ANNOUNCER:  Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome the President of the United States.

 

[Audience applause]

 

PRESIDENT MARSHALL:   My fellow Americans. Global Citizens of the world. I come to you now with grave news. Our planet is deteriorating. For years we have set to reverse the effects of Global Warming, but despite our best efforts, we did not care enough for our planet, our home, enough.  I have been informed by both NASA and the Pentagon that we have less than a decade to evacuate the planet.

 

[Gasps throughout the audience]

 

PRESIDENT MARSHALL: I understand the panic that you all must be feeling right now, but thanks to our team, we have sent out excavation teams in preparation for such an event. Across the universe, our scientists have worked hand in hand with nations across the globe to develop and prepare colonies for the evacuation of the human race. May I present to you Devlyn Drax he will guide us into the next phase of the human race into space and beyond.

 

[Reserved applause]

 

DEVLYN DRAX: Ladies and Gentlemen. It has been my painstaking mission for some time now to prepare both the nation and the world for a global catastrophe of this size. Stay close to your loved ones. Over the following week's personnel will arrive at your homes where you will be escorted to the nearest EVAC facility. There is limited space, so bring only what is necessary. Together we will ensure the survival of our race and the expansion of our species across the solar system. May we treat our next home better than this one.

 

[Eerie music fades in]

 

DEVLYN: In space, there is little room for error. Yet when faced with a cataclysmic event theories and calculations are made at break-neck speed. So, while the mathematics may be sound, there will always be that “X” factor. We never thought of the X factor, and that error would land us at the bottom of the food chain.

 

[Eerie music fades out]

 

[The roars and screeches of aliens echo in the distance]

 

RAVEN: How much further?

 

DEVLYN: Not far. Just through this passage. 

 

AARON: I think they’re gaining on us.

 

DEVLYN: Through here.

 

[The running of footsteps followed by a heavy door slamming shut behind them]

 

THEO: What the hell are those things?

 

DEVLYN: Let’s just say they aren’t the little green men you were expecting.

 

AARON: You mean to say…those things are Martians?

 

DEVLYN: This planet is just like earth. Would you call a snake or an elephant an earthling?

 

AARON: I guess not.

 

DEVLYN: Those creatures are unlike anything I’ve seen on this planet.

 

SARAH: Yeah? And who the fuck are you?

 

DEVLYN: Devlyn Drax, Mars Ranger 421.

 

SARAH: A ranger? I thought they got rid of your kind after the colonies were formed.

 

DEVLYN: It was left to the colonies. Many rangers were disbanded, but a few kept us around.

 

SARAH: Why would they do that?

 

DEVLYN: For times like this.

 

SKIP: They knew this was going to happen?

 

DEVLYN: No, but we know the land. Scouted the territory. Before the colonies, it was us who were sent out into the reaches of space to scour the solar system for the best and safest locations to inhabit. They kept us around incase anything should happen.

 

SARAH: Seems like you did a pretty bang-up job.

 

DEVLYN: No one could have seen this coming.

 

RAVEN:  And why’s that?

 

DEVLYN: Whatever they are came from beneath us. There were no signs. Just one day the ground shook and cracked beneath our feet, and out of it, all hell broke loose.

 

SARAH: And how is it you were the only one to survive?

 

DEVLYN: If you think because I’m alive I’m one of the lucky ones, you’re wrong. I may still be alive, but what kind of life is it when you’ve lost everything? The bigger question is what sort of morons would risk their lives to come back to this rock after what happened.

 

RAVEN: We were sent here for R and—

 

THEO: We were searching for you, Mr. Drax. We’ve heard of your skills. We didn’t think you survived, but here you are.

 

AARON: We need your help. Our daughter. She lived on the colony, like you, we haven’t heard from her since the incident. Please.

 

DEVLYN: What makes you think she’s alive?

 

THEO: This.

 

[The pulsating sound of a heart monitor]

​

THEO: It’s her heart monitor. Please, we know she’s still alive.

 

DEVLYN: Mars is a savage planet. You really think your daughter has survived this long? There’s no telling what we might find, or what her condition is.

 

AARON: What if it was your child?

 

DEVLYN: Fine. But from here on out you, all do as I say.

 

SARAH: And if we don’t?

 

DEVLYN: Then pray you make it off this rock alive.

 

KIT: What about those things?

 

DEVLYN: Stay in here and you’ll be safe. As far as I can tell, those things sense body heat. Because of the furnace they can’t read us.

 

SKIP: Are you sure?

 

DEVLYN: Been living in this hole going on almost a year now. You couldn’t be safer than if you were locked in a tower, princess.  Now I suggest you get some sleep…while you still can.

 

[A metal door slides shut]

 

SARAH: You son of a bitch. You brought us here for a child?

 

THEO: You volunteered for this job. Just think that your piece of the pie has gotten a bit larger now that Captain Richards and Hog are no longer with us.

 

[A loud THWACK as Sarah punches Theo]

 

SARAH: How dare you!

