ACT TWO   FADE IN   56  EXT. CENTRAL CITY - DAY   Apes of all kinds moving through the streets busily. There are occasional humans, who are obviously labourers or servants, carrying loads, or following the apes who are their masters. The Second Gorilla, on horseback, rides through as humans step out of the way of his horse.   57  EXT. ZAIUS’ HOUSE - DAY   The Second Gorilla rides up to Zaius’ house, dismounts, moves quickly towards the front door, knocks. After a beat, the door is opened by a human servant, ULLMAN. They exchange a few words, but we are too far away to hear what is being said. The Second Gorilla enters the house. Ullman closes the door.   58  INT. ZAIUS’ ENTRANCE HALL - DAY   The Second Gorilla standing and waiting. Ullman has the message in his hand.   ULLMAN  I’ll see if my master has an answer for you.   Ullman crosses to the closed door to Zaius’ study, knocks, opens the door.   59  INT. ZAIUS’ STUDY - DAY   As Ullman enters, carrying the message. It’s a rather austere room, desk, several chairs, a glass-fronted cabinet in which are some interesting appearing objects, some of which might be artifacts of various kinds. Present in the room are ZAIUS, an orangutan in his mid-fifties, and a chimpanzee in his mid-twenties, GALEN. Zaius is in the midst of a conversation when Ullman enters, and…at first…pays no attention to Ullman as he continues his line of thought.   ZAIUS  You are bright and amusing, Galen, but is that reason enough for me to accept you as my assistant?   GALEN  I have one other qualification, Councillor Zaius.  (Zaius glances at him questioningly)  My father’s an old friend of yours. And you owe him a favour.   Zaius stares at Galen for a moment, then bursts into appreciative laughter.   ZAIUS  Are you always so direct?   GALEN  Only with those I respect.   ZAIUS  Do you learn as easily as you flatter?   GALEN  I try, sir.   Zaius grunts, then glances at Ullman, acknowledging his presence for the first time.   ZAIUS  Yes?   ULLMAN  A message, sir, from the Prefect of Chalo.   ZAIUS  (puzzled)  …Chalo…?   GALEN  A small human settlement, about thirty hours south of here.  (Zaius glances at him quizzically; Galen smiles ingratiatingly)  The Prefect is a second cousin on my mother’s side.   ZAIUS  I see.   Glancing at Galen quizzically, Zaius holds out his hand for the message. Ullman hands it to him, exits.   ZAIUS  (as he opens the message)  Do you have friends everywhere?   GALEN  I try, sir.   ZAIUS  (smiling; glancing at message)  You’re not only amusing. You’re…   He breaks off, the smile fading from his face as he reads the message.   GALEN  (watching him)  Trouble, Zaius?   Zaius silently hands him the message, turns and stares at the contents of the glass-fronted cabinet, as Galen reads the message.   ZAIUS  (staring at cabinet)  Did you ever have a recurring nightmare? No matter how swiftly you try to escape destruction, it always reappears directly in front of you?   GALEN  (puzzled)  I don’t understand. This message is fantasy. Humans are servants, laborers. Not technicians.   ZAIUS  (bursting out angrily)  You’re a fool, Galen!   Galen stares at him, startled at the outburst. Zaius crosses to him, snatches the message from his hand.   ZAIUS  Come with me. You have a great deal to learn.   Zaius strides out the room. Galen stares after him for a beat, then follows.   60  INT. BOMB SHELTER - DAY   Farrow is watching, the Astronaut suits on the floor near him. Virdon and Kovak are just finishing changing into clothes similar to those worn by the human villagers.   KOVAK  Is it the same everywhere?   FARROW  (puzzled)  The same?   KOVAK  The apes. Are the apes in control all over the planet?   FARROW  I don’t understand.   VIRDON  What he wants to know is who runs the government.   FARROW  The prefect.   VIRDON  Not just in the village. The main government.   FARROW  Oh. You mean the High Council. But they’re very important. -- A messenger was sent to the High Council about you. I heard about it.   