Copyright 1997 by Rob Perry and NorthStarr Productions
All Rights Reserved
NorthStarr Casting Copyright 1997 by Rob Perry and NorthStarr Productions
Ed Harris
Billy Zane
Dr. Arnold Nelson
Project Scientist
Department of Energy
United States of America
Judd Alan
Deputy Project Scientist
Department of Energy
United States of America
Synopsis: A team from the Department of Energy are
about to test a doomsday weapon in the Nevada Desert. One of the scientist begins
to get cold feet and wants to back out of the DUGAS PROJECT.
But .........
Mercury Nevada
The Year is 2000
Scientists and workman are seen in an
elevator shaft descending to a classified area
where a thermonuclear test is being set-up.
In 1980 Dr. Arnold Nelson graduated from Harvard with a
Doctorate in Physics. Less than one year
later, he published his first paper Quantum Theory
of High Vibration Bands. He was a project leader
on the LUCIFER'S HAMMER PROJECT at the Los Alamos
National Laboratory in New Mexico. In March 1985,
he was assigned to a super secret Project called DUGAS.
A nuclear fission release of nuclear energy using a
Chemical Laser delivery system. The DUGAS PROJECT
was not public knowledge until the first test of the
system on June 19, 1992. This test was successful
as an important milestone but the down side was, it
caused the 7.6 Earthquake in Flanders California.
In 1995 Dr. Nelson received the prestigious ENRICO
FERMI AWARD, the highest prize awarded by the
Department of Energy, conferred by the President.
In 1984 Judd Alan graduated from UC Berkeley with a
Masters Degree in Physics. Less than one year
later, he was appointed Deputy Project Leader
on the LUCIFER'S HAMMER PROJECT. In
March 1985, he was assigned to a super secret
Project called DUGAS. He was comfortable being
second in command until the first test of the system
on June 19, 1992 which caused the 7.6 Earthquake
in Flanders California. After this he had strong
second thoughts!
"The Gadget" ....... "Hiroshima" .......... "Nagasaki"......."Ground Zero "
FADE IN
EXT. MERCURY NEVADA MORNING
EXT. AREA 37 GLASS BUTTE
INT. DUGAS 4 DELTA SHAFT
A team of scientists and workman are seen in an
elevator shaft descending to a classified area
where a thermonuclear test is being set-up.
Dr. Arnold Nelson and his assistant are fidgeting
inside the elevator as they descend one mile down. NELSON
Well the set-up is still
the same.
ASSISTANT
How did we ever get into
this Nuclear race anyway
Dr. Nelson?
Judd Alan is a young man in his early thirties
and lives in North Las Vegas. He's married
has a seven year old son. His wife is a
cashier at CIRCUS-CIRCUS.
NELSON
Judd, it's a long story.
ALAN
With all the stops we have to
make on the way down, we have
nothing but time.
NELSON
On August 2nd 1939, Albert Einstein
told President Franklin D. Roosevelt
of efforts in Nazi Germany to purify
U-235 which might in turn be
used to build an Atomic Bomb.
ALAN
I'm surprised any one even
knew what an Atomic Bomb was.
NELSON
A few people did. Anyway it was
shortly thereafter that we
began the Manhattan Project.
The project was committed
to expedient research and
production of an Atomic bomb.
ALAN
So?
NELSON
The most complicated issue to
be addressed was the complex
production of ample amounts
of enriched uranium to
sustain a chain reaction.
ALAN
A Chain Reaction?
The elevator stops and in a few seconds the
doors open and two workmen get out. The
doors close and the trip down resumes.
NELSON
Just hang on, I'll explain in
just a minute. At that time,
Uranium-235 was very hard to
extract. The ratio of the
conversion from Uranium ore
to Uranium metal was 500 to 1.
An additional drawback was
that the 1 part of Uranium
that was finally refined from
the ore consisted of over 99%
Uranium-238, which is useless
for an atomic bomb.
The elevator stops again and when the doors
open a workman comes into the elevator
with a hand truck with three large boxes.
The door closes and the trip down resumes.
ALAN
Busy day.
NELSON
To make it even more difficult,
U-235 and U-238 are precisely
similar in their chemical makeup.
No ordinary chemical extraction
could separate the two isotopes.
