Connecting Flight

******READ the NOVEL on Amazon! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CDTFR2CP ********* Rollie Foster, a driven tech salesman is focused only on the next big deal and has spent his entire adult life with blinders on, always striving, but never... arriving. One fine morning, he finds himself sitting at the West Deerfield Airport, waiting for the boarding announcement for his connecting flight on Trask Airways Flight 818 to Portland, the site of the World Technology Symposium. The conference is seen as a proving ground for breakthrough technologies and global innovators, and where Rollie and right-hand man Nick Scanlon, hope to pitch the patents of Rollie's uncle, Particle physicist Mel Kirkendal, for a potential megadeal with billionaire tech magnate Milton Trask. Rollie’s already had a rough morning. While racing to the airport, Rollie gets into an argument over the phone with Kirkendal about how his particle accelerator prototype is to be tested, crashes his car, bumps his head, and wakes up by the side of the road. Ignoring the advice of paramedics, Rollie continues on to the airport, determined to make his flight. Little does Rollie know that Kirkendal’s colleague, Professor Brogdon has been attacked while testing the particle accelerator at Deerfield University, by a mysterious assailant, who has sabotaged the experiment, setting the device’s parameters to dangerously unstable levels. Rollie sits by the boarding gate, finalizing a presentation for the conference, when he’s suddenly noticed by the janitor, Artie Gonzalez. Artie’s the uncle of Rollie’s old school mate Theo, who 20 years earlier was struck in the eye by a rock on a school field trip after Rollie and Nick had engaged a rival school into a dispute in the parking lot. Theo lost the sight in his eye and never recovered emotionally, and spiritually, suffering a fall in college which left him crippled for life. Theo was the smartest kid in class, bound for greatness, and has now become a reclusive, eccentric black hat hacker with a dark, alienated world view. The fateful day has haunted Rollie for years, and still gives him nightmares, for his role in altering Theo’s destiny, from potential valedictorian to a shadowy cyber-menace. But Artie’s not the only face from the past who recognizes Rollie. Soon old science teachers, Mrs. Schultz, and Mr. Faraday, who were chaperones on the field trip 20 years earlier are there, on their way to a educators' conference. Rollie is roused from his routine, forced to acknowledge his surroundings, and soon makes a startling discovery... every other passenger waiting for his flight, is a former schoolmate who was there that day 20 years ago! All signs point to a karmic intervention for Rollie, to finally face his role in what happened to Theo. Bradley, an old high school adversary, and head of airport security riles the group to see Rollie as the main culprit in Theo’s demise. When an eye-patched Theo ominously arrives, hunkered down in a mechanized wheelchair, Rollie cannot believe his eyes. As the flight is delayed by a series of odd lights in the sky above the University, it seems the universe is giving Rollie the go ahead to finally reach out to Theo. But when a connecting flight brings faces from his present world, including, inexplicably Nick, and Kirkendal, Rollie's pulled off course once again. Nick all too eagerly intercepts Rollie’s rendezvous with Theo and forces him to focus on completing their presentation to Trask. More passengers disembark the connecting flight, and flood the terminal, including Jenna, a one-night stand from the previous night, and Danielle, a girl from high school who for Rollie, was the one that got away. Rollie reconnects with Danielle and realizes she's maybe the only woman who's ever really seen him for who he really is, but she's catching a connecting flight to San Francisco instead. Kirkendal accesses data on Rollie’s laptop which confirms that the experiment at the University with Brogdon has gone seriously awry. As Rollie attempts to approach Theo again, again he’s interrupted and pulled off course by an arriving flight, this one, a private plane belonging to Milton Trask himself. Rollie is caught off guard when Trask seems to know him already and wants to be brought up to speed on a presentation for a technology conference, but one from the future! It seems Rollie is on a path where he becomes Trask’s right-hand man, and future son-in-law, engaged to his daughter Miranda, and set to close a major international business deal. As Danielle heads for her connecting flight, Rollie has the opportunity to change his flight, and is forced to make a choice, which could affect the rupture in the time-space continuum triggered by the failed University experiment, which threatens the nature of reality itself. Rollie must reconcile prior misdeeds, reforge alliances, and reshape his destiny, as he races to catch the right connecting flight to avert a catastrophic time-space anomaly. CONNECTING FLIGHT... Connect with the right passengers, align with your future path. Copyright 2022 by Brefni O'Rourke. All Rights Reserved. ********The REVIEWS are in on CONNECTING FLIGHT***************** "I picked this up as the logline drew me in as there looked to be quite a fair bit packed into this.  