Rendezvous With Rama screenplay

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A long time ago I gave myself an exercise to see if I could convert portions of one of my favorite Arthur C. Clarke novels into a screenplay. After the exercise I had a new found respect for screenwriters who are tasked with converting books into screenplays for film. You can read the original here if you prefer screenplay formating. So without further ado...



Screenplay by R. Allen (that's me!)

Story by Arthur C. Clarke

ROUGH DRAFT -- March 31, 2004

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA (OR "RAMA")

FADE IN:

SUBTITLES (3-lines):

SEPTEMBER 11, 2077 // 0946 GMT // 02:46 PM Pacific

EXT. LONDON - MORNING

MONTAGE: In the dawn the sun rises quickly. Buildings and
landmarks are beautifully illuminated. There is a sprinkle
of futuristic vehicles, objects and items, but for the most
part not much has changed. The City comes alive with bustling
activity.

EXT. STORE PARKING LOT

People load groceries into their cars. They enjoy the
wonderful sunny weather. A joyous relief from the usual foggy
London mornings.

EXT. LAWN IN FRONT OF HOUSE IN LONDON SUBURBS

A man kneels down to inspect his computerized lawnmower. He
hears his neighbor's Garage door open.

INT. GARAGE

A young man stumbles around looking for a particular item.
He leans over a few boxes and locates his toolbelt. It's
filled with the usual tools (hammer, screwdriver, measuring
tape, etc.), and a few futuristic ones. He straps on the
toolbelt and walks to the Garage opening. He fiddles with
the Garage controls on the wall and sees and waves to his
neighbor.

MAN WITH TOOLBELT
Still trying to fix that Miles?

MILES
Aye Robert. I think it wants to sleep
in this morning.

Robert chuckles. He looks across the street to another
neighbor opening a futuristic SUV's back passenger door for

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2.


her children. The children are happy and energetic, yet
manageable.

CUT TO:

INT. CAFE - DAY

Three people sit at a table, next to the Cafe's large vertical
windows. In the background -- Sydney, Australia. Her landmarks
visible along with recent additions that's been added through-
out the twenty-first century. The Table has old world charm,
yet is disrespectfully cluttered with paperwork, binders,
stacks of books, Laptop computers and all manner of school
supplies. Backpacks rest at the base of the Table's lion-
grip legs.

STUDENT 1
Jim look at this.

JIM
I see your working on an theory for
planetary subspace communications.

STUDENT 1
What do you think?

STUDENT 2
(o.s.)
Breakfast is served.

Jim smiles, and takes the hot cup of coffee. He smells the
aroma and sips a few times before answering.

JIM
Richard, Mr. Alters just wants us to
write a solid Essay on technologies
of the late 21st-century. What do
you think Karra?

KARRA
Agreed. He's not expecting Einstein.
Don't worry yourself too much with
the details Richard.

RICHARD
Thanks... I heard rumors about him.
That he's strict with grades.

Jim and Karra nod "no" simultaneously. Richard smiles.

CUT TO:

INT. CONFERENCE ROOM

A group of people dressed in business suits sit at a large
oval shaped, mahogany conference table. The table is neat
and tidy. In the center are two conference-style phones.

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3.


One side of the room has a wall of glass over-looking landmark
ROMAN architecture and sparse futuristic vehicles. From this
vantage point it appears as though the people are on the
building's fifth floor. Sunshine floods the room and counter-
balances the cold, business-look. The people's conversation
happens in ITALIAN (with subtitles).

CEO SUIT
Twenty-five years ago this company
was created for the sole purpose of
helping better peoples lives. How
can we help people if bonuses are
given out?

MALE SUIT 1
Oberto, we ran the projections and
tests. Our new product lines will
help everyone and return a profit.
Our Sponsorship is strong. Our
Investors are comfortable. Our rivals
aren't touching our market segment.

FEMALE SUIT 2
I agree with Chris, Oberto. We're in
an holding pattern until approval.
But even then, we're still at fifty-
four percent profitability for the
year. We'll make it through this
quarter and the next.

CHRIS
We all felt it was time to say thank
you to the staff for --

Abruptly the sky's hue changes red. The Conference Room
natural sunshine changes to shades of red. The People react
with awe at what they see outside their window.

EXT. LONDON

Robert and Miles see the red hues form into a dazzling
fireball in the distant sky. Far enough to be amazing but
not close enough to be scared.

INT. SYDNEY CAFE

Patrons gather to the window to see the dazzling fireball.
Moments later it becomes brighter than the Sun. In its wake
a bellowing, churning exhaust of flame, dust and smoke.