Only mechanical methods could
effectively separate U-235
from U-238. Several scientists
at Columbia University managed
to solve this dilemma.
ALAN
OAKRIDGE, right?
NELSON
Right! A massive enrichment
laboratory was constructed
at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The
scientists devised a system
that worked on the principle
of gaseous diffusion.
Following this process, UC
Berkeley implemented a process
involving magnetic separation
of the two isotopes.
The elevator stops and everyone gets out except
Nelson and Alan. The doors close and the trip
down resumes.
ALAN
Dr. Nelson do you know when the
next window of opportunity,,,,
NELSON
You know that's classified, so
why do you ask me a question
like that!
ALAN
Hey don't get pissed, I was just
making conversation.
The elevator stops unexpectedly and the lights
blink.
NELSON
Fucking elevator, it always does
this at level -266.
ALAN
We will hang here, for at least
ten minutes. Anyway as you were
saying.
NELSON
After solving the first two
processes, a gas centrifuge
was used to further separate
the lighter U-235 from the
heavier non-fissionable
U-238 by their mass. Once
this had been completed,
all that needed to be done
was to test the entire
concept behind atomic
fission.
ALAN
Arnie, if we hadn't of done this
project, do you think the
Germans would have.
NELSON
United States Army Intelligence
found out the Germans were
planning to use their Atomic
Bomb on two targets, London and
Paris. We slowed them down when
we had the RAF bomb their new
"Heavy Water" plant in Norway.
Of course we would have been the
next target after Europe.
ALAN
If that had happened, we wouldn't
be having this conversation right
now!
NELSON
No shit! (A beat). Over the course
of six years, ranging from 1939 to
1945, more than 2 billion dollars
were spent on the Manhattan Project.
The formulas for refining Uranium
and putting together a working bomb
were created. Finally the day came
when the team at Los Alamos New
Mexico would find out whether or
not the project was either going
to be the colossal dud of the
century or perhaps end the war.
It all came down to a fateful
morning of midsummer, 1945.
The elevator kicks in again and they resume their
trip down to the bottom.
ALAN
You know it don't make sense.
Here we are fifty-five years
later and were still fucking
around with testing this and
testing that! FUCK! ,, when
does it end?
NELSON
Hey calm down, if nothing else
the testing gives you and I a
job, right?
ALAN
That's a pretty lame excuse. If
you ask me, one of these days
we could split the world in half
with all these damn tests!
NELSON
Hey, we could probably do just
fine with what we have now in
our inventory, but it's that
extra, extra GADGET that will
save our buns in a hassle with
China.
ALAN
I'm sorry Dr. Nelson, no disrespect
but that's bull-shit! China buys
all kinds of stuff from us, Airliners
Wheat, rubbers, everything! Their
our homeboys, come on you have to
do better than that!
NELSON
I guess it unfair of me to try to
swing you over to the governments
thinking, but I, as PROJECT DUGAS
Chief Scientist have access to
information that you don't have.
ALAN
Like?
The elevator comes to the final stop and the doors
open.
NELSON
Grab your gear it's ShowTime
ALAN
You know Dr. Nelson I have worked
with you on this project since day
one and you still don't trust me!
They both get out of the elevator dragging some of
their gear. The doors close and hear the elevator
going up.
NELSON
Oh please, that's a CROCK and you
know it. You know every piece of
this project except the date and
time of the test. And only three
people that know is The President,
the Secretary of Defense and
myself.
CUT TO:
EXT. MERCURY NEVADA
EXT. AREA 37 GLASS BUTTE
INT. BOTTOM OF DUGAS 4 DELTA SHAFT
Nelson and Alan are seen in a large room loaded
with tons of electronic gear used for supporting
the DUGAS PROJECT test. They both sit down at a
small table used for assembly of small parts.
They have opened their lunch boxes and are now
having lunch.
ALAN
Dr. Nelson are you going to finish
the story you started up in the
elevator?
NELSON
Sure why not. Lets see where was I.
