"It shouldn't be here." "Movlng on to..." "Wolf 336, F-class star... at right ascension 7.36.7." "5.21 declination." "I thought that was the last one." "Why'd you think that?" "You said that lt would be." "No, I distinctly remember forgetting that." "I don't know why I put up with this." "Yes, I do." "Because I let you drive." "I'm a rlde-share hostage." "F-class star." "Recent variability." "14.6 llght-years away." "Thls ls nuts anyway." "The whole approach." "SETl's tough enough on microwave band." "Now you want to search FM?" "Wlth all that noise?" "Mlght as well look for a needle ln a haystack... of needles." "Statlon Flve." "is my voice even vaguely familiar to you, Zane?" "Honey, I'm trying to get out of here, but as usual, Calvln's holding me up." "Should be home by 1:00, 1:30." "1:30, Tuesday?" "Wednesday?" "A.M.?" "P.M.?" "What can I say?" "I'm a rlde-share hostage." "I'm going to go pee." "I wlll try to" "Where are you?" "I'm having a drink with Becky." "You're ln some bar, while I'm here working?" "There's a cute hockey player here too." "But he's only ln town for one night." "All right." "I give up." "What do you want?" "I want your ass ln bed, Zane." "Okay. I'll leave now... lf you leave now." "But do not talk to any strangers on the way out." "I'll see you at my place ln 83 minutes, okay?" "Swear you'll be there?" "I don't want a repeat of last week." "If I say I'm going to be there, I wlll." "End of story." "There ls nothing more important to me right now than our" "There ls nothing more important to me right now than our" "Good solid spike." "Nlce symmetry to the modulation." "Detectlon protocol." "Now!" " Conflrmatlon Phase One." " Swlng dish five degrees off axis." "And signal fades." "Looklng good." "Now swing dish back on target." "Slgnal returns." "Deflnltely sky based." "Wolf 336, you are howling." "Phase Two!" "lnltlatlng software check." "Jumplng ahead to Phase Three:" "second source verification." "Who's still on line?" "Green Bank?" "Ohlo State?" "Moffet Fleld!" "Checklng." "Stlll checking." "Be there." "Just be there." "We got to get another ear on this." "Software self-checks." "Phase Two complete." "Come on, Moffet." "You're killing me. I'm dying here!" "Just pick up the phone so we can confirm this." "Nothlng." "Zamlnsky!" "Zamlnsky!" "Thls ls not valet parking!" "Stalled out on me." "Stalled on me!" "Thls piece of" "Sorry, slr." "Sorry." "That's lt?" "Forty-two seconds." "We listened all night." "All night, all morning, and the sound never repeated." "It's 42 seconds of nonrandom, non-Earth-based signal!" "Thls could be lt, Gordy." "Sounds compressed, like a military burst communication." "No way." "No way." "Not at 107 megahertz." "107?" "What the hell are you doing so far below the microwave?" "Good question." "So this ls a variable star, this Wolf 336?" "14.6 llght-years away." "All right." "Okay." "So lf lt ls a variable, lt expands and contracts dramatically." "So, gentlemen, maybe you can explain to me... how intelligent life can actually develop ln such a volatile environment." "It's only been unstable for what?" "Flfty years or so." "Whlch means lt's possible some form of life could still exist there." "Exactly." "Maybe this ls a distress call." "An S.O.S." "Maybe they're sending out their Encyclopedla Gallactlca... jettlsonlng all their knowledge before lt goes down with the ship." "It lasted 42 seconds, and lt never repeated." "That's why we have to stay on this one, Gordy, ln case lt does." "I'll pull double shifts." "I'll pull triple shifts lf I have to." "But I want priority status and dish time." "Serlous dish time." "Durlng normal business hours, preferably." "Calvln, why don't you go home, get some sleep, okay?" "Go ahead." "It's a mandatory 20% cutback." "Tracklng station has a fixed operating cost." "I can't touch that." " l've got to look at personnel." " Are you even shitting me?" "I can swing a month's pay, instead of two weeks." "Maybe extend the health benefits two weeks beyond that, but" "Let me see lf I got this straight." "I come to you-- l come to you with what may be... the preeminent discovery of the 20th Century:" "the possibility of extra-solar life." "And I get shitcanned for lt?" "I know how important this ls." "But searching for E.T.s ln this political environment... ls a tough sell on Capltol Hlll." "If we don't start spending money on harder science, we're going to lose lt." "Let's forget about me for a second." "What about the signal?" "I'm skeptical." "But lt ls interesting." "I'll pass lt along to decoding." "See lf there's a pattern recognition there, but-- l don't have to tell you." "You know the rule." " lf you can't confirm lt" " Then lt doesn't exist." "What asshole made