The fireball suddenly emits an resinating alien sound that
fills the entire hemisphere. Seconds later the fireball
fragments into a million pieces. Fragment concussion is so
loud that the Cafe Patrons, and people in the street
immediately fall to the ground in pain -- bleeding from their
ears.

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4.


EXT. ROME

MONTAGE (intercut between Rome and Venice): This is ground-
zero. Without mercy fragments savagely crash into everything.
Nothing is protected. Fragments as small as basketballs travel
faster than sound and strike without warning. Fragments as
large as buses bulkily collide in whole buildings, rip holes
in park lawns, hit cars, people; generally causing the most
destruction.

DISSOLVE TO:

P.O.V. TV NEWS BROADCAST -- MOMENTS LATER

MAIN TITLE SEQUENCE BEGINS

FEMALE ANCHOR
(somber and saddened)
Leaders from all over the world are
calling today the worst event ever
recorded. Over six-hundred thousand
dead, and thirty-five million wounded.
Venice, Paudua, and Verona have been
completely destroyed. Famous landmarks
lost. Priceless art gone. Parts of
the Middle East have been damaged.
Australia is reporting fourty-five
percent of their citizens are now
legally deaf and request financial
aid to deal with this problem from
the United Nations. Some Economist
estimates total damages in the
trillions.

DISSOLVE TO:

MALE ANCHOR
The United Nations today introduced
the Krakatoa Accords. All nations
have agreed to disarm. All Terrorist
groups have willingly called extended
Truces, for the time being.

UNITED NATIONS PRESIDENT
Today marks a great day in Human
history when Nations and people
followed the adage in Isaiah to "beat
their swords into plow shares, and
their Spears into pruning share." In
the wake of this destructive event,
we all have learned that we humans
are fragile. May we all continue to
achieve peaceful solutions and never
resort to the petty and bloody
conflicts of the past.

DISSOLVE TO:

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5.


MALE AND FEMALE CO-ANCHORS
Eight years after September 11th,
World Leaders announce the formation
of Project Spaceguard as a means to
protect us asteroids and others
threats.

DISSOLVE TO:

News broadcast shows the date. May 5, 2102, some 25 years
later.

ANCHOR
Project Spaceguard has successfully
stopped another asteroid. Scientist
believe that the asteroid, dubbed
Korlo, emanated from the Ort Cloud;
a region of debris confirmed to exist
beyond Pluto. Scientist had felt the
program is performing smoothly and
continued support for...

MAIN TITLE SEQUENCE ENDS

FADE OUT:

SUBTITLES (2-LINES):

50 YEARS LATER

FADE IN:

Darkness.

Shuttering fluorescent ceiling light turn on to reveal:

INT. LAB

The lab looks more like an office with rows of pseudo-cubicle
computer stations. Each station wraps itself around a table
that has all sorts of scientific equipment.

FULL SHOT BINDER

A person wearing a coat, carries a navy-colored binder with
the words: CATALOGED DAILIES. The person swiftly walks across
the row of computer stations.

INT. SCIENCE LAB DESK

The work station has a desk lamp, to which this person turns
on. The fluorescent bulbs for the light fixtures above the
person's head were removed from the ceiling. They rest on
the central equipment table.

The computer mouse is moved slightly to bring the monitor
back to life.

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6.


The screen contains all kind of scientific programs that
seem to have been continuously running.

A man sits down and opens the Binder. Its contents are filled
with photos of stars, notes scribbled on yellow, legal notepad
paper, generic illustrations, and diagrams.

Each photo contains lots of notes. Circles drawn in primary
red, blue and black marker inks show possible points of
interest as denoted by the large POI acronym scribbled across
the top of each photo. The opacity on the photos was purposely
set to 75% so that dark marker inks are legible. Quick
identifying notes are taped next to the circles in a non-
uniform way.

MAN
(o.s. under breath)
Let's start with...

He tracks his finger to: (4-line): 31/439 // asteroid (?) //
Jupiter vicinity // index 31/439

The man grabs the index with detailed astrological data.

MAN (CONT'D)
Thirty one/Slash... Four/Three/Nine.

P.O.V. COMPUTER MONITOR -- CONTINUOUS

The man enters this data into a program. A three-dimension
diagram of our Solar System is displayed.

The display rapidly (and overlapping) animates each cataloged
asteroid, comet, and the planets' orbit around the Sun for
the last 100 years expect one. The program gradually draws
31/439's orbit from outer-space to it's "swing" around the
sun as a solid line. The previously processed data are dashed
and in a subtle archived colors.