Time-space disaster, operating in a sort of parallel realm of reality, something dark in the protagonist's path which has been bothering him, all in an airport terminal... I was intrigued by the setting, and I think you made a good choice. I find airport terminals quite disorientating place, personally, with crowds of people all going in different directions and soon to be displaced right across the world! This story has a similarly disorientating effect... I like how you have the characters change throughout the script... This gives the characters a multi-dimensional feel and makes them more realistic as this reflects people in real life - we change and evolve. Concerning theme, the strongest one that came out to me was around needing to forgive before you can move on. This is obviously the Rollie-Theo dynamic. Plot pacing was strong - there was certainly always something going on... I like how this combines drama, science fiction, comedy and romance. It feels like you have a real arsenal of different things going on here. " ****************************** “To start, your logline is quite intriguing and sets up the mood and genre of the film pretty well. It's eye catching. I also thought you made some good formatting decisions... I also thought your action descriptions were particularly good, an example is on page 28 when you write ''Rollie staggers down the tiled length, approaches the 4B Departure Gate, where the group is gathered like a hung jury, eyeing him with reproach.'' Not too wordy, good choice of words and incisive... The opening comes across as well researched. I sense your confidence in writing it. It makes a good promise to the reader that the writer has a particular vision in mind and that the read will be well worth it... An ambitious concept that explores quantum mechanics and its (speculative) effects. The topic of quantum computing comes up a bit as the central focus of Rollie's project with Nick and Kirkendal. I applaud the ambition of this concept and do think it holds interesting avenues to explore. Rollie as ''the constant in the equation'' is neat. The airport as a primary setting that will eventually unravel Rollie's destiny (with his past, present and future colliding) feels right since airports are places of arrival and departure to and from different time zones. I think it's clever. The plot got more interesting to me when Rollie realized the faces at the airport were all from that fateful school trip flashback. It raises obvious questions and kept me guessing how the incident at the lab is tied to this bizarre occurrence. I found your introductory character descriptions visual, descriptive and overall solid for example when you write ''PROFESSOR MELVIN KIRKENDAL, 65, stodgy, bespectacled man of science, reason, and integrity''. I can clearly imagine what kind of character the Proffessor is from that. Destiny and fate are clear themes in your piece. These themes are pretty apt considering how they intertwine with quantum mechanics, superpositions of electrons/waves, the observer effect and more speculative scientific ponderings like alternate realities, string theory, etc.” ********** "Overall, 'CONNECTING FLIGHT' has a promising premise and well-developed main characters. The screenplay effectively establishes tension, conflict, and mystery throughout, creating a compelling narrative... The story features a unique blend of time travel and quantum mechanics, with a strong cast of characters and a gripping plot. It has the potential to attract a wide audience and generate buzz, particularly among science fiction and time travel fans. The story explores compelling themes with a diverse cast and a distinctive setting, which could appeal to a broad audience. The story features compelling characters and a gripping storyline, with relevant social themes and a distinctive setting, which could attract a wide audience. This screenplay presents a highly engaging and suspenseful narrative with well-developed characters and intriguing plot elements. The overall rating is calculated as an average of 8.92, based on individual scene ratings. The key strengths of the screenplay include engaging and suspenseful scenes, effective establishment of setting, characters, and dynamics, strong conflict and tension between characters, intriguing and mysterious plot elements, emotionally charged and impactful moments, and well-developed characters and relationships. The screenplay's concept of time travel, quantum mechanics, and the manipulation of reality is intriguing and thought-provoking. It introduces a central mystery and raises the stakes with the potential weaponization of time travel. The concept is consistent throughout the screenplay and adds depth to the story... The plot in this screenplay is a strength, with consistent and engaging progression throughout the story. The use of suspense, tension, and mystery effectively keeps the audience engaged, and the well-paced and well-developed conflicts drive the story forward.. Overall, the plot is a significant strength in this screenplay, with notable examples of effective plot development and engaging conflicts." *************************************************************************************************