James Cameron First Draft February 26, 19a5FADE IN: SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE . SPACE. Silent and endless. The stars shine like the love of God... cold and remote. Against chem drifts a tiny chip of technology. CLOSER: It is the NARCISSUS, lifeboat of the ill-fated star-freighter Nostromo. Without interior or running lights it seems devoid of life. The PING of a RANGING RADAR grows louder, closer. & shadow engulfs the Narcissus. Searchlights flash on, playing over the tiny ship, as a MASSIVE DARK HULL descends toward it. INT. NARCISSUS Dark and dormant as a crypt. The searchlights stream in the dusty windows. Outside, massive metal forms can be seen descending around the shuttle. Like the tolling of a bell; a BASSO PROFUNDO CLANG reverberates through the hull. CLos# ON the airlock door. Light glares as a cutting torch bursts through the metal. Sparks shower into the room. A second torch cuts through. They move with machine precision, cutting a rectangular path, converging. The torches meet. Cut off. The door falls inward revealing a bizarre multi-amed figure. A ROBOT WELDER. FIGURES enter, hacklit and ominous. THREE MEN in bio=isolation suits, carrying lights and equipment. They approach a sarcophagus-like HYPERSLEE? CAPSULE, F.G. LEADER (filtered) Internal pressure positive. Assume nominal hull integrity. ypersleep capsules, style circa late twenties... His gloved hand wipes at an opaque layer of dust on th canopy. ANGLE INSIDE CAPSULE as light stabs in where the dust is wiped away, illuminating a WOMAN, her face in peaceful repose. WARRANT OFFICER RIPLEY, sole survivor of the Nostromo. Nestled next to her is JONES, the ship's wayward cat.LEADER (v.o./filtered) Lights are green. She's alive. Weil, there goes our salvage, guys. DISSOLVE To: IMT. HOSPITAL ROOM / GATEWAY STATION TIGHT ON RIPLEY lying in a hed, looking wan, as a female MED-TECH raises the backrest. She is surrounded by arcane white MEDICAL EQUIPMENT. The tech exudes practiced cheeriness. . TECE Why don't I open the viewport? Watch your eyes. Harsh light floods in as a motorized shield slides into the ceiling, revealing a breathtaking vista. Beyond the sprawi- ing complex of modular habitats, collectively called GATEWAY STATION, is the curve of EARTH as seen from high orbit. Blue and serene. - TECH And how are we today? RIPLEY (Gaeakly) Terrible. TECH Just tecrible? That's better than yesterday at least. RIPLEY How Long have I been on Gateway Station? TECH Just a cauple of days. Do you feel up to a visitor? . Ripley shrugs, not caring. The dock opens and a MAN enters, although Ripley sees only what he is carrying. A familiar large, orange TOMCAT. RIPLEY Jones! She grabs the cat like a life preserver. RIPLEY (cooing baby/eat talk) come here Jonesy you ugly old moose vou ucly f 7