The program finished processing 31/439 and displays the
WARNING message: POSSIBLE COLLISION WITH EARTH

The man is speechless and mouths the word "damn".

Staring at the monitor, the Man stumbles for and pulls out a
cell phone from his coat and dials a number.

MAN
Barry, William. You know that
cataloged asteroid near Jupiter?...
Yes that one... I just finished
running it through the trajectory
software and it's been flagged.

We begin to hear Barry's conversation with William.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.


BARRY
How do you want to proceed?

WILLIAM
I'm not sure. Do we go public with
this information or wait and bring
it up at the next SAC meeting?

BARRY
I've seen stranger objects.

WILLIAM
This is different. The data tells me
that this thing isn't reflecting
light. I'm worried this thing might
even turn out to be a nomadic
collapsed star. If it comes close
enough to us it could cripple us.
Just a nudge and we're back in the
ice age.

BARRY
I'll call a meeting. You bring your
notes. Now that you two are officially
an item what are you going to call
her?

WILLIAM
(amused)
We're on Hindu pantheons?

BARRY
Yeah.

WILLIAM
Rama, named after the Lord King.

BARRY
Of course. See you at the meeting. *

He ends the call and stares at the monitor. A troubled look
grows on his face. He continues gathering more information
on Rama.

EXT. BUILDING -- DAY

Futuristic objects, vehicles, and people travel past
contemporary Romanesque stone and marble architecture. The
sight of an old stylized motif mixed with futuristic
surroundings is surreal. The structure is sophisticated and
shows the serious nature of its existence. On the right-side
a gold-plated plague identifies the building as SPACE ADVISORY
COUNCIL.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.


INT. SPACE ADVISORY COUNCIL MEETING (IN PROGRESS)

BARRY
Ladies and Gentleman of the Council
This meeting was called to discuss a
possible threat to Earth. Dr. William
Stenton identified this threat and
has provided us with the information
on this threat. We need approval to
act.

CHAIRMAN
So the real question is how important
is this?

The Chairman glances down to confirm William's notes.

WILLIAM
Professor Davidson. Emeritus. I know
you're not particularly into objects
smaller than galaxies but there exists
a clear and potentially dangerous
situation out there. If we act, we
need to do it now... while we have
time.

EMERTUS
What do you propose?

BARRY
First we need to gather more
information. Mars Colony is readying
completion on the SITA deep-space
probe. We could retrofit it with
hundreds of camera probes that would
be released near Rama.

EMERTUS
(annoyed)
Gather more information? William,
asteroid chasing and high resolution
photos of the moon just so we can
prove the newly revived "Big-Bang"
theory is not my idea of good funding
management.
(reluctant)
However... a vote of decision must
be made. Do we act? Do we abstain?

The floor of the Advisory Council expresses their vote to
act. Emertus is clearly annoyed, but his views on the matter
are secondary to his position to execute the Council's
decisions.

EMERTUS (CONT'D)
You are authorized.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9.


WILLIAM AND BARRY
Thank you.

BARRY
(poetically to William)
...and so it begins.

FADE OUT:

FADE IN:

SUBTITLES:

2 MONTHS LATER

EXT. DEEP SPACE - STAR FIELD

A small traveling object moves closer and reveals it is:

The SITA probe, with a futuristic configuration, glides
towards Jupiter. It's dish always pivots towards home for
constant, real-time communications.

EXT. DEEP SPACE - NEAR JUPITER

On a fly-by, vents open and release a large cache of camera
pods. Each pod breaks apart into 50 cameras probes (1/16th
scale of SITA).

The camera probe has its own solar energy cell, high
resolution digital lens, a radio communication device and a
small transmitter dish that auto-pivots towards Earth. Each
look as though it could cost one million US dollars.

The SITA probe continues on its original programmed path
towards Neptune and deep-space. Meanwhile the area surrounding
SITA is now filled with Camera probes all beginning on an
accelerated intercept course for Rama.

Like a huge cluster of fighter jets they fly in a pseudo
mechanical formation off toward:

EXT. DEEP SPACE - FAINT RAMA OBJECT IN B.G.

The camera probes fade into the darkness as they approach
Rama. Jupiter and Sita are slightly visible.

INT. SPACE ADVISORY BUILDING

The room is filled with rows of monitoring stations, all
facing a large wall of various-sized videos each showing
different animations. At one station we see William, Barry,
and Emertus staring at the large video display.

BARRY
Fifteen seconds until contact.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10.


WILLIAM
I just hope the our cameras don't
miss Rama. The cameras and Rama will
cross each other at twelve hundred,
fourty-two miles an hour.

