2010: The Year We Make Contact

"[Referring to Europa] Oh, there's something down there, all right. We all saw it; we read the data; we know it's there. But suppose, just suppose that it had something to do with the Monolith? Now, before you get that look on all of your faces, just listen to me for a minute. We've been sending probes out here since the 1970s. And so have you guys. But none of us have ever encountered even the slightest signs of chlorophyll on any of Jupiter's moons, never. And we certainly were close enough, weren't we? 9 years ago, the Monolith was detected here. Discovery was sent up and everything went wacko. You catching my drift? So here we are, 9 years later, trying to figure out what the hell happened and what the Monolith was all about. And guess what we discover along the way? The possibility of life of some kind where it had never existed before. I don't think it was electrostatic anything. I think something wants us to stay away from Europa."

"Dear Caroline: I miss you terribly. The time has come to put ourselves in orbit around Io, which is where the Discovery is. And we don't have enough fuel to slow ourselves down, so we are about to use a technique called aerobraking. The theory is that we will enter the outer layer of Jupiter's atmosphere, using what is called a ballute for a shield. The atmosphere will slow us down, and Jupiter's gravity will grab hold of us and slingshot us around behind the dark side. If all goes well, we'll wind up in a gentle orbit around Io. It's dynamite on paper. Of course, the people who came up with the numbers on the paper aren't here. Since no one has ever done this before, everyone up here is as scared as I am. The difference is they're busy. I have nothing to do but wait for it to happen. And I hope this is all worth it."

"Dear Caroline: The first part of this journey is coming to an end. We are about to rendezvous with the Discovery. The race will be on now. We're going to send a boarding party over to climb inside this 800-foot long shipwreck, which is floating over Io, to see if she can be rescued before her orbit gives out. There are 9 years of secrets inside, including a sleeping computer who knows the answers. My past is also inside, and I want those answers."

"Floyd to Milson: My news is a little better than yours. Discovery has been partially revived. I don't know how much damage has been done, or if we'll be able to bring it back home. Most of that is up to HAL. The drive system could be operated manually, so we were able to pull Discovery away from its decaying orbit around Io. I must say, the farther away I get from Io, the happier I am. It's a violent moon, even for Jupiter. Europa, for all its cold gray, is a lot more comforting. I tell you, Victor, there's some kind of new life down there, trying to get through all that ice. We are 10,000 kilometers away from the Monolith. I can't see it, except I know it's there. I also think it knows we're here. It's time to unleash Chandra. We'll see if our computer brain surgeon and psychiatrist can put HAL back together again. To tell you the truth, I don't know if HAL is homicidal, suicidal, neurotic, psychotic, or just plain broken."

"Dear Caroline: This is finally it. After 9 years and hundreds of millions of miles, we are about to come face to face with the Monolith. The last human being who did that disappeared and was never seen or heard from again. Something truly amazing is going on out here, and I really believe this black giant is controlling it all. We have so much to ask. I have a feeling that the answers are bigger than the questions."

"My dear Christopher: This is the last time I'll be able to speak to you for a long while. I'm trying to put into words what has happened. Maybe that's for historians to do sometime later. They will record that the next day, the President of the United States looked out of the White House window and the Premier of the Soviet Union looked out of the Kremlin window, and saw the new distant sun in the sky. They read the message, and perhaps they learned something because they finally recalled their ships and their planes. I am going to sleep now. I will dream of you and your mother. I will sleep knowing that you are both safe, that the fear is over. We have seen the process of life take place. Maybe this is the way it happened on Earth millions of years ago. Maybe it's something completely different. I still don't know really what the Monolith is. I think it's many things. An embassy for an intelligence beyond ours. A shape of some kind for something that has no shape. Your children will be born in a world of two suns. They will never know a sky without them. You can tell them that you remember when there was a pitch black sky with no bright star, and people feared the night. You can tell them when we were alone, when we couldn't point to the light and say to ourselves, "There is life out there." Someday, the children of the new sun will meet the children of the old. I think they will be our friends. You can tell your children of the day when everyone looked up and realized that we were only tenants of this world. We have been given a new lease and a warning from the landlord."

"Whether we are based on carbon or silicon makes no fundamental difference. We should each be treated with appropriate respect."

