The Means to Travel: A U.S. History Screenplay Assignment (Scene's 15-16)

SCENE 15

As the white flash fades, the trio is set down onto the ground gently this time. They are given free range of their movement, except, if they try to pass a certain point, they are stopped by an invisible wall.

The room they are in is dark besides the flickering of fluorescent lights that swing from the ceiling. There are no windows. Only a few people are walking around, but they are rushing. They are busy doing . . . something.

The blue screen flashes again, this time, small and off to the side of each of them, so they can still observe what's happening around them.

The Advisory Committee on Uranium concluded that an atomic bomb could be designed, built, and used in time to influence the outcome of the war. To accomplish this task, the Army Corps of Engineers established the Manhattan Engineer District, headed by Brigadier General Leslie Groves, in Manhattan, New York.

There were three main operating locations. Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Hanford, Washington. And Los Alamos, New Mexico. You are currently located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

This was a top secret WWII program in which the United States rushed to develop and deploy the world's first atomic weapons before Nazi Germany.

This happened in June 18th of 1942 to August 25 of 1947, however, core development happened between 1942 to 1945.

This was known as The Manhattan Project.

The trio regroups, their eyes dancing between the people working and the tools being used.

DAKOTA:

This feels so . . . Wrong.

CARMON:

(Scoffing)

This feels familiar.

KHAILEN sighs, concern visible in her eyes.

KHAILEN:

They're no better than us . . . We're just like them.

CARMON:

Well, yeah, I think we all can see that.

(She crosses her arms)

We quite literally did the same thing, except, our plan backfired and look what happened.

KHAILEN:

Your sarcasm is unnecessary, Lieutenant. Watch your tone.

DAKOTA:

Let's stop arguing. We did this last time and it got us nowhere. Let's just all agree that humans are the same, regardless of the world we live in.

CARMON & KHAILEN:

(At the same time)

Fine.

The trio are given a few more minutes to look around before the white flash transports them again.

The screen flickers, the sound of heels clicking on waxed floors echoing. They sound hurried, rushed, and panicked.

The scene cuts, flashing to a door bursting open. HOPE looks up from where she was seated at her desk, finding RAYLENE standing there.

She's panting, out of breath.

RAYLENE:

Hope! I got something!

HOPE:

(Standing up, her hands bracing on the desk)

Show me.

RAYLENE rushes over to set a laptop down on the desk. She spins it to face HOPE.

The camera spins, revealing what is on the screen. Two Earths are spinning slowly. One is distorted, the continents not shaped right and it holds a slight haze of toxic green around its atmosphere. That's their world.

The other has connections on the continents, Europe is more well formed, America is set across the ocean. Its water is blue, not a murky color like the other one. That's the Earth the trio had been sent to.

In the center, there are swirls of white, connecting the Delta Unit's world to the others. Most of the lines lead to one country. America. HOPE looks up at RAYLENE.

HOPE:

So, there's an alternate planet? That's what you're telling me?

RAYLENE:

Yes. And there is something about America that is connecting us to them.

HOPE:

Find it. Figure it out. It could lead us to bringing them back.

RAYLENE nods, taking her laptop and turning. The camera flickers to HOPE, showing her as she rubs her temple and sits back down in her chair. She looks exhausted, but everything has only just begun.

**End SCENE 15**

SCENE 16

The white flash shifts, revealing the trio standing in a room of black. CARMON sighs, thankful for a moment to finally rest. There is a screen in front of them, but not just any screen. It's not the same blue screen they had grown familiar with. This screen is purple.

On a Monday, June 7, 1943 to June 8th or 9th, for the hundreds of predominantly Mexican American victims of what became known as the Zoot Suit Riots, a jacket and a pair of pants marked them as criminals for white service members and civilians searching for someone to blame for the city’s inability to keep up with its growing population.

The screen before them flickers with images, showing what was described.

Before it became a target for racial violence, the zoot suit was a new fashion that appealed to Black men in Harlem and was made popular by performers like Cab Calloway and Lionel Hampton.

On May 31 near Chinatown in downtown Los Angeles a fight broke out between 12 sailors and a group of Mexican American teenagers wearing zoot suits. No one knows exactly what prompted the fight, but Seaman Second Class Joe Dacy Coleman emerged with a broken jaw. When men back at the Naval Reserve Armory heard of Coleman’s injury, 50 sailors formed a vigilante group on June 3 and moved into downtown Los Angeles with concealed weapons in search of zoot suiters.

The screen flashes again. KHAILEN gasps in shock.

LAPD officers stood by as the assailants claimed they were acting in self-defense, instead arresting bloodied and bruised Mexican American men for “disturbing the peace.”

The screen clicks, showing movement after movement of the actions. Solemn music can be heard over the shouting. The trio can do nothing but stand there and watch.

In a white flash, the screen clears . . . But . . .

They don't transfer. They don't go with it. Only the screen flashes this time. They stay in the room of black.

The Tuskegee Airmen Air Force program was based at Tuskegee Army Air Field (TAAF) in Alabama. The first class of aviation cadets began training in July 1941 and completed their courses by March 1942. These pilots were trained to fly Tuskegee Airmen planes, including single-engine and twin-engine aircraft. They also received specialized training in intelligence, meteorology, engineering, and medicine, ensuring a fully self-sufficient Air Corps unit.

The music seems to switch. Something more smooth and upbeat.

Many were college graduates or had passed rigorous entrance exams to qualify for aviation training. Their unwavering dedication helped them become elite pilots, navigators, bombardiers, engineers, and mechanics, playing a crucial role in the success of Allied forces.

The Tuskegee Airmen were America’s first Black military pilots.

A picture of the group slides across the screen, making its slow descent to the bottom left corner.

Despite facing racial segregation and doubt, the Tuskegee Airmen proved their worth on the battlefield. Their success in combat missions across Europe, North Africa.

The screen before them slowly fades to black. As the white flash appears again, they are taking into it once more.

**End SCENE 16**