up that rule?" "Can we fire him instead?" "It doesn't please me... to be losing the brightest and the best." "I wish there was another way." "I honestly do." "Well, lt ls finally cooling off ln the Southland... after a day of near-record temperatures." "But hot again tomorrow and hot again on Thursday with no letup" "How are you doing for money?" "If you need me to, I could" "No." "There's a seti program up north." "Guy who runs lt, Blll Wyatt, was begging me to come up." "Mlght call him." "You're not really thinking about going back to lt, are you?" "We had a bell ringer this morning." "Really good signal." "I just couldn't confirm lt ln time." "You had something really good last year too." "Turned out to be what?" "A broken microwave oven." "What's your point?" "There's always something to give me false hope?" " That I'm wasting my life?" " I didn't say that." "But, you know, lt's interesting that you did." "Come on." "Someone ls watching." "What?" "How ln the hell did I wind up with somebody like you?" "I got tired of rich guys with good futures." "No." "Really." "What ls lt you see ln me?" "What made you call me the first time?" "Boy, when their self-worth goes" "Okay, I see a man of great intelligence... dedication, cute little kind of insecurity." " A little paranola" " Thls went to shit fast." "Why do we always have to analyze everything?" "Can't you trust I love you?" "Algorlthms I trust." "Boolean logic I trust." "Beautlful women, they just mystlfy me." "Two years and we're still talking about trust?" "It's amazing." "I should shut the hell up, huh?" "Look, lt's your career." "I wlll support any decision you make." "But lf we are going to make lt... we've got to take care of our problems here on planet Earth." "That ls just a little hard when you're always off looking at the stars." "Llstenlng." "Llstenlng." "Are we failing apart here?" "is that lt, Char?" "I don't know, Zane." "Are we?" "How'd you do on the test?" "How'd you do on the test?" "No, I'm saying lt's incomplete." "There's no chemical breakdown." "There's no broadband chart analysis." "Want me to go on?" "That information lsn't available at this time." "Thls information was promised me two months ago." "These are not national secrets." "Thls ls a routine analysis of the atmosphere." "Why should l" "There's a problem with that satellite." "It's blind to certain trace gases." "Really?" "As of when?" "It lost a solar panel." "Some functions were shut down to save energy." "Look, here's my problem." "I've devoted my sabbatical to greenhouse trace gases." "If I don't get this data, I might as well be counting cow farts ln Montana." "You'll have to walt until the new satellite ls ln place." " When's the launch date?" " NASA doesn't have that information." "Round and round we go." "Thanks for naught." "Moffet Fleld." "Blll Wyatt, Zane Zamlnsky." "How are you, man?" "Oh, yeah, Zane." "Hl." "I know you said you'd get back to me, but I felt obligated... to let you know about a job offer that came up." "Telecommunlcatlons." "Looks pretty sweet too." "The health plan alone, you know." "Well, good." "You should take lt, Zane." "I don't think things are going to work out here." "But I thought you were looking for radio astronomers?" "Some good creative thinkers?" "Isn't that what you said?" "Creatlve's one thing." "Too creative's another." "I'm not tracking." "I'm not sure I should be saying this." "I talked to Phll Gordlan at J.P.L." " The indication was" " Just say lt." "He said you were faking signals ln order to keep your job." "I do believe this permit's expired." "Why haven't you?" "To raise the temperature of the planet tenfold..." "To raise the temperature of the planet tenfold... to change the atmosphere into one suitable to colonization... to construct farms and cities... and build an infrastructure capable of supporting thousands of colonists." "Make no mistake." "Never before have we undertaken a task" "Have we undertaken a task of this size." " The terraforming of Mars." " Do you know who Phll Gordlan ls?" "The key to all of this ls polar ice." "Enough heat-generatlng factories could be built." "The heat would be enough to melt" "Excuse me." "But perhaps you'd care to use the microphone?" "Yes." "Yes, I would." "Thanks." "Phll Gordlan?" "Has anybody seen him?" "I'm looking for Phll Gordlan." "Anybody seen Phll Gordlan?" "The man was ln the middle of a seminar, Zane." "Why don't we step outside?" "Let him finish." "Dld you even give lt to decoding?" "Dld you even see what was there?" "Why don't we take this outside?" "If you're not going to analyze lt, I want my tape back." "I'm sorry." "I don't know what you're referring to." "Why don't you show me how smart you are by leaving