Emertus groans.

P.O.V. LARGE VIDEO DISPLAY

Photos begin to propagate horizontally across the screen in
rapid succession. Each time a single row fills up, the photos
shrink in size to allow more. This continues until the max
row of fifty photos is reached and a new row of photos is
generated.

INT. SPACE ADVISORY BUILDING

WILLIAM
(finally)
There we go.

EMERTUS
How many photos will we get?

Emertus is still skeptical of the project since he hasn't
seen a photo with Rama yet.

BARRY
Each camera probe has enough exposure
time for twenty-five photos. There
were fifty camera probes per pod,
and SITA released one hundred pods.
That's....

EMERTUS
(calculating in head)
One hundred, twenty-five thousand
photos. How long?

BARRY
About fourty-five minutes.

WILLIAM
Perfect! I'm starving. Let's get
lunch.

EMERTUS
You go. I want to be here when the
photos come in.

WILLIAM
Suit yourself. You coming Barry.

Barry nods yes. They leave for Lunch. Emertus continues to
watch the large video display intently.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11.


INT. SPACE ADVISORY BUILDING CAFE -- AFTERNOON

The cafe is an up-scale lunch cafeteria. A fancy glass display
case holds self-serving gourmet meals and bottled beverages.
At the end of the display case an machine is present to accept
payment. The cafe is filled with vintage astronomy wall
paintings. Large potted planets are scattered through-out
the cafe. The ceiling has two large sun-roofs that let the
natural light in. The cafe is kept cool by air vents
strategically placed through-out. The furniture and chairs
are as contemporary as possible. Recessed into a wall sits a
large television screen currently showing a generic news
broadcast; which the Cafe patrons ignore.

Barry and William have finished their lunch and are relaxing
and conversing.

BARRY
I have to hand it to you William.
The notion of a nomadic collapsed
star. Hell of a way to get emergency
funding.

Barry tips his glass to William in mock salute.

WILLIAM
I'm serious.

BARRY
Indeed.

Barry hears William's intent.

BARRY (CONT'D)
And at what moment did that idea
cross your mind?

WILLIAM
An object, twenty-four miles across,
spinning at six hundred, twenty one
miles per hour, that doesn't reflect
light and has been traveling through
our universe with out so much as
being shattered.

BARRY
And?

WILLIAM
And at that moment I recalled my
favorite H.G. Well's story when I
was a boy. "The Star", about a
planetoid colliding with Jupiter,
and the impact the destruction had
on Earth.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12.


William shakes off the negative thought and drinks from his
bottled beverage.

BARRY
William, Project Spaceguard and the
Space Advisory Council has the best
monitoring equipment. We've cataloged
hundreds of objects out there. Nothing
has hit us for fifty years. Believe
me when I tell you no star-sized
mass could penetrate so deeply into
our solar system without producing
disturbances that we wouldn't detect.

WILLIAM
I know. To tell you the truth Barry,
it scares the hell out of me.

BARRY
That Rama might be a collapsed star?

WILLIAM
No. That Rama might turn out to be
something else. As a species are we
ready for that?

BARRY
I'll drink to that my friend.

Barry and William are disturbed by commotion coming from the
television set. They curiously glance over.

WILLIAM
What's this all about?

Barry shrugs. They get up and walk over.

INT. CAFE -- PEOPLE LOOKING AT TELEVISION

As the television comes into focus Barry and William become
shocked by a choppy video sequence of a small, featureless
cylinder flying by very quickly.

ANCHOR
(v.o.)
We received this video a few minutes
ago from a Professor Emeritus O.
Davidson, Chairman of the Space
Advisory Council. The video is a
series of photographs that Project
Spaceguard has been capturing for
the past thirty-five minutes and
continue to capture. Professor
Davidson is calling the object, Rama.
This is simply amazing.
(MORE)

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13.


ANCHOR (CONT'D)
We go to our resident expert on
astronomy Dr. Kenneth McMann for a
perspective. Dr. McMann.

The television astrologist speaks.

BARRY
That son of a b***h.

WILLIAM
Hurry!

William is running towards the exit gesturing Barry. Meanwhile
the Cafe patrons continue to fixate on the broadcast.

INT. SPACE ADVISORY MONITORING ROOM

The doors open. Barry and William walk in. William is calm.
Barry is angry. Both walk to Emertus.

BARRY
(angry but professional)
Emertus! Why?

He presses keys on the keyboard and brings up the trajectory
simulation William used. William and Barry look at the large
screen. The drawn line for Rama is barely visible among all
previously finished projections. The object shows an entry
path into the solar system and an exit path but nothing
indicating a return path.