"HAL was told to lie - by people who find it easy to lie. HAL doesn't know how."

"This is Milson, switching over to KE2 in 5 seconds. Mark. I wish I could bring you better news. It's getting worse. The President addressed a joint session of Congress yesterday. He said he wasn't gonna back down on the blockade. I don't know which was scarier, the speech or the Congress cheering it. He evoked Lincoln. Whenever a president is gonna get us into serious trouble, they always use Lincoln. I honestly don't know if we're gonna be at war or not — it's terrifying to hope that the Russians are less crazy than we are, when they are clearly crazy. Right now, I think you're in a safer place than we are. I just hope that there is an Earth to return to. I heard about the spoiled food in the Discoverys galley. I'm glad that's all it was. I'm also glad that you got the ship under control. Curnow is a capable man. No one knows those systems better than he does. It's a good sign that there was some reserve power. Maybe the rest of the circuitry will work. We have nothing new here on the Monolith. Our data confirms yours. It's not moving."

"This is the most difficult announcement. As you know, things have not been going well back home. Well, it's gotten worse-a lot worse. Yesterday, a Soviet destroyer challenged the blockade. Several warning shots were fired across her bow; she did not respond. A second volley was fired; there still was no response. None. The nuclear destroyer USS Cunningham launched two of her falcon missiles. Both struck the Soviet vessel amidship. She broke in two and sunk. 800 of her crew were lost. This morning, an American surveillance satellite was struck by a Soviet laser, fired from the Sergei Kirov space station. The American satellite was destroyed. The United States has broken off diplomatic relations with Russia. All ambassadors have been recalled. The Soviet ambassador has been expelled along with the entire staff. All American air defense and satellite defense forces are on full alert. Premier Ulanov made a televised address and said that technically, a state of war exists between our two countries. All American personnel are ordered to leave Soviet territory immediately or they will be placed under arrest. All Russian personnel are similarly ordered to evacuate American territory. As a result, by direct Presidential order, the three of you must leave the Leonov. No Russian citizen is allowed to remain on or is allowed to enter the Discovery. This order is effective immediately. The launch window for reentry is 28 days. The Discovery has enough fuel for low consumption trajectory. HAL appears to be reactivated and is functioning well enough to operate the onboard systems. The Leonov has enough fuel for low consumption trajectory that will arrive 12 months earlier. The launch windows are critical for both the spacecraft. Only communications of emergency distress nature are allowed between the Leonov and Discovery. I know you people are caught in the middle of this — in a sense, we all are. I wish there was something I could do to help. The only thing left for us is to pray...pray for the safety of our families, for our countries, for our planet. May God forgive us and protect us."

"Milson to Floyd: It's been 12 hours since my request for information. I need a reply. All hell is breaking loose down here; I have enough problems without you people pulling some kind of a stunt. I only hope that there's a world left for you to return to. Report to ground as to what is going on and make that report immediately! And while you're at it, could you please check out a black spot on Jupiter that has been detected by satellite telescope? It is on the dark side, and should be coming around your way in about 4 hours. End transmission, Milson, 2780."

"In the very near future a small group of Americans and Russians set out on the greatest adventure of them all... To see if there is life beyond the stars."

"The year we make contact."

"We are not alone."

"Something wonderful is about to happen."

"Is there life beyond the stars?"

"The odyssey continues 26 years ahead of its time."

"Roy Scheider - Dr. Heywood Floyd"

"John Lithgow - Dr. Walter Curnow"

"Helen Mirren - Tanya Kirbuk"

"Bob Balaban - Dr. R. Chandra"

"Keir Dullea - Dave Bowman"

"Douglas Rain - the voice of HAL 9000"

"Madolyn Smith - Caroline Floyd"

"Saveliy Kramarov - Dr. Vladimir Rudenko"

"Taliesin Jaffe - Christopher Floyd"

"James McEachin - Victor Milson"

"Mary Jo Deschanel - Betty Fernandez, Bowman's widow"

"Elya Baskin - Maxim Brajlovsky"

"Dana Elcar - Dimitri Moiseyevich"

"Oleg Rudnik as Dr. Vasili Orlov"

"Natasha Shneider - Irina Yakunina"