KOVAK  Are there any humans on the High Council?   FARROW  (looking at him like he’s an idiot)  How could humans be on the High Council? Humans are nothing. They’ve always been nothing.  (with a sly grin)  Except in story books.   KOVAK  Always?   FARROW  What other way is there? The apes are so much smarter than we are.   KOVAK  Are they? Could the apes build a ship that flies through the air?   FARROW  Oh, you’re different. You’re from another…another…  (can’t find the word)   VIRDON  Planet.   FARROW  (nods)  Another planet. You’re different. That’s why they’re looking for you.   VIRDON  What will they do if they find us?   FARROW  (shrugs)  Kill you. They kill humans all the time.   KOVAK  (flatly, to Virdon)  We sure landed on a great little world.   FARROW  They’d kill me, if they knew I had the story book.   VIRDON  What story book?   FARROW  You have to promise not to tell anyone. Especially them.   KOVAK  Sure.   FARROW  You have to promise not to go out until it’s safe. If they catch you, you’ll tell. They can make you say anything they want you to say.   KOVAK  We had a few governments like that back home, too.   FARROW  Then why go back?   VIRDON  Because it’s home.   Farrow glances from one to the other, then turns to the wall, starts to pull away some loose bricks, revealing a hiding place.   FARROW  I found it in this cave. I can’t read what it says, but I like to look at the pictures.  (reaches in, and pulls out a tattered book)  Even if they are only stories.  (Kovak reaches for it)  Careful. It’s very old.   KOVAK  (taking the book)  Don’t worry. I’ll be…  (breaks off as he looks at a picture)  My God! Alan, my God!   Virdon stares at him. Speechless now, Kovak holds out the book. Virdon takes it, looks at the picture, stares at Kovak. Then he stares once again, stunned, at the book.   61  INSERT - BOOK   We are CLOSE on what is undeniably a photograph of the New York skyline. We MOVE IN CLOSER AND CLOSER to the legend beneath the picture, and HOLD. It reads: NEW YORK CITY.   62  KOVAK AND VIRDON   Virdon staring at the book, Kovak looking helplessly at Virdon.   KOVAK  We can’t go home, Alan.  (Virdon glances at him)  We’re on Earth. We’re there already.   63  INT COUNCIL ROOM - GALEN - DAY   Galen is standing quietly in the Council Room, watching with fascination as a discussion swirls around him.   ZAIUS’ VOICE  If the crisis were not a real one, I would not have called this special meeting of the High Council.   ANGLE WIDENS to reveal that Galen is standing near Zaius’ chair at the Council Table. Other council members include two additional orangutans, one chimpanzee, and a Gorilla named URSUS, Chief of Security.   ZAIUS  (cont’d)  You have all read the message from the Prefect of Chalo. A ship landed from the air, controlled by three humans. One of them is dead, and the other two are still at large.   PROTO (Orangutan)  I don’t believe any of it. How could humans build or run such a machine? Why, we can’t even do it.   GRUNDIG (Chimpanzee)   He’s right, Zaius. Humans don’t have the intelligence. They like to sing and dance and work in the fields.   (chuckles)   When they’re not too lazy, that is.   Proto laughs with him.   64  GALEN   He is chuckling.   65  URSUS   Reacting angrily.   URSUS  You will not be laughing when all humans rise up and rebel against us!   66  ANOTHER ANGLE   They all react, startled.   ZAIUS  (warningly)  Ursus, don’t…   URSUS  (overriding)  I’m Chief of Security, I have responsibilities, Zaius! Even to fools like these!  (to the others)  It’s an infection! And it’s happened before! And luckily, we were able to wipe it out!  (to Zaius, a challenge)  As we will wipe out this infection.   ZAIUS  (evenly, a challenge met)  Not before we question its source.  (to the others)  More than ten years ago, another such ship landed. Humans from Earth…but from another time period, long ago. They called themselves…what was the word, Ursus?   