On July 16th, 1945, in a white blaze
that stretched from the basin of
the JEMENEZ MOUNTAINS in
New Mexico to the still-dark skies,
The light of the explosion turned
orange as the atomic fireball
began shooting upwards at 360
feet per second, reddening and
pulsing as it cooled. The large
mushroom cloud of radioactive
vapor materialized at 30,000
feet. Beneath the cloud, all
that remained of the soil at
the blast site were fragments
of jade green radioactive glass.
All of this caused by the
heat of the reaction.
ALAN
They must have thought it was
the end of the world!
NELSON
The brilliant light from the
detonation pierced the early
morning skies with such
intensity that residents
swore that the sun came
up twice that day.
ALAN
Next stop Hiroshima, right?
NELSON
A Uranium bomb was dropped on
Hiroshima August 6th, 1945.
The AIOI Bridge, one of 81
bridges connecting the
seven-branched delta of
the Ota River, was the
aiming point of the bomb.
Ground Zero was set at
1,980 feet. At 0815 hours,
the bomb was dropped from
the Enola Gay. At 0816 hours,
in the flash of an instant,
66,000 people were killed
and 69,000 people were
injured by a 10 kiloton
atomic explosion.
ALAN
Every time I hear that part
of history I feel like
throwing up. Shit! Almost
seventy thousand people go
up in a puff of smoke! Moms,
Dads, kids, grandpas,
grandmas that never ever
did a fucking thing to the
American people!!!
NELSON
Hey how about Pearl Harbor?
ALAN
Oh come on, how do you compare
military casualties to poor
civilians, there is no comparison
no matter what you say.
NELSON
Calm down, you were not even born
when this happened.
ALAN
Let me finish this story. Lets see,
the point of total vaporization
from the blast measured one half
of a mile in diameter. Total
destruction ranged at one mile
in diameter. Severe blast damage
carried as far as two miles in
diameter. At two and a half miles,
everything flammable in the area
burned of course including people.
The remaining area of the blast
zone was riddled with blazes that
stretched out to the final edge
at a little over three miles in
diameter. Well, Dr. Nelson did
I miss anything?
NELSON
No, but on August 9th 1945, Nagasaki
had the same treatment as Hiroshima.
Only this time, a 10 kiloton
Plutonium bomb leveled nearly half
the city. Nagasaki's population
dropped in one split-second from
400,000 to less than 300,000.
Judd loses all control and starts shouting and pacing
the room, throwing what's left of his Tuna sandwich
at the table.
ALAN
GODAMN it Arnie! Shit! Shit!
The Physicists who studied each
atomic explosion stated that the
bombs that were used had utilized
only 1/10th of 1 percent of their
respective explosive capabilities.
Now we have ten kiloton nukes
that utilize about 80% of their
capabilities! GODAMN IT Arnie,
why didn't we just wait a little bit
longer and use the new bombs
and kill all the Japanese!!
NELSON
Calm down Judd, you're working
yourself up into a rage, this
is history, we have no control
over what happen before we were
born!
ALAN
Oh really, well what about the
fucking history we're working
with right now! When this
system is up and running we
will be able to knock out any
city in the world with a huge
radioactive chemical laser
from an orbiting satellite.
Shit in one weekend we could
knockout all of Asia, including
North Viet Nam and get back to
them for all the shit they did to
us during the Viet Nam war. The
following weekend we can knock
out Iraq, Iran and Lybia. Shit we can
knock out hundreds of cities with
millions of people right fucking
here from our armchairs, just
like we play our fucking video
games.
NELSON
How long have you felt this way?
Judd is still pacing up and down the room shouting.
ALAN
Goddamn it Arnie is that the
best you can do!
Using a voice match of Nelson but adding sarcasm to it.
ALAN (Cont.)
"Oh well Judd, how long have
you felt this way'! Shit Arnie
show me a little more respect
than this! What are you going
to say next, "Well Judd, I'm
sorry you feel this way about
my super secret device that
can cinder every kid and parent
in the world in just one quick
second, frankly I think it's fun!
NELSON
Fuck you, Judd, if you don't like
the type of work you're doing
why don't you just go work in
one of those Casinos like your
wife does. Maybe you can get
every drunk there to grab your
ass the way they do hers, of
course after they give you or
her a nice big tip!
Judd loses all control and hits Dr. Nelson on the
jaw and when he goes down he kicks him in the
ribs. Dr. Nelson lays there motionless. He goes
for the elevator and shouts at the limp body of
Dr. Nelson. He hits the up button.
