the tendrils of numerous flares writhe along the flank of the red dwarf star.

BAXTER: “Oh, my God.”

NIVEN (COMM VOICE) (pleading): “Guys, please… Just one piece.”

[Wide shot of the star baking down from above, framing the TerraCat and the shield node in harsh light.]

Turning back to the geoglyph, Baxter makes a decision.

She heads to the TerraCat.

CLARKE: “Where are you going?”

BAXTER: “Use those mega-muscles.”

Clarke watches as Baxter jogs painfully toward the rover.

Frustrated, she throws up her hands, causing her to notice her radiation detector.

It’s nearing red!

Becoming stressed, Clarke gives in and grabs the pick-axe from the ground.

[Baxter sprints towards the TerraCat as fast as she can.]

Back at the TerraCat, Baxter climbs into the vehicle.

Meanwhile, Clarke hacks at the geoglyph with a ferocity that belies a hidden fear of the alien rock.

She stops to look at the raging Proxima, then returns to work.

Fragments of crystal fly off, landing on the aeroshell.

[Clarke continues to hack away at the crystal, oblivious to her surroundings.]

Clarke is caught unaware as Baxter stops her from offscreen.

BAXTER: “Stop!”

Baxter carries a SOIL-CORE — a clear plastic tube with a handle on top.

She scoffs as Clarke eases her onslaught.

BAXTER: “Jesus. We don’t need a boulder.”

In near panic, Clarke snaps the pick-axe onto her utility belt. She glances again at the sky.

CLARKE: “We gotta get out of here.”

[Anxious, Clarke rises from her position.]

CLARKE: “We gotta get out of here.”

BAXTER: “Duh…” (pointing at the TerraCat) “You go fire her up.”

Clarke takes off for the rover while Baxter places shards inside the soil-core.

On the way, she notices the computer board Baxter removed earlier.

[Baxter approaches the fallen component, shadowed by the shield node’s heights.]

[The camera pushes in towards the board on the ground.]

Clarke snatches it up.

Baxter finishes putting the geoglyph shards in the container.

She then stands, grimacing in the high gravity as she sets it tight.

Her suit speaks in the same voice as Clarke’s.

SUIT VOICE: “Radiation levels rising!”

Baxter takes a second to look at the radiation detector on her wrist. It’s just entered the red zone!

As she turns to leave, she stops — noticing with horror that the geoglyph is GROWING BACK where Clarke chipped it away!

[Slowly and inexorably, the geoglyph attempts to reclaim the AeroFox. The reflective facets of the alien rock twinkle as it crinkles in Proxima’s harsh light.]

Baxter lifts the soil-core and looks at the material inside with grave concern.

Should she even take it back with her?

[Closeup of the material in the sample core.]

INT. TERRACAT

Clarke buckles her seatbelt as Baxter climbs into the cabin, holding the soil-core in both hands. Clarke doesn’t see it.

BAXTER: (huffing) “We need to talk. I just saw–”

CLARKE: (interrupting) “I’m taking us back to that crater. We’ll use its shadow to get out of the charged particles.”

BAXTER: “Yeah, yeah… Sounds good.” (getting in her face) “Hey… You need to listen.”

Baxter sits in the seat across from her younger companion.

She pushes the soil-core container into Clarke’s view.

BAXTER: “Back there, where you chipped this off, it’s already growing back.”

CLARKE: “What do you mean?”

BAXTER: “I mean, it’s growing back! Like really fast.”

CLARKE (shifting in her seat): “What?!”

BAXTER: “Saw it with my own eyes.” (looking at the soil-core) “I don’t think this is a rock.”

Clarke’s eyes widen in fear, staring at the geoglyph sample.

CLARKE: “Then, get it outta here!”

Baxter is taken aback by Clarke’s vehemence.

BAXTER: “No!” (scanning the container) “This is inert. We need to study it.”

Clarke knows Baxter is right. She mutters under her breath.

CLARKE: “Goddamn it.”