 

THEO: If you want to see your share of the payday, you better think twice before laying a hand on me again.

 

SARAH: Those men gave their lives for us. You knew we were going into dangerous territory and said nothing.

 

THEO: I was told your team was the best. Maybe I’m the one who should ask for a refund?

 

SARAH: I don’t want your blood money. Just know I’ve got my eye on you and if you so much as step a toe out of line, I’ll make sure you regret it.

 

KIT: I just wanna say she doesn’t speak for all of us. I’d very much like to get paid.

 

SKIP: Me too!

 

RAVEN: Everyone needs to chill the fuck out. They’re just parents looking for their daughter. Any of us would do the same.

 

SARAH: Some things are better left dead.

 

RAVEN: How could you say that?

 

SARAH: They’re risking six lives for the price of one. One child, who we don’t even know is still alive. Where’s your goddamn proof?

 

THEO: The tracker is all the proof we need.

 

SARAH: A tracker? That’s it? I can’t believe this. Ever think that something could have ripped it out of her?

 

RAVEN: Sarah. That’s enough.

 

SARAH: I’m done anyway. 

 

RAVEN: I’m sorry about her. Losing two men. It wears on a person.

 

AARON: We’re sorry about your teammates.

 

RAVEN: Hazards of the job. But from now on I need honesty. From the both of you. Otherwise, I’m pulling the plug. Whether we find your kid or not. Understood?

 

THEO & AARON:  Yes, sir.

 

[A metal door hisses open as Raven knocks on the door]

 

DEVLYN: What is it?

 

RAVEN: Sorry to disturb you. I just wanted to thank you for your help today.

 

DEVLYN: You’re stuck on this rock too. I wouldn’t be thanking me yet.

 

RAVEN. Still. You really think you can find their daughter?

 

DEVLYN: I’m not sure, but if helping them means a one-way ticket off this hell hole, I’ll take it.

 

RAVEN: How have you survived all this time?

 

DEVLYN: Scavenged, mainly. Colony is destroyed but still enough supplies to keep one person alive for quite a while. As long as you can make it past the Ravagers.

 

RAVEN: Ravagers?

 

DEVLYN: Those things out there. The ones that attacked, and they’re just the drones.

 

RAVEN: There’s more of those things?

 

DEVLYN: You see, I’ve watched those things. Stalked them. When they catch something, they don’t devour it. They drag it back carrying it beneath the ground. Something or someone seems to be controlling them.

 

RAVEN: What’s below the surface?

 

DEVLYN: With any luck, we won’t have to find out.

 

RAVEN: And if we do?

 

DEVLYN: Then God help us.  Do you trust those two?

 

RAVEN: I trust my team.

 

DEVLYN: That’s not what I asked.

 

RAVEN: They hired us. It’s not my place to judge. We’re here to do the job. Get in. Get out.

 

DEVLYN: But what happens when you and your team don’t make it out alive? You’re on Mars, Lieutenant. Out here, the only person you can trust is yourself.

 

RAVEN: What about you?

 

DEVLYN: Not me. Not your team. And I suggest you keep a close eye on your two employers. I’d get some rest, it’s going to be a long night.

 

[Eerie music fades in]

 

DEVLYN: Mankind set out to tame space. The same way our ancestors set out to tame the West. The only difference? Our world had rules, limitations. We thought we could apply the same limits when we set out for space; but in the cold vastness of space, control is an illusion, hope, a fever dream, and trust an unstable commodity. The only person anyone can rely on out here is themselves.

 

[Eerie music fades]

 

[Knocking]

 

DEVLYN: Wakey. Wakey.

 

THEO: Is that necessary?

 

SARAH: Quiet. They’ll hear you.

 

DEVLYN: Then I suggest you get moving.

 

[Footsteps echo along the corridor]

 

AARON: Are you sure this is the right way?

 

DEVLYN: The Ravagers nest near the center of the colony. If we’re going to avoid them, it’s going to be the long way around.

 

SKIP: And you’re sure we’re not going to run into any of those…things?

 

DEVLYN: Far as I can tell, they’re nocturnal. Just stay close and keep a watch. Through here.

 

[A hiss as a metal door slides open]

 

RAVEN: What is this place?

 

SARAH: Looks like some sort of cloning facility.

 

RAVEN: It can’t be. Cloning’s been outlawed for years.

 

SKIP: What’s in the tubes?

 

KIT: They look almost…human?

 

RAVEN: Devlyn?

 

DEVLYN: Whatever they are, they’re beyond my pay grade.

 

AARON: Look, this one’s broken.

 

SARAH: Or something broke out.

 

[Debris clangs followed by an insect-like clicking.]

 

DEVLYN: Blasters ready.

 

SARAH: What the fuck is that?

 

VOICE: Wait. Don’t shoot.

 

THEO: I thought you said no one else survived.

 

DEVLYN: Apparently…I was wrong.

 

[END OF EPISODE 2]