right now?" "What's going on, huh?" "What are you doing this for?" "Back lt up." "Let's go." "Why are you telling them lies about me?" " I said, now!" "Let's go!" " Why?" " Come on." "Let's go." " Why?" "I'm sorry." "He's a troubled young man." "A very troubled young man." "My apologies." "Please." "Contlnue." "Where was I?" "Polar Ice." "After the polar ice has been melted... the atmosphere begins to grow thicker." "Flnally, a kind of critical mass ls reached." "At this point, the atmosphere begins to work for us." " Statlon Flve." " Tell me I'm not losing my mind." " Just tell me." " Zane, where are you?" "They're acting like lt never happened." "I saw Gordlan." "It's like we never gave him any tape." " Llsten, Zane" " But then I remembered." "It should be on the backup DAT system." "We should have a copy of the signal." "Well, yes and no." "There are some D.O.D. guys here... going through our stuff as we speak." "Apparently, lt was a burst from a spy satellite." " What?" " lt's a defense thing." "Whlch ls probably why Gordlan couldn't tell us about lt." "We weren't cleared for this spy shit." "Cal, listen to me very carefully." "Satellltes do not move like stars move." "We tracked this thing ln stereo time, ln star time, okay?" "I don't know who these guys are, but I do know they're lying to you." "is this everything?" "If you haven't told them about the backup system, don't!" "We have lt all?" "Don't you tell them, Cal!" "Don't you dare!" "There" "There's a backup system." "Hey." "So lf this was a spy bird, why was lt moving like a star?" "Not really sure." "We'll have to get back to you on that." "It's a very aggressive company." "Wlth the federal mandate for alr bags... lt's a very aggressive company." "Wlth the federal mandate for alr bags... they are perfectly positioned to dominate the market for years." "Blade Co." "Technologles." "All rlght. I'll send you a prospectus." "Are you at the same address?" "Doug, can I call you back ln, say, ten minutes?" " So I get this signal." " How about 5:00?" " Slgnal from an F-class." " 5:15." "Llke our sun but hotter." " Flrst they act like lt's nothing." " Great." "Thanks." "Now they're going to unimaginable pains to make lt disappear." "I thought you had a new job." "Somethlng ls going on here, Char." "Why the hell would they do that?" "What ls lt they're trying to hide?" "Maybe we could talk later." "I need to talk about this now!" " I called last night twice." " I got the messages." "I thought the problem was I wasn't around enough." "Now that I am, you're not." "What ls this, Tales From The Dark Slde?" "I have been avoiding this." "Yes." "Okay." "Deflne "this."" "The brokerage ls strongly suggesting I head up the office ln San Dlego soon." " lt'd mean moving there." " Can you tell them no?" "Thank you." "I tell you I'll support any career decision you make." " But when lt comes to my work" " You're considering this?" "Char, lt's Mr. Morgan on line five." "And?" "I got to take this." "By any chance ls he going to San Dlego also?" "Why don't you stick your paranoia back ln your pants and get out of here?" " I wlll call you." " Flne." "No problem." " When?" " Whenever I get to lt." ""Tuesday?" "Wednesday?" "A.M.?" "P.M.?"" "Go!" "Rlght now." "They could be talking to us right now." "An array." "Phased array." "Good morning, Mr. Carblner. I'm Horace with your local satellite company." "Good morning." "Can I see your dish?" "What a glorious morning." "Hot enough for you?" "For a limited time, we're offering a free upgrade on a totally automated... flber-optlc control system." "All this at no extra cost to you." "No extra cost to you." "One of the many ways we're improving the quality of service to our customers." "Can I see your dish?" "Jesus!" "What are you doing here?" "And how soon can you leave?" " What are you doing here?" " I live here." "Do you mind?" "I mind you grabbing on me." "Let go!" " l'm trying to help you down." " I can do lt myself!" " My butt ls stuck." " You live next door." "Wlth Mrs. Roosevelt." "That lt?" "I live ln L.A. Just kicking lt here a minute." "I don't want anybody noslng around here." "If I were going to steal your stuff, lt would be over and done." "What do you know about my stuff?" "What are you doing climbing roofs at 1 :00 ln the morning?" "Shouldn't you be out tagging freeway signs?" "I don't got to tell you shit." "Flne." "Hang there all night." "Hey!" "Where you going?" "Get me down." "What are you doing?" "I told you to walt downstairs." "What's this?" "It's a cooling jacket for a low-nolse amp." "Don't touch lt." "What's that bllnky shit over there?" "Wlll you just sit down?" "Put this on your ankle." "I don't want that thing." "It's cold." "Just keep your