JUDD
I wont have to worry about my
wife anymore asshole, she left
me this morning and went back
to live with her mother! Now
I have no wife, kid or job, but
you know what, fuck it and fuck
you!
Judd runs back to the work bench and grabs the key
component of the system and places it in his jock
bag. He shouts again at the lifeless body of Dr.
Nelson as he gets in the elevator.
JUDD
Hey Dr, Fucking Nelson, if you're
still alive and can hear me, I
kicked your ass without using a
nuke, you know the old fashion way
my foot and my fists, good bye
you company piece of shit!
CUT TO:
EXT. NORTH LAS VEGAS MORNING
EXT. RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT
INT. JUDD ALAN'S BEDROOM
CINDY ALAN (V.O.)
JUDD, wake up,, wake up, are
you ok?
Judd is still yelling great obscenities at Dr. Nelson when Cindy
his wife shakes him, waking him up. When Judd discovers he's
had a bad dream he gives her a sheepish grin and shakes his
head. He wipes the heavy perspirationfrom his brow and gives
Cindy a big hug.
CINDY
(Smiling)
You want to share the dream with me?
JUDD
I had a nightmare that Arnold
and I had a big fight and I hurt
him badly.
(Smiling)
I became a fugitive and was
wanted by the FBI.
CINDY
You know I never really had you
pegged for a dreamer.
JEFF ALAN, JUDD'S little seven year old son enters
the room with a alarmed look on his face.
JEFF
MOMMY is everything ok?
I heard somebody shouting
and screaming.
Cindy smiles at Judd not wanting to give away his
stupid dream.
JUDD
I had a dream about Dr. Nelson.
We had a big fight over nothing.
Jeff finds a place to sit down and has a bewildered
look on his face.
JEFF
I don't understand.
CINDY
Daddy was having a nightmare.
Have you ever had a bad dream?
JEFF
Oh, is that what a nightmare
is, a bad dream?
CINDY
Yes honey it is.
JEFF
Daddy, I want to know all
about your nightmare.
CINDY
Honey daddy has to go to work
so he will tell you about it
tonight.
JEFF
Ok mom.
Jeff leaves the room and Cindy gets her face real
close to Judd.
CINDY
It's that Project your on right?
Really starting to get to you,
right big guy?
CUT TO:
EXT. MERCURY NEVADA MORNING
EXT. AREA 37 GLASS BUTTE
INT. DUGAS 4 DELTA SHAFT
A team of scientists and workman are seen in an
elevator shaft descending to a classified area
where a thermonuclear test is being set-up.
Dr. Arnold Nelson and his assistant Judd Alan
are fidgeting inside the elevator as they
descend one mile down.
NELSON
Well the set-up is still
the same.
ALAN
Arnold, I had a bad dream
about you last night.
Dr. Nelson looks at Judd Alan and shakes his head.
NELSON
This job is really starting to
get to you isn't it?
ALAN
I think I killed you in my dream.
NELSON
So what did I do, have an affair
with Cindy?
ALAN
No, it wasn't that simple. It
was a lot of very complex
situations.
The elevator stops on the bottom floor and the door
opens. The graveyard shift crew has been working
all night and they wave to them as they get out
of the elevator.
NELSON
Hi guys, have a good sleep?
JOE MEANS a very large man with coveralls puts down
his calipers and waves them at Dr. Nelson.
MEANS
Dr. Nelson, why don't you take
this and shove it where the sun
don't shine.
Dr. Nelson shakes his head smiling and pointing his
finger at means.
NELSON
You know Means if I didn't need
you, I'd fire you right on the
spot!
MEANS walks over to where Nelson is standing and
faces off with him like a coach and an Umpire.
Means shows his huge hand to Nelson and holds
it two inches from his face.
MEANS
You see this Shit for Brains
one slap and I could put you
through that stone wall!
Judd gets between them and tries to cool things off.
JUDD
Come on you guys, kill the
High School shit, damn what
the hells wrong with you two?
MEANS
(Grinding his teeth)
Every fucking morning it's the
same old shit from him "Did you
have a good sleep"? I'm tired
of it. Let him ride somebody
else for a change. The fucking
faggot, better back off or him
and I are going to dance!