BARRY (CONT'D)
What the?

EMERTUS
I said the same thing when I saw
that.

WILLIAM
Why did you run the simulation?

EMERTUS
Because when I got back the photos I
noticed it's direction was too skewed.
I reran the simulation with new
trajectory data and I got that.

Emertus pushes a few buttons. The results shows new trajectory
information.

WILLIAM
Skewed enough to swing around the
sun and slingshot out of our solar
system?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14.


EMERTUS
Not only out of our solar system but
out of our galaxy.

Emertus pushes a few buttons. The simulation zooms out five-
hundred times and Rama's same enter path, no exit path is
visible.

EMERTUS (CONT'D)
I want us to explore this thing while
we have time. And by "us", I mean
everyone.

BARRY
Emertus... you're golden.

For the first time Barry, William and Emertus share a moment
of camaraderie.

WILLIAM
I have the perfect ship in mind for
this mission... Endeavour.

William and Barry nod affirmatively.

EXT. DEEP SPACE - STAR FIELD

Blackness. A backdrop against a star-lit space. Jupiter in
the distance and the faint markings of Rama's reflectionless
shape ominously paces itself across the stars.

Star light is interrupted by the leg from a ship. As the
ship reveals itself the words ENDEAVOUR becomes vivid across
its hull. A large radio communications dish rests on top of
the vessel, always pointed towards Earth. The mass of Endeavor
is large and immediately the decision behind why William
selected Endeavour is clear. This ship was built for one
thing, deep-space exploration. It's destination, Rama.

EXT. ENDEAVOUR - FLY BY

The bridge command area is lit in such a way that silhouettes,
shapes and light is visible and lacks detail. A sole shape
stands firm, while other shapes sit and move around the bridge
command.

INT. COMMAND BRIDGE

The bridge offers ample room to move around from station to
station relaying and receiving information. Large video
monitors fill every corner of the ship. Vital ship data and
real-time information on Rama is constantly displayed.

The overall look, feel and layout was intelligently assembled.
At each station at least two officers are busy with their
assigned task.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15.


An aged, but regal man in his prime, stands by one of his
navigation officers.

NORTON
E.T.A. Lieutenant Calvert?

CALVERT
In one minute, thirty.

NORTON
Okay listen up. Lieutenant Commander
Karl Mercer and myself will be the
first in. Before we all go for a
swim we need to test out the water.
We're been training for this mission
for months. Let's show Rama that we
proudly represent Earth.

CALVERT
In fifteen seconds sir.

NORTON
(nods)
Okay everyone, this is it.

Norton looks over Joe's shoulder's at the three-dimensional
navigation system showing Endeavour's paced approach towards
Rama's hull.

CALVERT
Matching Rama's rotation.

EXT. RAMA SURFACE NEAR PILLBOXES

Endeavour's hull begins to rotate, synchronizing with Rama's
rotation. A plume of exhaust, steam and fume are sent from
many vents. The landing is gentle.

INT. ENDEAVOUR BRIDGE

CALVERT
Centrifugal drift in ten seconds.
E.T.A. to pillboxes in twenty seconds.
This is going to get a little bumpy,
everyone.

Suddenly the bridge begins to shake. Not violently but enough
to startle the crew. Simultaneously monitors fluctuate for a
moment and then return to normal.

CALVERT (CONT'D)
This is normal everyone.

He looks are the screen.

CALVERT (CONT'D)
Eight seconds until clearance.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16.


EXT. RAMA SURFACE NEAR PILLBOXES

As the Endeavour comes to rest up against the pillboxes, the
last hiss of the vents sound forth. Residue exhaust still
escapes from the vents.

INT. COMMAND BRIDGE

A slow and steady sign of relief is mixed with excitement.
Norton grins at his crew for a job well done. He pats Joe's
shoulder and presses the comm button for Earth.

NORTON
(finally)
Rama base, Rama base. We have landed.
Repeat... Endeavour has landed.

The crew begins to stare out Endeavour's view-port.

CREW OFFICER
Look at the size of this!

Norton's curiosity turns towards his crewmates clustered
around the view-port. Satisfied with his terse message of
Endeavour's successful landing he presses the comm button to
severe communications with Earth. Norton gestures Joe to
join him.

P.O.V. NORTON

As he steps closer towards the view-port he begins to
understand his Crewmate's meaning.

Rama's hull is a massive horizon of alien metallics set
against a sea of stars. Even more uncanny is the surface,
save the pillbox objects, is completely and perfectly flat.
Rama is so perfectly flat that the six-hundred MPH rotation
of Rama is very subtle like a child resting on a very slow
revolving playground Merry-go-round.