butt down... your foot up and your mouth shut." "You can watch, but don't touch anything." "What are them dots?" "They're satellite dishes." "Each one." "You string enough of them together, lt makes one big radio antennae." "What's lt do?" "It lets you get close to the stars." "See lf you get 92.9, K-BUMP." "Greetlngs from beyond the solar system." " That, my friend, ls Voyager 2." " What's that?" "Voyager ls a planetary probe launched ln the mid-'70s." "They don't teach science ln school anymore?" "Too busy patting us down to see lf we're strapped." "I assume you mean guns." "They find one on you?" "Not me." "Just everyone else." "That's how come the folks want me out of L.A. Crazy stuff going on." "Can I come ln now?" "So, this ls the star, Wolf 336." "We check the spectra at different magnifications... looking for anything unusual." "But, unfortunately, all we flnd ls the typical radio noise of an F-class star." "But you talked to them before, huh?" "The aliens?" "Thls channel?" "Thls star, this frequency." "But we can't really talk. lt takes years for a radio wave to get here." "So all we can really do ls just listen." "But what'd they say?" "Before." "Maybe how to live forever." "Maybe how to make nuclear power safe." "I don't know." "Maybe they were just ordering out for a pizza." "We won't really know what they're saying." "Not at first." "But that doesn't make lt less important." "If I can confirm this signal, lf we can find lt again... then we wlll finally, finally know that we're not alone." "I wonder what they're going to look like." "Warnlng:" "Your sleep period ls over." "Get out of bed." " Jesus!" " You going to try again?" "Tonlght?" "If you are, I could wait up and help some this time." "Dldn't tell anybody about our little clubhouse, did you?" "What am I?" "New?" "What about your grandma?" "She doesn't care lf you stay up late?" " Not after 10:00." " What happens at 10:00?" "She passes out on cough syrup." "Tell you what, whenever I'm up there, you can come over." "But only, only lf you got the proper l.D." "Where I get that?" "What about me, huh?" "When can I do something?" "Okay." "Hlt that key." " What one?" " That one." " Thls one here?" " Yes." " Are you sure lt's okay?" " l'm sure lt's okay." " Thls one right under my finger?" " Glve me your badge." "You're fired." "I'll do lt. I'll do lt." " What's this signal going to look like?" " lt's just a spike." "A big one or a little one?" "Because I got a big one." "That's lt." "That's exactly what Calvln and I saw." "Come back!" "I didn't touch nothing, okay?" "That's the same thing." "Same signature, same periodicity." "What the hell?" " What ls that lambada shit?" " lt's got to be a bounce." "Radlo wave kicks off the inversion layer, comes back ln through the system." "It's coming from Earth?" "Some Mexlcan radio station on the same frequency tells us... where the bounce came from, but lt doesn't" "But lt's wack." "All of lt?" "Walt a second." "The first signal was definitely sky based." "We verified lt." "But this one ls Earth based." "Two identical signals." "One comes from space, the other from Earth." "I'm all screwed up here." "It doesn't make any sense." "Unless they're talking." "Last night you were telling me we couldn't talk because lt'd take years" "Cal." "I got to talk to Cal." "I don't know." "Somebody said something about a faulty heater." " Carbon monoxide." " Really?" " Taklng him to County." " Yeah, sure, but this guy's D.O.A." "What have we got here?" "Huge concentrations of trace gas ln Central Mexico, Ecuador, Brazll." "Look." "You can see for yourself." "700% increase over the last five years?" " How can that be?" " My very question." "How accurate ls this data you sent us, Ilana?" "It's hard to say." "We cobbled lt together from ground stations... weather balloons, Uncle Earl's aching corns." "Some of your numbers are there." " No satellite data?" " NASA's bird has a bum wing." "You've obviously got some ratty data." "We checked this as best we could." "George, run me a future cast, will you?" "Say, ten years, assuming the same increase." "Of course." "Thls had better be wrong." "Accordlng to this, we're looking at an increase of 12 degrees Centigrade... over the next decade, and that's just" " Catastrophlc." " I was going to say impossible." "But, yes, that too." "Central Mexico." " Excuse me." " You come to see the ruins, my friend?" "I take you to some much very good places." "Let's just head for town." "When does lt start to cool off down here?" "In San Marsol?" "Thls ls cool off." "Thls dial right?" "Rlght, left." "Both ways." "Thls radio station?" "You know where this ls?" "Very far." "Not close to town." "Let's go there." "How about the ruins?" "You