Joe Means assistant Sam White, smiles and looks
at Judd.
WHITE
Judd, I didn't know Dr. Nelson
was Gay, shit we could have saved
a whole bunch of money. It gets
expensive visiting the old Whores
over at PAHRUMPP every Friday
night.
ALAN
Ok guys, that's enough, Joe you
and Sam go home. We have a lot
to do, is the log up to date?
SAM
Yes it's up to date. Let's go
Joe, I need a beer.
The night shift gets into the elevator and the door
closes.
ALAN
You know Arnie, one of these
days you're really going to
piss him off and he's going
to kick your ass!
NELSON
Fuck him!
CUT TO:
EXT. MERCURY NEVADA LATE AFTERNOON
EXT. AREA 37 GLASS BUTTE
INT. DUGAS 4 DELTA SHAFT
Dr. Nelson and Judd Alan are wiring up a assembly
for the triggering device of the DUGAS System.
NELSON
This part of the DEUTERIUM GAS
SYSTEM, or DUGAS if you will, is
the most important piece of the
system, if it don't go, none of it
goes!
ALAN
What principal or theory does
it operate on, again?
NELSON
Trillion /megawatt-class power,
with Continuous two-hundred
seconds maximum isotope burn
duration.
DAVID
Yeah right?
NELSON
The Isotope/DEUTERIUM FLUORIDE
with energy distributed among
twenty LASING lines between
24.2 and 35.3 MICRONS WAVELENGTH.
ALAN
Shit Arnie, we could fry all the
people in the world if we had
it mounted in a low orbit
satellite!
NELSON
Yes, I know! DUGAS operation is
similar to a nuclear rocket engine
in which plutonium, is burned
with NITROGEN TRIFLUORIDE, and Free,
excited RADIOACTIVE FLUORINE atoms
are one of the combustion products.
ALAN
And just downstream from the combusted,
DEUTERIUM and HELIUM are injected
into the exhaust. DEUTERIUM combines
with the excited FLUORINE to give
excited DEUTERIUM FLUORIDE molecules,
while the HELIUM stabilizes the reaction
and controls the temperature.
NELSON
And don't forget the laser's resonator
mirrors are wrapped around the excited
exhaust gas and radioactive/optical
energy is extracted. It destroys
targets by burning them up.
ALAN
Yeah, I knew that?
NELSON
If you knew it why did you ask?
ALAN
All the time I have been on this
project you never told me how they
were going to deploy this weapon
and now you just did.
Realizing he's divulged classified information,
Nelson does the best he can to cover up.
NELSON
The deployment is classified and if
you know what's good for you, you'll
keep your mouth shut!
CUT TO:
EXT. MERCURY NEVADA LATE AFTERNOON
EXT. AREA 37 GLASS BUTTE
INT. DUGAS 4 DISPERSION SHAFT
Dr. Nelson and Judd Alan are inspecting the inside of
a new supplemental dispersion shaft just recently
constructed.
NELSON
This part of the shaft looks like they
broke into an ancient dry underground
river bed.
ALAN
You also have a degree in Geology
don't you Arnie? Explain time scale?
NELSON
Geologic Time Scale are the numbers
on the time scale refer to time in
millions of years ago. At 65 million
years ago, earth experienced the
global mass extinction event that
defines the boundary between the
Cretaceous and Tertiary, also known
as K and T geological periods and,
a broader scale, the boundary between
the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras.
ALAN
They called that the deccan Traps
volcanism, one of the greatest
volcanic events in earth history,
erupted 65 million years ago, at
the time of the K-T extinction's.
NELSON
Flooding earth's surface with CO2,
and causing climatic warming known
as a greenhouse, and chemical changes
in the ocean, the DECCAN Traps
volcanism triggered extinction's on
the lands and in the oceans. The
DECCAN Traps volcanism is thus the
primary physical event producing
the boundary between the Mesozoic
and Cenozoic eras.
ALAN
Dinosaur Volcano-Greenhouse Extinction
Theory, right?
NELSON
Or, Asteroid Versus Volcano Dinosaur
Extinction theory.
ALAN
Right!
