"How's it going?" "We've compiled the latest telemetry which shows us to be at about 96% of optimum." "That's well done." "Patel, I understand you finished re-calibrating the sensors." "Yes, I have." "Show me the last transmission." "We are getting first-rate data now." "We lost the signal from the probe." "Let me replay the data from the auxiliary sensors to see where the problem lies." "A C.M. E?" "We may have lost the probe for good." "What the hell?" "But we've had no advance warnings of CME activity." "This morning, Dr. Lucas Foster, the billionaire entrepreneur is spending nearly100 million dollars of his own money to launch the Galileo" "A manned scientific exploration vehicle also known as a MAV." "Which he hopes will help mankind survive what he calls "an uncertain future"." "But which his critics are calling "Lucas's Folly"" "Stay tuned for a press conference followed by the space plane launch here at Foster Aeronautics." "I don't care what you do up there, Joe." "Just make sure you... bring back some hard data we can use to convince these geniuses." "I better get up there." "Have yourself a hell of a ride." "I will." "Hey, Jim, check the Q7 readout." "Looks a little high to me." "Yeah, she's been in flux all morning." "Don't worry, L, she's still well within operating parameter." "So you gonna go talk to the vultures out there?" "Vulture is such a dirty bird, Jim." "Say it with me." "The media is our friend." "You really want me to say it with you?" "Yes." " The media is our friend." " I was kidding, Jim." "You need to relax." "Yeah." "Relax." "Nothing really happening here today, right?" "Not at all." "Good morning, everyone!" "I'm afraid my remarks are going to be abbreviated because launching a vehicle into orbit is a complex job." "Especially when I have to make every penny count, unlike my former employers in the public sector." "But the question which is really on your minds is:" "Why would anyone be damn fool enough to waste one hundred million to send a vehicle into low-earth orbit to study greenhouse gases." "We all know how man-made pollutants are wreaking havoc in our atmosphere, and how these deadly emission are increasing exponentially the more fossil fuels we burn." "What you don't know is that last year alone, methane concentrations inside our atmosphere tripled with potentially disastrous consequences for the environment." "We need to do something." "The problem is... we don't know what." "My pilot, Joe Johnson is taking the Galileo up to collect data, so that we may find that answer." " Any questions?" " Yes, um, Your old boss Bradley Stamp, categorized this launch as sheer lunacy." "Is he right?" "It isn't the first time he's called one of my ideas crazy." "I think Brad is still a little upset" "I didn't let him invest in my company before it went public." "Hilarious." "Would you explain why you're using a Russian-built craft today instead of an American one?" "It was cheaper." "But the MAV Joe will be piloting doesn't skimp on quality or safety." "Russian-built products are as good as anything we can make in the West." "I'm sorry we had to cut this short, but time is money and..." "I've got to go burn both." "Thank you." "Thank you." "The man's a magician." "That was Lucas Foster explaining..." "Lucas is making ninety-eight million dollars go up in smoke." "Control, this is Carrier 1." "We are on the taxiway ready for take-off." "Need clearance." "Galileo?" "How's the startup coming?" "So far so good." "How's it compare to the simulator?" "I seem to remember having a bit more legroom on the test launch." "Lucas, next time the Russians offer you a deal, make sure it's one designed for humans, not chimpanzees." "In your case there might be some confusion." "Where is this in from?" "Bruny Island's radio spectrometer." "This is huge." "Yes." "Too huge." "It must be an error." "Bruny's not known for their errors." "You think the probe was in direct line of this CME?" "Patel, a normal CME is an ejection of super-charged particles from the sun's surface." "If this is correct, then that is not just a coronal mass ejection, that's a solar explosion on a scale we've never seen before." "Check the databases." "In your 12 years here, have you ever seen a CME this big?" " Now, let's not jump to conclusions." " I'm not jumping to conclusions yet." "The NSO in Japan has offered to send us data, so has Anchorage, so has Chile so..." "So the probe was taken out 46 hours ago and this just showed up from Bruny." "If this is accurate..." "Then it looks like this thing is heading right for us." "I'm not gonna sit on my hands and wait for this thing to hit." "We