An alarm tone sounds followed by the voice of the TerraCat.

TERRACAT: “Radiation alert. Find shelter immediately!”

Clarke shakes her head, then fires an angry look at Baxter.

CLARKE: “Just buckle in.” (pointing at the soil-core) “And keep an eye on that shit!”

Baxter buckles up, keeping the container between her feet.

CLARKE: (CONT’D) “TerraCat, take us to the coordinates.”

TERRACAT: “Proceeding to crater.”

The rover’s engine revs and whines, but is unable to move! The women are jostled hard.

BAXTER: “What the hell?”

CLARKE: “TerraCat, reverse. Full throttle!”

The engine revs louder, but still the vehicle goes nowhere.

TERRACAT: “Encountering an obstruction.”

The women look at each other with disbelief.

[Clarke stares in horror.]

[Baxter returns her shocked gaze.]

EXT. TERRACAT

[Outside, the rover’s doors cycle open.]

[Clarke and Baxter thud down from the TerraCat’s extendable staircase.]

[Continuing their investigation, they move to the front of the rover. Baxter notices the problem right away.]

The rover’s rear wheels are now encompassed in the geoglyph. It slowly extends from the ground.

The two women stare at the advancing substance.

Clarke’s eyes widen with shock.

CLARKE: “Now, it’s coming after us!”

BAXTER: “We don’t know that, maybe it’s–”

CLARKE: (interrupting) “Seriously?!”

SUIT VOICE: “Radiation near fatal exposure.”

Baxter glances between the tires and the fiery star.

BAXTER: “Shit. We gotta get out of here.”

CLARKE: “The self drive is too slow!”

BAXTER: (taking Clarke’s pick-axe) “Get inside and set the TerraCat to manual. Gun it!”

CLARKE: “Manual..?”

BAXTER: “You can fly a spaceship, but you can’t drive a car?”

CLARKE: “Like we have cars on Colony One!”

Baxter shoves the pick-axe back at her.

BAXTER: “Knock yourself out.”

[Clarke kneels down, appraising the crystal roadblock. She hefts her pick-axe and prepares to try again.]

Clarke strikes the geoglyph growing around the tires. Shards of crystal explode away.

INT. TERRACAT

[Baxter climbs into the TerraCat. The camera tracks left as she makes her way inside.]

Inside the TerraCat, Baxter straps herself into one of the rear-facing front seats.

BAXTER: “TerraCat, disengage self-drive!”

TERRACAT: “Manual steering activated.”

Baxter’s seat rotates into the forward drive position.

A steering column automatically advances toward her.

[Seat in place and wheel extended, Baxter is ready to drive.]

She puts her hands on the wheel.

Outside, Clarke makes good headway on removing the geoglyph.

[Clarke makes her way around the front of the TerraCat, ready to start on the other wheel.]

[Clarke begins chipping away at the growth around the tire.]

CLARKE: “I think I got it!”

Within the rover, Baxter now has it at full power. She turns and yells to Clarke through the open door.

BAXTER: “That’s good! Back away!”

[Baxter’s point of view in the cockpit. Her suited hands tighten as she works the TerraCat’s wheel back and forth.]

Baxter guns it. Its electric engine whines loudly, but the rover fails to move.

Baxter rocks it back and forth.

Again to no avail.

[Closer shot of the wheel as it grinds against the geoglyph’s infestation.]

On the horizon, Proxima grows brighter.

CLARKE: “Hold up!”

She uses her pick-axe to give it a final shot, hammering at the material.

Geoglyph debris flies in all directions.

CLARKE: “Try it now!”

Baxter slams her foot on the pedal.

The TerraCat breaks free.

[Loosed like a stone from a sling, Baxter controls the TerraCat’s forward lurch and spins around, kicking up dust and crystal.]

[Framed by Proxima’s searing glow, Baxter beckons from inside the cab.]

Clarke hobbles after the rover and jumps inside. The door automatically closes behind her.