NELSON
Sixty-five million years ago, earth
experienced a global extinction event
so severe that it defines the boundary
between the Cretaceous and Tertiary
geological periods. Causing extinction's
on both the lands and in the oceans,
that event is referred to as the K-T
extinction's. The dinosaurs became
extinct during the K-T extinction's.
Cause of the DINOSAURIAN EXTINCTIONS
has long been the topic of scientific
debate. Today, the two dominant
theories focus upon extraterrestrial
asteroid/comet impact and terrestrial
volcanism.
Alan is digging away at something looking like a long
rock. Much to his surprise it's a large bone. He
points it out to Dr. Nelson.
ALAN
Talk about coincidence, what kind
of a bone is this?
Dr. Nelson shines his light on the object and also
starts digging around the object and stops and
looks at Judd.
NELSON
Well I can tell you one thing,
it's not a cow bone!
Dr. Nelson removes his communicator from his belt
and activates it.
NELSON (Cont.)
Top of the hill this is groundhog
over.
STAFF (V.O.)
Groundhog this is Top of the hill
over.
NELSON
Call Dr. Goldberg and notify him
we found Lizard bones and do we
stop digging or go ahead, over.
Standing by and will wait for
decision. Over and out!
STAFF (V.O.)
Will do groundhog, over and out.
ALAN
How bad was the impact 65 million
years ago.
NELSON
One theory is that a giant asteroid
struck earth 65 million years ago,
blasting dust into the atmosphere,
blocking out sun light plunging
the earth into the blackness and
cold of a sudden, impact winter.
Other scientists evoke cometary
impact and, whereas the impact
winter remains the primary killing
mechanism, have expanded the
theory to include other phenomena.
ALAN
In school I heard something about
the Volcano Greenhouse Theory.
NELSON
It couples the K-T extinction's
to a major perturbation of earth's
carbon cycle caused by the Deccan
Traps Mantle Plume Volcanism in
India, whose main eruptions began
65 million years ago. The Deccan
Traps released vast quantities of
the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide
onto earth's surface, trapping heat
from the sun, and causing
greenhouse warming that
triggered a gradual, long-duration,
biological disaster.
ALAN
Earth is a greenhouse planet, isn't
it Arnie?
NELSON
You got that right, the greenhouse
gases CO2 and H2O vapor in the
atmosphere trap heat from the sun,
causing earth's surface to be 30
degrees K warmer than it would be
without them, allowing earth to
support life. Without greenhouse
warming, advanced life could not
exist on earth.
ALAN
Just a big old greenhouse!
NELSON
Life becomes adapted to prevailing
greenhouse warmth. But, excessive
variations in the greenhouse effect
can be dangerous to life.
The loud bell on Dr. Nelsons radio goes off breaking
the total quite of being down over a mile.
NELSON
Dr. Nelson over,
DR. GOLDBERG (V.O.)
Dr, Nelson, don't touch a thing
I'll be right down with my
assistant. Over and out.
ALAN
More delays? So finish the story.
NELSON
Earth has a hot, partially molten,
metallic core. The core is
surrounded by the rocky mantle,
and the mantle by the crust. Heat
flow from earth's core to outer
space determines the direction
and rate of evolution of the
planet earth. The greenhouse
gases water vapor and carbon
dioxide were trapped in earth
during its accretion as a new
planet. Flow of heat from the
core to outer space generates
convection in the mantle that
continually transports greenhouse
gases to earth's surface via
volcano's, fumaroles, and hot
springs where they are taken up
by surface systems. Over long
geological intervals, steady
state exists between release
of greenhouse gases upon earth's
surface and their uptake by
surface systems.
ALAN
All this happened sixty-five
million years ago?
NELSON
At those times, relative
ecological stability prevails
on earth's surface. Mantle
plume volcanism, such as the
Deccan Traps, releases vast
amounts of CO2 onto earth's
surface faster than it can be
taken up by sinks, triggering
ecological instability. Build
up of CO2 in the atmosphere
enhances the greenhouse effect.
ALAN
Then Chaos, right!
NELSON
The state of earth's biosphere the
thin, discontinuous, film of life
on earth's surface at any time is
a function of the rate of solar
earth-space energy flow. The
greenhouse gas composition of
earth's atmosphere controls it.
