INT. PALACE OF THE ELDERS/DINING HALL – DAY
Daniel, Kawalsky, O’Neal, and Brown have all been invited to dinner. At the long rectangular table sit the four Terrans, Kasuf, the other elders of Nagada, and the immediate family members of the elders; as her presence at the table would imply, the shy girl who has caught Daniel’s fancy is one such relative.
As Brown jams with the troupe of musicians present – improvising some blues tunes on a zither-like instrument – Daniel’s eyes wander hungrily over all the various platters and bowls of unfamiliar yet mouth-watering food which take up space along the table of polished dark green wood.
KAWALSKY: (wary) I don’t think we should eat anything.
DANIEL: I don’t know (forks three of what appear to be lemon-yellow crepes onto his plate) – they might consider that an insult.
At that very moment, a male server bearing a large gold cloche enters the chamber. Sidling up to the table, he places the cloche down in the centre. Daniel virtually begins to drool in anticipation of what lies beneath the cover.
As Brown comes to the table, the server lifts the cover away, revealing a roasted, gray, turkey-sized lizard.
DANIEL: (dumbfounded) …
BROWN: (disgusted) They can’t seriously expect us to eat this, can they?
Kasuf beckons for them to give the reptile flesh a taste.
KAWALSKY: (grins) Well, we don’t want to offend them, do we, Daniel?
BROWN: It could be poisonous. None of us should eat it.
O’NEAL: He’s right, Kawalsky; we can’t afford to lose Jackson. Taste it.
Fighting the urge to commit insubordination, Kawalsky picks up a knife and fork and – with the elders’ nods of approval – slices off a drumstick and sets it down on his plate. Picking up the drumstick, he takes one, small, tentative bite.
DANIEL: Well?
KAWALSKY: (smiles) Tastes like chicken.
DANIEL: Does it seem safe?
KAWALSKY: How should I know? (takes another, larger bite) Ask ‘em if they’ve got any salt.
With Kasuf waiting to know what his guests think of the main course they’ve prepared for them, Daniel prepares to set his fears to rest.
DANIEL: Tastes good, uh, you know, it’s … bonniwae!
KASUF: (mortified) Bonniwae!?
Horror morphing into indignation, Kasuf calls out the chefs, rebuking them harshly with grand, sweeping gestures of his hands.
DANIEL: (waves his hands) No! Not bonniwae! Tastes like chicken. Chic-ken.
To help convey his message, Daniel stands up. Tucking in his arms, he begins to flap them.
DANIEL: Bock! Bock, bock, bock!
O’NEIL: Quit while you’re ahead, Jackson.
Heedless of the colonel’s suggestion, Daniel continues to flap his arms and cluck until he finally gets the idea across.
DANIEL: (takes a piece of lizard meat and eats it) Tastes like chicken – good!
Kasuf grins with satisfaction.
INT. PYRAMID/ENTRANCE HALL – SUNSET
Feretti, Freeman, Reilly, and Porro have fled the storm into the sheltering confines of the entrance hall, where they lounge about waiting out the storm.
Feretti sits upon the sandy floor, trying to get through to the men in Nagada through his hand-held radio.
FREEMAN: You’re wasting the batteries. We’re not gonna get any kinda signal in this storm. We’re gonna have to wait ‘til it passes.
FERETTI: (sets down radio) Yeah, right – if it passes.
Standing up, Feretti makes a step towards the door, then decides to turn back and return to his companions.
FERETTI: Y’know, I was stationed in the Middle East for two years, and I never saw anything like this. Not even close.
FREEMAN: (rolls eyes) Yeah, yeah ….
REILLY: I don’t get it. Why don’t we just try and turn the stargate on ourselves. I mean, how hard can it be?
FERETTI: (sardonic) Hey, there’s an idea! (beat) We could turn the wheel in the wrong order and materialize 20,000 leagues under an alien sea. Have you got any freakin’ idea how many millions upon millions of possible combinations there are on that thing?!