URSUS  (like an epithet)  As-tro-nauts.   ZAIUS  (repeating the unfamiliar word)  As-tro-nauts.   GALEN  (trying it out)  As-tro-nauts.   Zaius glances at Galen with annoyance. Galen smiles apologetically. Zaius turns back to the others.   ZAIUS  They had greater knowledge and capabilities than our humans.  (a beat for emphasis)  And they had feelings of independence and freedom.   PROTO  (startled)  Humans??! That’s unlawful!   ZAIUS  Exactly. And they would have encouraged our humans to be equally unlawful.   URSUS  But the danger was eliminated. They were killed.   ZAIUS  (directly to Ursus; an accusation)  Before they could be questioned.   URSUS  My job is protection, not the gathering of useless knowledge!   ZAIUS  No knowledge is useless.  (to the others)  There is much to be learned from such humans as these. We have a responsibility to gather this information.  (to Ursus)  Then they can be killed.   URSUS  By then it may be too late.   ZAIUS  I’m certain if the great Ursus were to leave immediately for the village of Chalo, he could capture these humans…before it is too late.   Ursus glares at him. Zaius smiles blandly.   67  INT. ZAIUS’ STUDY - DAY   Zaius and Galen. Galen is distressed.   GALEN  Me, sir?   ZAIUS  You, Galen. I want you to go along with Ursus as my representative.   (faint smile)   You might even have a chance to visit your second cousin on your mother’s side.   GALEN  To tell you the truth, sir, I never really liked him much.   ZAIUS  (smile gone; all business now)  You will go with Ursus, and you will see that nothing “unexpected” happens to these As-tro-nauts. I want them alive.   GALEN  (not happy about it)  Yes, sir.   ZAIUS  (with some asperity)  Galen, if you’d rather not be my assistant, then…   GALEN  (interrupting)  It’s not that, sir. I never dreamed I’d be a nursemaid for…  (with distaste)  …humans…   ZAIUS  (with unexpected intensity)  Monsters, Galen!   He controls himself with difficulty, turns and stares into the contents of the glass-fronted cabinet.   ZAIUS  (low, intense)  Not merely humans. Monsters. Destroyers of the world.   68  GALEN   Staring at Zaius, puzzled by his intensity.   69  EXT. ROAD - DAY   Ursus’ party en route. Ursus, Galen beside him, five additional GORILLAS, all on horseback, riding along.   70  CLOSER - URSUS AND GALEN   Ursus glances at Galen with ill-concealed dislike. Galen forces an amicable smile. Ursus doesn’t respond, turns and stares straight ahead. Galen watches him worriedly.   71  FULL SHOT   As the party moves along.   72  EXT. BOMB SHELTER - NIGHT   It is a quiet moonlit night. Somewhere, an owl hoots.   73  INT. BOMB SHELTER - ANGLE ON FARROW - NIGHT   Farrow is fast asleep on the floor, his book clutched in his arms. PAN across to Kovak, on the floor, eyes closed. Nearby is Virdon, on the floor, eyes open, staring up at the ceiling.   VIRDON  Stan…you awake?   KOVAK  Yeah.   VIRDON  We must’ve gone through a time warp.   KOVAK  Yeah…   VIRDON  We could be five hundred years in the future. Maybe more.  (Kovak grunts)  Everyone’s dead. My wife…my son…everyone.   Kovak opens his eyes, glances at him.   KOVAK  Alan, there’s nothing you can do about it. He said he’d take us to the ship in the morning. If the chronometer’s still working, we’ll know what year it is.   VIRDON  What happened to humanity?   KOVAK  Go to sleep, Alan.   Kovak turns back, closes his eyes again. Virdon lies quietly in silent torment. MOVE IN FOR TIGHT CLOSE shot of Virdon. We see there are tears in his eyes.   VIRDON  (low, anguished)  What did we do to ourselves?   HOLD on him for a beat.   MATCH DISSOLVE TO:   74  EXT. CAMPFIRE SITE - CLOSE SHOT - GALEN - NIGHT   Galen is sitting on the ground, his back against a tree, his features lit by the embers of a dying campfire, lost in thought. HOLD for a beat.   URSUS’ VOICE  Stop worrying.   Galen glances up over his shoulder.   75  ANOTHER ANGLE   Ursus is standing behind him, a faint smile on his lips.   