EXT. ENDEAVOUR FLOOR LEVEL

The last full exhaust of steam vents as a ramp slowly descends
towards Rama's surface. Four figures emerge from inside
Endeavour wearing futuristic astronaut suits. Each suit comes
with an integrated backpack with icons that seem to say "bio-
hazard", "compressed air" and "jets". Each person holds
various pieces of equipment. Each suit has a label on the
shoulder pad and helmet identifying the person behind the
mask.

Norton looks back at his companion.

NORTON
Ready lieutenant?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
17.


MERCER
Let's do it.

Both men tap a device on their left chest breast pad.

FULL SHOT - CLOSE UP - KARL AND NORTON'S HELMET

A light emanates from the inside top of the helmet. A overlaid
Heads-Up Display (HUD) fades in on top of the men's plexiglass
helmet. In the corner various read-outs provide information
on movement, position, and health vitals. While the HUD
readies itself an amber-colored light from the inside bottom
of the helmet becomes active. Norton's pupils glow brown. A
mini-version of the HUD is displayed in his pupils. A quick
pulse and then his eyes return to normal. The HUD's opacity
fades by forty percent.

NORTON
Cerebral navigation on-line.

EXT. RAMA SURFACE NEAR ENDEAVOUR

Norton and Karl thrust their jets forward. The combined
gravitational and centrifugal fields cause the men to bounce
upon the surface. Both men travel a few meters.

MERCER
Two meters to the left.

NORTON
I see it.

FULL SHOT - P.O.V. CHASE VIEW OVER BOTH MEN

The endless smooth surface is interrupted by a peculiar
decoration. The men see six radial recessed slots. As they
approach they notice each recessed slot contains six
interconnecting bars centralized around a small hub. Closer
still, deeper recesses at the ends of the bars are seen with
a width that's wide enough to fit a hand.

As they arrive Norton kneels down and places his hand into
the deep recess and pulls. Out slides the single slot. When
it reaches it's limit, the other five slots begin to
automatically slide out in a delayed sequence.

Karl, anxious as Norton pulls out the decoration,
instinctively kneels down and activates a small piece of
equipment.

MERCER
The surface is still nominal.

EXT. CLOSE UP - DECORATION

The last slot slides into place.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
18.


FULL SHOT NORTON AND KARL

Both men stare at the fully erected decoration.

MERCER
What do you think?

Norton doesn't answer. He gestures Karl.

NORTON
I have an idea. Give me a hand.

Norton and Karl begin to turn the decoration in a counter-
clockwise fashion.

FULL SHOT P.O.V. CHASE VIEW OVER BOTH MEN, LOOKING AT
PILLBOXES

As the decoration rotates a pillbox a few yards away begins
to open like a slowly opening clamshell. A few particles of
dust stream outward, catching the sunlight and dazzling.

MERCER
(noticing the opening
pillbox)
Sir! The pillbox.

NORTON
Endeavour. We're on our way back. We
found an opening into Rama. Get the
equipment ready.

FADE OUT:

EXT. RAMA SURFACE

While Norton and Mercer approach the opened Pillbox, Norton
narrates an audio message sent to his family.

NORTON
(v.o.)
Hello everyone. Sorry I'm a day late.
It's taken us two days to organize
ourselves. Rama looks clean and tidy
on the surface but when we opened
the front door the inside was
completely black.

Norton and Mercer approach the Pillbox opening. Mercer checks
his equipment and fingers them an "OK" to enter. Both men
enter the dark opening.

NORTON (CONT'D)
I don't mind telling you that it's
scary. We're finding out a lot of
intrinsic oddities about the Ramans.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
19.


Suddenly they're immersed in total darkness. Norton flickers
on his flashlight and points it everywhere. The beam touches
what looks like a wall of some sort a few hundred yards away.
He points the flashlight down and nothing touches the beam.

NORTON (CONT'D)
One thing is for certain, these people
seem to have done everything in
threes. Give my love to everyone.
I'll see you all very soon. Love
Bill.

Norton points the flashlight back. He looks at Mercer, then
grabs a small red cylinder.

FULL SHOT NORTON AND MERCER

NORTON
I'm sending out a flare -- one minute
delay.

Mercer quickly set a two-minute countdown timer on his
helmets.

MERCER
Ready sir.

FULL SHOT NORTON

With all his might Norton lobs the flare away.

MERCER
Activate!

FULL SHOT KARL'S HELMET

The countdown begins. Every ten seconds a subtle flash
happens.