FREEMAN: (wry) No, how many?
FERETTI: (points at Freeman) Shut up, okay?
Getting nothing but laughter at his expense from his three companions, Feretti waves them off and goes to the entrance. Propping his back up against the wall, he listens to the howl of the wind. As he stands there, listening intently, he picks up a new sound: a low HUM, decidedly unnatural and unrelated to the howling wind.
EXT. PYRAMID – SUNSET
As the sandstorm stirs sand through the air, cutting off all natural sunlight, casting the towering pyramid into premature twilight, unnatural silver light from some unseen source begins to radiate upon the apex of the structure.
INT. PYRAMID/ENTRANCE HALL – SUNSET
The unnatural hum grows louder. As it does so, the very pyramid itself begins to tremble; sand and dust trapped in the crevices of the entrance hall rains down upon the floor; all the equipment set upon the floor begin rattling from where they rest. Alarmed, the four non-coms bolt to their feet.
PORRO: What the hell is going on?!
EXT. PYRAMID – SUNSET
We finally see just what it is casting that uncanny hum and silver light; it is the Lady of Slaughter, an immense starship the exact shape of the stone pyramid, descending from the heavens.
INT. PYRAMID/ENTRANCE HALL – SUNSET
The hum has intensified into an overbearing mechanical drone. Feretti, Reilly, Freeman, and Porro collect their weapons, Feretti cocking his M9 pistol while the others feed fresh magazines into their P90s.
EXT. PYRAMID – SUNSET
Being hollow on the underside, the Lady of Slaughter is able to slip down over the stone pyramid like one gigantic glove. As it closes over the pyramid, built-up energy is discharged from the ship’s engines, raining several bolts of artificial lightning down upon the ancient monument.
INT. PYRAMID/ENTRANCE HALL – SUNSET
Once the pyramid ship has touched down, a heavy vibration rattles the pyramid to its foundations, knocking the Americans off their feet. They quickly get back up, nervous and edgy, trigger fingers itching.
EXT. LADY OF SLAUGHTER – SUNSET
The Lady’s docking clamps slide into place. The ship then lights up as the seemingly solid faces of the pyramidal craft split open, revealing themselves to consist of separate panels which then slide apart, exposing glowing machinery underneath.
INT. PYRAMID/ENTRANCE HALL – SUNSET
FERETTI: Alright – spread out!
The four non-coms spread out through the confines of the entrance hall, taking positions at various pillars, on the lookout for enemy forces.
HOSTILE ENTITY – P.O.V
Peering through the eyes of a HOSTILE ENTITY, we leave the pitch black antechamber, emerging into the entrance hall.
Moving with silent grace, this being goes on the offensive. Moving sight unseen, it sneaks up on Reilly, then Porro, then Freeman; eschewing the sidearm it carries on its person, it knocks each of the trained men down with heavy blows from its armoured hand; they all go down before they have a chance to catch a glimpse of this assailant, let alone open fire on it.
CUT TO
Feretti, now left to face this enigmatic beast alone.
As a black shape comes out of the gloom for him, Feretti is fast to bring his sidearm to bear, emptying the whole clip into the thing. The bullets hit with pinpoint accuracy but carom right off, ricocheting away without leaving the least impact on their target. An armoured gauntlet emerges in the sparse light and Feretti goes down, knocked flat on his back, nose red and wet with fresh blood.
Swooning but still conscious, Feretti gazes up at what sent him sprawling. Eyes bulging, mouth dropping agape, he freezes, petrified with absolute terror.
CUT TO
A full body shot of SIHATHOR. A behemoth of living, iridescent green-black crystalline stone, he looks down upon his prey, his stance reeking of contempt for this weak human left at his mercy before him.
Now out of the shadows, we can finally see what passes for his head; it is exoskeletal, in the shape of a falcon’s, equipped with a pair of baleful eyes that glow an intense turquoise.