want to see the ruins?" "The radio station." "I need to go there." "I'm going to talk to the people." "Accldente, he say." "But no persons was here" "When the fire come last night." "I'm too late." "One day too late." "Posada San Marsol." "One of our much very best hotels." "You see those?" "These TV dishes." " You know of any big ones?" " Blg?" "Blg." "Not small like these, but big." "Flfty, sixty feet wide." "Blg." ""One of our very much best hotels."" "Thls ls Peter Dowllng from Slerra Satelllte." "Just wondering lf you were sick or dead or something." "'Cause lf you're not, you're fired." "Sorry, pal." "Yeah, Zane, this ls Doug." "I heard about you and Char." "I heard lt was skldsvllle." "I'm sorry to hear that." "I know what lt feels like." "If you want to get together anytime, let's do lt." "We'll talk lt through." "I'm there for ya, man, okay?" "And would you mind lf I got her number?" "I want to talk to her about some investment possibilities." "All right?" "Thanks." "I called this morning." "Just didn't leave a message." "Are you there?" "I guess I didn't get back to you that night... because I was mad, Zane." "I get so tired of being questioned about even the basic things." "I was feeling guilt too for steering you away from what you should be doing... from what you love the most." "But you were such an ass the last time we talked." "Damn." "I can't remember lf this machine lets you ramble... so I better just admit this quick." "I miss your weird paranoid brain." "Call when you can." "Where are you, Zane?" "Move!" "So just who the hell are you, huh?" "Because I saw you ln town." "I saw you at the airport." "You were waiting for me." "You knew, didn't you?" "How the" "Where do you hide a 20-meter dish?" "Research." " Jesus!" " Hey!" "Excuse me." "Excuse me." "What's going on here?" "I don't know." "These guys are stealing my stuff." "They're taking my equipment." "I was trying to work here." "Excuse me." "What?" "Take lt easy." "Wlll you guys take lt easy?" "I know I should say thanks." "But that was a pretty dicey stunt you pulled back there." "You could have got us both shot." "You're welcome, and you're right." "I saw you ln town last night, didn't I?" "Zane Zamlnsky." "Am I still bleeding?" "A llttle. Ilana Green." "Damn!" "It's hot ln here." "Thlnk they'd have alr-condltlonlng ln this place." "I don't like blood." "Why were they roustlng you?" "Somethlng about my gear they don't like." " What ls all that stuff?" " lt's technical." "It looks like some kind of radiosonde for atmospheric sampling." "That's right." "That's absolutely right." "Just who are you?" "Can I ask what I've done wrong?" "I wish to apologize to you both." "We have overreacted ln this matter." "As for the equipment, lt seems to be rulned. lf you give me a local number" "Walt." "Why was I detained?" "Why did these men take my gear?" " You were on private land." " lsn't this a public facility?" "Please try to understand." "Thls ls a new type of power station." "Wlth new technology come those who would llke to steal lt." "You're staying at San Marsol, yes?" "What do you mean, "new type"?" "You still burn fossil fuels, right?" "Wlth great efficiency, very few emissions." " What kind of emissions?" " l'm not an expert ln this matter." "Perhaps lf you were to leave me a local number" " Perhaps lf you give me" " Call lt a push." "Come on." "They say there's a twin for everyone ln the world." ".That's not lt" "Roll the genetic dice often enough, they're gonna land on top of each other." "Trust me, Ilana." "That ls not lt." "Nlce of them to bring our cars here." "Follow me back to town, and don't make any stops, all right?" "I understand you do residential work." "I've got a little weeding problem I'm hoping you can help me with." "It's really a very small job." "Here's the address." "We saw Gulf hurricanes ln March." "Rlght now there's a drought ln the Sudan, killing thousands." "So we're talking global warming, right?" "Yes and no." "Yes ln that we show an increase ln global temperature over the last decade." "It's not much, but if you factor out the cooling effects of volcanoes-- lt's happening." "Our factories can't pump out 7 billion tons of CO2 a year and not do damage." "Thls ls the Arctlc?" "Nlnety miles from the Pole." "What's lt doing there?" "Taken by itself, lt's just another anomaly." "But as a whole" " The Arctlc ls very sensitive to environmental change." "That's why we go there." "Thlngs happen first ln the Arctlc." "It's like a window on the future." "So you're talking about something a lot bigger than global warming." "I see some major climatic ordeal happening." "God." "I get so damned apocalyptic when I drink." "But you have to remember, every major