MERCER
Forty seconds.

NORTON
Synchronizing up in five... four...
three... two... one.

FULL SHOT BOTH MEN

The countdown timer on Norton's helmet synchronizes with
companion.

NORTON
Tracking flare.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20.


P.O.V. NORTON LOOKING AT FLARE

The flare falls past the flashlights beam lost in the
darkness.

MERCER
Ten seconds sir.

FULL SHOT BOTH MEN

MERCER
Five... four... three... two... one...

EXT RAMA

The world explodes in light!

The flares reach is not enough to illuminate the entire inside
of Rama but there was enough to grasp. Norton and Mercer
were at the end of a hollow cylinder at least six and half
miles wide and an length, unknown. The two stand inside a
ringed terrace. Against Rama's cylindrical wall the flare's
light illuminates a surface of artificial light, shadows and
shapes. From all accounts there are narrow lines that looked
like highways, canals, and rivers that forms geometrically
perfect, circular ringed network that meanders everywhere,
and as far as the eye could see. Cutting itself through this
strange network of roads sat a cylindrical sea that nearly
wrapped itself around the center of Rama. About a hundred
meters away another exit of an air lock system identical to
one Norton and his team entered is visible.

Almost immediately both men notice a strange surface beneath
them. They should fall, but they do not. Mercer checks the
display on a piece of equipment.

MERCER (CONT'D)
Sir there's a gravity in here. The
gravity is strongest against the
wall.

NORTON
Indeed. I wonder.

Both men walk back towards to wall. Norton looks back towards
his crew. They instinctively secure his lifeline. He slowly
and cautiously steps off the corridor and onto Rama's curving
wall. He grabs the rope with a death gripe. He slowly releases
one hand from the gripe, and then the other. He slowly stands
up. He slowly begins to walk around. Finally, he tests the
gravity with a couple jumps, and each time he returns to the
Rama's curving wall.

Norton gestures Mercer to come.

The flare sputters and dies and all light in Rama disappears.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21.


NORTON (CONT'D)
We're heading for the edge of the
terrace. I have a destination marker
for it.

FULL SHOT NORTON'S HELMET

A three dimensional outline of the area surrounding both men
as it appeared before the light faded out is overlaid onto
Norton's helmet.

NORTON
Sending data now.

FULL SHOT NORTON AND MERCER

The same three dimensional outline overlays over Mercer's
helmet.

EXT. BOTH MEN

Norton and Mercer begin walking towards to the edge of the
ringed terrace, guided by their helmet's navigation and the
flashlight beam they dance around in the darkness.

EXT. RAMA

As both men walk away we zoom away in the opposite direction
to reveal the scope and size of Rama, until the men themselves
fade to darkness from the distance.

FADE IN:

INT. ROOM -- LATER

Various people sit around a U-shaped table facing a television
screen. On the screen, people in a similar room sit at a
similar U-shaped table watching the people in the first room.
In front of each person is an opened folder containing photos
and crudely illustrated maps with distances in miles,
kilometers, yards, and so forth. Both groups of people begin
to listen intently to a broadcast.

NORTON
(v.o.)
We've launched five long-delay flares
through out Rama's interior, giving
us good photo coverage.

The people acknowledge the photos from the review package.

NORTON (CONT'D)
From our best guesses the interior
is nine miles wide by thirty-one
miles long. Both ends are bowl shaped.
(MORE)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22.


NORTON (CONT'D)
We've set up base in the northern
hemisphere as indicated on the
illustration and photograph A-19.

Both the crude illustration and photo backs up this statement.
The people begin to tract with their fingers the path Norton's
describes.

NORTON (CONT'D)
From the central hub there's three
kilometer-long ladders equally spaced
at one-hundred twenty degrees apart.
They end at what looks like a ring-
shaped terrace. Continuing on from
that are three stairways -- which we
dubbed Alpha, Beta and Gamma -- that
descend down. The stairways break at
five more circular terraces. From
best guess we think there's around
Twenty-five thousand steps total.

The people begin to nod their heads in amazement.

NORTON (CONT'D)
On the southern hemisphere we saw no
stairways and flat central hub.
Instead we saw a large kilometer
spike projecting itself along Rama's
axis with six smaller spikes
surrounding it.

The people shuffle photos around and see an illustration
revealing what Norton's describes. They also look at the
photos. Confusion and amazement mix together.

NORTON (CONT'D)
The thirty-one mile long cylindrical
center that we call the central plain
has a striking six mile wide dark
band of icy surface we've christened
the Sea. From all account it's looks
as though it could have been liquid
at one point in time.