URSUS  They’ll be dead soon enough.   Galen turns to stare at the embers again.   GALEN  That’s what troubles me. I thought humans had always been unimportant animals.   URSUS  And they are.   GALEN  (looking at him)  Then why are we so afraid of them?   URSUS  (stiffening)  Get some sleep. I want to get an early start in the morning.   He turns abruptly and strides off, leaving Galen alone with his thoughts.   76  EXT. BOMB SHELTER - DAY   Kovak, Virdon, and Farrow emerge from the bomb shelter, Farrow carrying his book.   FARROW  This way.   He starts off. They follow.   77  EXT. WOODED AREA - DAY   As Farrow leads Virdon and Kovak through the woods.   FARROW  It’s not far.   VIRDON  Why the book?   FARROW  You don’t expect me to leave it behind, do you?   KOVAK  Wait a minute. Are you planning to go with us?   FARROW  (simply)  We’re friends, aren’t we? -- Come.   He starts off again. Virdon and Kovak glance at each other, shrug, follow.   78  EXT. AREA NEAR SPACE SHIP - DAY   The edge of the wooded area near the sandpit where the spaceship fell. Farrow moves through cautiously to the edge of the wooded area, motioning for Virdon and Kovak to be quiet and careful. They join him at the edge, look out towards the spaceship.   79  SPACE SHIP - POV   An armed GORILLA on guard near the open door of the ship.   80  VIRDON, KOVAK, FARROW   Watching. Farrow hands Kovak the book.   FARROW  Hold this. I’ll get rid of him.   And before they can protest, he rises, and rushes out towards the Gorilla.   81  GORILLA AND FARROW - POV   As the Gorilla raises his rifle, points it at Farrow.   GORILLA  Halt!   FARROW  The two humans! I just saw them! Running off that way!  (pointing off to one side)  Come on! Quick! I’ll show you!   Farrow starts to rush off to one side. The Gorilla stands there, not knowing what to do.   FARROW  Come on! The two humans! You can catch them!   Farrow charges off. The Gorilla hesitates, then follows, both disappearing into the woods off to one side.   82  VIRDON AND KOVAK   As soon as the Gorilla and Farrow are out of sight, Virdon and Kovak rise and race across towards the Spaceship, charge up the ramp.   83  INT. SPACE SHIP - DAY   As Virdon and Kovak enter, slow down, look around in dismay at a scene of utter destruction. Everything that could be ripped from the walls is gone. What hasn’t been removed has been shattered and tossed in a jumble on the floor.   VIRDON  Let’s hope they left us a compass.   KOVAK  (suddenly remembering)  The chronometer!   He hurries to the Chronometer, clears some debris from it as Virdon looks through the scattered stuff on the floor, trying to find something useful.   KOVAK  The year three thousand eighty five. More than a thousand years in the future.   VIRDON  (flatly)  Marvellous.   KOVAK  (examining Chronometer)  Maybe further. That’s when it stopped working.   VIRDON  We’ll find a way to…   He breaks off as he sees something in the debris on the floor, bends down and picks up a photograph, looks at it longingly.   84  INSERT - PHOTOGRAPH   It is a photo of Virdon, his wife, daughter and son. (Later to be used in “THE LEGACY”).   85  BACK TO SCENE   Virdon looks sadly at the photo as Kovak, still holding Farrow’s book looks through the debris for a compass.   VIRDON  (with determination)  We’ll find a way home. We have to.   He puts the photo into his pocket, as Kovak finds a small compass on the floor.   KOVAK  Found one! A compass!   VIRDON  We’d better get out of here. That ape’ll be back.   He starts for the door. Kovak follows.   86  EXT. SPACE SHIP - ANGLE TOWARDS DOOR - DAY   As Virdon and Kovak emerge from the spaceship, stop short, startled at what they see.   87  WHAT THEY SEE   A line of rifles pointed in their direction, held in the hands of Ursus’ Gorillas. Ursus and Galen, still on horseback, watching.   88  VIRDON AND KOVAK   Glance at each other, know they are trapped.   89  GALEN   Studying them with interest.   FADE OUT   END OF ACT TWO