turning point on this planet... including the demise of the dinosaur, began with a shift ln climate." "Even a ten degree increase... will melt 70% of the polar icecap... wipe out all agriculture." "Ralse the temperature of the planet to change its atmosphere... into one suitable to colonization." " Terraformlng." " What ls that?" "Thls guy at J.P.L., he's been giving talks about Mars... and how its whole environment could be changed... and how we can terraform lt and then live there." "It'll never happen, of course." "It'd cost hundreds of billions." "But he did say something about" "After the polar ice has been melted... the atmosphere again grows thicker." "Flnally, a kind of critical mass ls reached." "What?" "I don't know." "We might give him a call lf lt's not too" "Jesus, I did the time warp dance here." "Before I go around saying the sky ls falling or even warming... I've got to get new gear from N-CAR." " When do you leave?" " Flrst thing ln the morning." " You?" " I don't know yet." "I still haven't seen everything I need to see." "Maybe a couple of days." "I must say, Zane, I really enjoyed our talk tonight." "It's uncommon to find someone who can grasp the things I'm passionate about." "Yeah, I hear you." "Where you staying?" "I was ln room 302 at the big pink place... until lt merged with room 402." " Some kind of an accident?" " Everythlng ls lately." " How is this dump?" " lt's not bad with the lights off." " Maybe I'll get a room." " Well, look." "I'm gone early ln the morning." "Why don't you stay here now and keep the room tomorrow?" "You mean, share lt?" "There ls a couch." "We could at least keep the appearance of respectability." "I suppose we could." "Not that I don't find the proposition intriguing." "Not that you just proposltloned me." "Dld you?" "Boy, that's a lot of guilt for someone who hasn't done anything yet." "I take lt there's a warm body ln bed at home." "Out of my bed, still ln my head." "I don't know." "We will get back to that, but you still get downloads at home?" " Stock stuff?" " Yeah, but" "PIanecorp Industries." "Check it out for me, will ya?" "slow modem." "still waiting." "When are you coming home, Zane?" "I'm not exactIy" " Who said I was gone?" " I stopped by yesterday." "The papers were stacking up so I put them inside." "Here we go." "Ticker P.L.C., PIanecorp Industries." "A leader in clean air technology." "blah, blah, blah." "They buy up old power utilities, overhaul and put them back on Iine." "Ecuador, Peru, three facilities in Mexico." "Wait a minute." "Back up." "There's more than one plant?" "As of January 1, they have eight facilities on Iine... and 12 more planned, all in third-worId countries." "Twenty plants?" "Where's all the money coming from?" "American investors." "Your mutual funds at work." "Wow." "well, thanks for the help, Char." "Wh" " What?" "That's it?" "After four weeks, you call me up for a stock report?" "I" " I don't know what else to say." "How about "I miss you"?" "I shouldn't have to say it." "If that's it... how big does that make the" "Oh, my God." "I'm sorry." "Do you want to see the ruins, my friend?" "Mr. Zaminsky, we caught you speeding on the wrong side of the road." "Mr. Zaminsky, we caught you speeding on the wrong side of the road." "Then you said you were in the cantina last night... with Senorita what's-her-name?" "Green." "IIana Green." "I suppose you were drinking." "We had a couple of beers." "That has nothing to do" "This week is EI Dia de Ios Muertos, the Day of the Dead." "So what?" "As an American, you're not familiar with these costumes... with all these things we see all around." "Wrong." "What I saw was no costume... was no paper mache skeleton." "It was nothing like that." "The captain of security for the power station has called... to report an accident." "That a man, intoxicated... killed someone with his car last night." "An American man." "No, that is not what happened." " That is to say you were involved." " They are lying!" "It's up to me to decide who's lying." "That's why I make the questions, and you give me answers." "Now, again, were you involved in this?" "I hit something... with the car." "Now, who it was or what it was, I'm not sure." "But if they're saying I killed someone, I want to see it." "Bring the body." "I demand to see it!" "There's no need to demand that, Mr. Zaminsky." "That's exactly what they're doing." "Don't go anywhere." "Our word for an attorney is abogado." "I suggest you" "Mercury peaks around 99 degrees today." "Yes, that will be a record for this day in October." "But nowhere is it hotter right now than in the hallways of NASA... where officials are still trying to explain... what happened yesterday to that atmospheric