The people confirm the sea from the photos and the
illustration.

NORTON (CONT'D)
And even more strange is a large
oval-shaped island six miles long by
two miles wide sitting in the middle
of the Sea. We've decided to call it
New York because it's covered with
tall building-like structures that
remind the crew of Manhattan's
skyline.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
23.


The people see an illustration with a side-view drawing of
the island and the strange structures.

NORTON (CONT'D)
We've also noticed six similar city-
like locations that look as though
they could hold up to fifty-thousand
people. We've calling them Rome...

The people spot Rome on the overhead Rama map.

NORTON (CONT'D)
Peking... Paris... Moscow... London,
and Tokyo.

Each city is spaced apart in a clockwise position.

NORTON (CONT'D)
We've notice each one is linked with
a form of rail system highway.

Norton's voice begins to become excited and anxious.

NORTON (CONT'D)
We have two thousand, eighty five
miles worth of surface to explore. I
just hope we have enough time to
find and explore the most important
areas. End transmission.

Almost immediately a man stands. A lapel on his shirts reads
two lines: "Rama Committee - Earth" and line two, "Ambassador
Bose". He notices a hand raising to speak.

BOSE
Dr. Perera, you have the floor.

PERERA
Thank you Ambassador. I have a theory
on what Rama might be. I believe
Rama simply point is a universal
equivalent of Noah's ark. A Space
Ark if you wish. It's one of the
oldest ideas in astrological
literature that dates back to J. D.
Bernal in 1942, and Russian pioneer
Tsiolkovsky even earlier.

FULL SHOT FOLLOWING PERERA

Perera stands up and walks over to a white-board with
available black markers. Perera picks up a marker and begins
to diagram her explanation.

PERERA
Right.
(MORE)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
24.


PERERA (CONT'D)
So if you wanted to travel from one
star system to another, we have two
possibilities. You could either get
there fast in a small vessel or slow
in a large vessel. The current theory
stands that we can give or take reach
speeds of light at ninety percent.
Trips between neighboring systems
would take five to ten years. But
perhaps such speeds are impossible
with a large vessel. No, instead
what we have is a mobile mini world
a few thousands miles across, carrying
thousands of passengers, on a journey
that would last for generations...
Naturally a system as large as Rama
would be sealed, needing to recycle
everything internally.

By now the white-board is full of illustrations.

PERERA (CONT'D)
It was suggested that these space
arks would need to be concentric
sphere or spinning cylinders to
generate a contained gravity. I
believe this is what Rama is. It is
a piece of Rama's world.

Emertus raise his hand to speak.

BOSE
Thank you Dr. Perera. Professor
Davidson.

EMERTUS
We need to address a more fundamental
question. Exactly how long has Rama
been traveling through space? We can
speak of size, and conjecture of its
purposes until we're blue in the
face. The fact is it's trajectory
into our system allowed us to trace
Rama's position back million of years.
We expected it would come from a
nearby star, but it hasn't.

A senior archeologist raises her hand to offer a solution.
She looks tough from years of site archeological work under
the blistering sun. He skin is in surprisingly good shape.

ELDERLY WOMEN
A suggested.

EMERTUS
Please Dr. Price.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
25.


ELDERLY WOMEN
Maybe Rama came from a normal sun
that became unstable and so the Ramans
had to locate a new one.

Emertus admired Dr. Price age and experience, but ultimately
she was wrong.

EMERTUS
(respectfully)
We considered that.

He continues...

EMERTUS (CONT'D)
No. Rama is a cold, dark, and dead
world, and I believe I know why. It
seems the Ramans may have had no
choice but to flee from some disaster.
Unfortunately in their haste they
grossly miscalculated a place to
flee too. From the available data I
estimate because of Rama's size,
it's ecology could only survive a
minimum of a thousand years, possibly
ten thousand. That would have given
the Ramans enough time to reach a
neighboring star. But they missed,
and ended up a derelict, drifting
tomb.

Emertus almost feels as though hands are going to be raised
in objection and so he continues without a beat.

EMERTUS (CONT'D)
Now before anyone objects there's
the issue of Rama's present orbit.
It's too much of a coincidence that
Rama is aimed too close towards our
Sun. In fact Endeavour will have to
leave the moment Rama gets too close.
Perhaps Rama has an automated system
that's piloting the vessel towards
the nearest suitable star ages after
it's builders died. I don't know but
I do know that we are no longer alone.
We can only hope Norton and his crew
find something vitally important in
the time allotted.

The chorus of delegates nod in agreement.