Earth's surface systems, including
the biosphere, are open, non
equilibrium, self organizing
structures, characterized by
continuous oscillations, and
self-renewal via exchanges with
the environment. They are never
truly stable, and must continually
adjust to fluctuations from the
environment.
The both look towards the elevator when the hear
the doors opening. Dr. Goldberg a short, middle age
bearded man steps out first followed by Dr. Orion
a very attractive brunette in her late thirties.
DR. GOLDBERG
Ok boys where is it?
DR. ORION
Hi guys!
CUT TO:
EXT. MERCURY NEVADA NIGHT
EXT. AREA 37 GLASS BUTTE
INT. DUGAS 4 DISPERSION SHAFT
The Discovery team is inspecting a very large bone
found on the inside of a new dispersion shaft.
NELSON
Looks like a Dinosaur bone to me.
DR. ORION
No shit, hell if your that sure
why do you need us?
DR. GOLDBERG
ALLOSAURUS FRAGILIS The dominant
carnivore of the Jurassic Period,
it was to its era as TY-REX was
to the Cretaceous Period some 45
million years later. Looks like
a lower leg bone.
He carefully removes it from it's resting place and
he spots other bones in sandy pocket. Dr. Orion dusts
them off with her brush.
ORION
(In shock)
No there must be some mistake, this
just can't be right.
Dr Orion hands the large bone to Dr. Goldberg. He
looks at it and registers shock.
GOLDBERG
Ok, who "salted" this dig?
NELSON
I don't understand?
ORION
(Pointing to first bone)
ALLOSAURUS FRAGILIS The dominant
carnivore of the Jurassic Period.
(Pointing to second bone)
Triceratops Vertebrae and Brow Horns,
Triassic Period.
GOLDBERG
(Surprised)
Man I thought you were a Geologist.
ALAN
Wake up Dr. Nelson, there's fifty
to eighty million years between
them!
GOLDBERG
Dr. Nelson, you have found the
bloody Elephants burial ground!
NELSON
I thought they all became extinct
at the same time.
GOLDBERG
Whereas modest fluctuations may
be absorbed, major environmental
fluctuations above a critical
threshold force systems to seek
new stable configurations. Those
that cannot do so cease to exist.
ORION
Widespread inability to find
stable configurations are times
of mass extinction's.
GOLDBERG
Evidences of a K-T Transition
Greenhouse Eruptions of 90
percent of the Deccan Traps
lava pile began at K-T boundary
time 65 million years ago. A
carbon cycle perturbation and
greenhouse warming began at the
same time as the Deccan Traps
volcanism and persisted for
the duration of the Deccan
Traps volcanism.
ORION
The Greenhouse Dinosaur Killing
Mechanism Integrating earth's
geo-biological record with modern
reproductive physiology has
isolated a universal greenhouse
physiological vertebrate, mammals,
reptiles, birds killing mechanism.
GOLDBERG
The Permian-Triassic Mass Extinction
and the Siberian Traps Volcanism
The mass extinction that defines
the Permian (P) and Triassic (Tr)
boundary 250 million years ago
coincides with the Siberian Traps
volcanism in Siberia, one of the
greatest episodes of flood basalt
Volcanism in earth history. Aspects
of the K-T and P-Tr geo biological
records are strikingly similar
being developed separately. Any
periodicity in mass extinction's
could be a function of earth's
thermal evolution.
ORION
A major carbon cycle perturbation
is the most dangerous global scale
phenomenon that life of earth can
experience. Today, our civilization
is facing a possible modern greenhouse.
Via the greenhouse-physiological
killing mechanism, the direct effects
of greenhouse warming upon female
mammals and embryos can go in one
direction only. That is toward
increased embryo death, reduction
of mammalian populations and, in
a worst-case scenario, possible
collapse of mammalian populations
in the vulnerable middle latitudes.
NELSON
So what does this mean in English?
GOLDBERG
What it means is, were shutting
you down Dr. Nelson. We have right
here the total culmination of
ancient creature bones covering
millions of years. I will have
a judges signature on a restraining
order ceasing all digging until we
can removes all the antiquities!
Sorry Dr. Nelson but we have no
choice.
CUT TO:
TO BE CONTINUED
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