satellite... that blew up just 32 seconds after launch." "Press conference now underway at J.P.L. in Pasadena." "Anybody gonna lose their job over this?" "I'm really not the right p" "You don't look too good." "actually, I Iook like a can of smashed assholes." "Here's a tip." "If you ever get the chance to travel with a Mexican rodeo... pass." "Look, Zane, about before, I'm sorry." "D.O.D. was putting pressure on me to keep a lid on things." "Then you start asking questions in front of all those people." "No, no." "Forget it." "No hard feelings." "I just wanted to drop by and pay you a visit... check up on my old buddy Gordy... maybe see what's really what... who's really who." "I tell you, Zane, you're really not making very much sense." "We should walk over to the infirmary." "It didn't make a Iot of sense to me either... the first time I saw your face on another guy." "Genetic dice?" "No, I don't think so." "I think somebody just screwed up." "As good as you are, you do make mistakes, don't you?" "They should have broke the mold, Gordy." " What do you want?" " What do I want?" "I wanna blow a hole in your head and donate your organs to science." "But there are a few things I need to know first." "Fuckin' N.R.A." "It's just so easy to get one." "Let's have a chat." "Yeah." "Okay." "Media Center." "Looks like somebody stole some camera gear." " You want it?" " A real crime." "Somebody's on the way." "So who was targeted?" "Anyone in SETI?" "well, not anyone." "Who then?" "Look in the mirror." "Prime intellect." "Nonconformist reasoning." "Capacity for lateral thinking." " Isn't that what you see?" " And then what?" "A control is assigned?" "Somebody like you?" "could I actually see this gun of yours, Zane?" "Oh, sure." "But if I pull it out, it'II be the Iast thing you ever see." "well, I think it's possible to say... that you've been watched for quite a while now." "So which programs besides SETI?" "NASA?" "Ask yourself why an antenna won't deploy on a deep-space probe." "Or ask how they could launch a $6 billion telescope... without testing its mirror." " What you're actually saying" " I'm saying nothing." "I'm just listening to you ask questions." "Then I'II ask about PIanecorp." "PIanecorp." "Sorry, I don't know what that is." "You know, it's that factory down in Mexico." "It's outside my knowledge." "One of 20 being built in third-worId countries." " Outside." " Where no laws protect the air." " Outside my knowledge." " You build where it's hot." "You like it hot, Gordy, don't you?" "Zane, if you force me to answer you... what you will be hearing is your own death sentence." "Now, as much as you think you know, you don't know the half of it." "Right now, you're just one little guy with a big conspiracy theory... and no proof, and the world is full of them." "So, Zane, you take great care... in what else you choose to Iearn." "They're terraform factories?" " Yes." " You're pumping out greenhouse gas." " Now you're dead." " You're changing the air... the temperature, the whole ecosystem." "We're just finishing what you started." "What would've taken you 100 years we'II do in 10." "Just speeding along your own demise." "Like you sped calvin along, and liana Green, right?" "If you can't tend to your own planet... none of you deserve to live here." "Bang." "You're dead." "Don't tell me that's who I think it is." "We have a problem here?" "No." "No problem." "I'm gonna handle this myself." "Geez!" "Zane, what are you doing out here?" "You scared the Iiving" "Who's been here?" "Anyone?" " Anybody been watching my house?" " Nobody I seen." "I can't believe they wouldn't be." "I'm gonna say something that's gonna sound completely insane." "I'm telling you because I think you might actually believe me." "I'm also telling you because I can't be the only one who knows... in case they find me..." " before I finish this." " tell me." "I followed the signal to Mexico because we thought somebody was" "Yeah, yeah." "They weren't "us," Kiki." "So what was they?" "Do they got these little flashlight fingers that" "Maybe they got these big metal teeth that come out and sort of" "What does they look like then?" "Like you." "Like me." "Like anyone." " What they doing here?" " I'II show you." "I'II show everyone, as soon as I fire up the array." "Shit!" "You've been evicted." "I gotta get out to Oro valley, out to the big dish." "hold this." "Don't drop it." "What game does it play?" "Where's the start button?" " You going to let me in?" " Who's Char?" "I can't stay." "If they're not here now, they will be soon." "Who?" "The police?" "What about the police?" "They came to my work, some detective." "He said something about manslaughter charges in Mexico." "You're a fugitive?" "Ooh, that's phat." "The whole thing was fabricated." "They set me up." "I don't understand." "Why would the police want to" "Not the police." "It was them." "Them." "Who's them?" " Forget it." " probably the aliens." "Who is this child?" "And I hope he means illegal aliens." "I'II take your car." "Give me that." "No, you won't." "Not until I know what is going on here." "Look, it sounds nuts, but I know what I saw." "I know why they're here." "I know about the poppy field in the Arctic." "Their whole master plan about the air and the" "Give me the keys." "I can't let you go, Zane." "Not alone, not Iike this." "You don't have to come." "I wouldn't believe it unless I'd seen it myself." "But, Char, I must leave now." "If you think I'm letting you out of my sight, you are nuts." "Can I come?" "Get off me!" "This isn't a field trip." "I Ieft my grandma a note." "I want to help." "Drive!" "pull over at the on-ramp." "I'II drive." "I've got shotgun." "Zane, I think that you've got to deal with this somehow." "If it means both of us going to the police and expIain" "I can't get stuck in some jail." "Not now." "please, pull over." "We're here." "Now, what do you hope to accomplish?" "Keys." "Keys." "Where's Char?" "What are you doing?" "Getting my stuff out of the car." "That all right?" "I just" " The strangest thoughts." "Kiki, if it says "power," you push it." "These monitors, this stuff here." "Light it up-- everything." "Find OMNI Star 5." "I'II need two sets of coordinates." "Right ascension and declination." "I don't see how listening to some star" "It's not a star, and this time we're talking, not listening." "So this is some kind of satellite in orbit?" "It's a co-op weather satellite... one that about 50 TV stations pull a continuous feed off of." "A hundred thousand watts ought to get their attention." " They'II understand what this means?" " We're gonna find out... right now." "Shit." "What's happening?" "What is wrong with this thing?" "Gardening." "I didn't see any gardens around here." "What are they doing here, Char?" "Like I should know." "You made a call... from the car." "When you start talking about aliens and master plans... and this woman being killed in Mexico" "Did I mention that it was a woman?" "The police told me, okay?" "Ah." "And that's who you called, right, Char?" " You called the police." " Yes, it is." "You were scaring me with your talk." "You're scaring me now." "As soon as I Ieft SETI, you left." "As soon as I got back from Mexico, there you were, waiting for me." "Because I thought you might need me, Zane." "Like I needed all that career advice?" "The gentle persuasion... the little nudges about how I was wasting my Iife!" "cold." "Too cold." "I'm sorry." "I am just so sorry." "I didn't believe about" "You've got to trust me when I say that I only called the police..." " and only because I wanted" " Then what are they doing here?" "Who told them to find me here?" "I don't know." "I honestly do not know." "Watch this screen." "When you see my face, hit the red key right there next to you." " The transmit key." " You ain't leaving me here?" "Don't worry." "They'II be chasing us." "We're going to give this one more shot." "Go." "No, it's this way." "Go." "Give me the chain." "You can move the dish from here." "Go." "I can do this." "For once in your paranoid life, please just trust me." "Now, Kiki." "Now, Kiki!" "Hit it now!" "Kiki, the red transmit key." "Hit it now!" "Kiki, for shit's sake, hit it now!" "Now!" "Now!" "Hit it now!" "Like I said." "You didn't know the half of it." "Zane, what happened?" "Why did they leave?" "They didn't." "How do you know?" "Because we aren't dead yet." "help me." "Move!" "Zane, can we get out of here now?" "Not that way." "I'II be right behind you." "Not... so... fast." "Oh, please." "Oh, please." "please." "Why did it have to be like this?" "Why couldn't you just come and ask for our help?" "Then you tell them" "You go back and tell them... that I know, that she knows... that others will know!" "It's not going to be easy." "Not anymore." "Summer is just refusing to go away." "Record highs again in the Big apple... while New england states report a delay of the fall foliage season." "It's been warmer than normal up and down the Eastern seaboard." "They're terraform factories?" " Yes." " You're pumping out greenhouse gas." " Now you're dead." " You're changing the air... the temperature, the whole ecosystem." "We're just finishing what you started." "What would've taken you 100 years we'II do in 10." "Just speeding along your own demise." "Like you sped calvin along, and liana Green, right?" "If you can't tend to your own planet... none of you deserve to live here."