need to talk to the Europeans again, and call the NSO and find out where the data is that they promised me hours ago." "Gentlemen, this bird is in flight." "At 10:15 Eastern Standard Time, we have the launch of Lucas Foster's manned aerospace vehicle." "As we can see in this replay, the MAV is being carried piggyback by a converted 727, which will climb to an altitude of 38 thousand feet, where the Galileo will separate from the carrier plane." "It will then fire its own rockets and ascend into the high reaches of the upper atmosphere" " to fulfill its experimental mission." " Good for you, Lucas." "According to Doctor Foster, the focus of this mission will be to measure methane levels in the thermosphere." "The Galileo will be visiting areas" "Dr. Foster's team believes to have high concentrations of these deadly gasses," " in order to prove once and for all..." " That he is a self-absorbed lunatic!" "Carrier 1 has reached launch altitude." "MAV, I have you at 38,000 feet and I'm initiating the drop countdown in t-minus 10." "9." "8. 7." "6. 5." "4. 3." "2. 1." "Carrier one, beginning roll out, the sky is yours, Galileo." "Roger that." "Separation successful." "Firing booster rockets." "And we have MAV ignition!" "Atta boy, Joe." "All onboard systems are well within the operating parameters." "Damn!" "This is one hell of a ride, Lucas!" "This is where he always screwed up in the flight simulator." "Oh, man!" "What's that red light?" "It's in the rear-view, coming up fast behind me." "It's a cop." "I musta broke the speed limit." "Galileo is out of visual range." "Switching to tracking display." "Tracking telemetry operational." "Climbing to 80 miles altitude." "OK." "He's very close to the first methane checkpoint." "He should be reaching it in..." " six point three seconds." " Exactly." "Joe, how're you doing there?" "Just fine, I'm about the switch all the sensors and monitoring equipment." "Uh, Larry, we have an alarm in Sector III." "Maybe a malfunction." "Give me a reset and full diagnostic?" "Joe, do you read me?" "We're showing an alarm in Sector III." "Give me your status." "We've lost telemetry." "Try rerouting it through circuit 4 Joe?" "Joe!" "Where'd he go?" "I don't know." "Get him back, Jim." "This is Galileo." "Come in, ground control." "A power outage?" "How the hell could that be possible?" "It's got to be an instrument malfunction." "On every instrument?" "No way." "Get me radio communications now." "This is Galileo." "Come in ground control." "Telemetry's back up." "We're getting a signal." "Joe, can you hear me?" "!" "Come in, Galileo" "What the hell happened, Lucas?" "I had a full system shut-down." "We lost you here." "You just... vanished from the tracking screens." "What's going on?" "I don't know." "Everything just shut down." "All of the instrumentation, life-support, booster rockets, everything." "That's not possible." "What was it, Lucas?" "Tell me you've got this under control." "We're working on it, Joe, as soon as I..." "Joe!" "Joe?" "!" "Joe!" "Galileo to base." "Galileo to base." "Do you copy?" "JOE!" "We have full signal loss:" "No telemetry." "Larry, check the emergency transponder frequency." "No go!" "Satellite tracking indicates multiple targets on Galileo flight path." "We have confirmation that Lucas Foster's space launch has turned tragic." "Half an hour after launch, these images were filmed over California detailing the doomed mission." "Foster Aeronautics won't comment on the status of pilot Joe Johnson and whether he was able to safely jettison..." "Oh my God!" "What happened?" "Lucas lost the MAV, Joanna." "An explosion." "What about Joe?" "We don't know." "There's no sign of an ejection pod." "Here he comes." "Here he comes." "No comment." "A statement." "Please!" "What happened to the MAV, Dr. Foster?" "I don't have any comments at this time." "Lucas?" "Hello, Joanna." "Lucas, I just heard." "I'm so sorry." "Did Joe get out?" "Is there any way he could have ejected?" "It doesn't appear so." "We're assuming the worst." "If there's anything that I can do..." "Thanks, but for now uh, there isn't." "Lucas, I'm just trying to help you out here." "Please." "What do you need?" "Access to all the data that you have, uh, tracking, flight logs, Sims..." "All right." "Just before the explosion, there was... a brief power loss." "A power loss?" "I have no idea what caused it, or if it's related." "But it just cut out for a second." " Joanna?" " Yeah?" "This isn't a Brad thing, is it?" "It's you that's asking?" "Yeah, Lucas, it's me." "And I am so sorry." "Thanks." "It's a hell of a time for something like this." "In a Russian-built vehicle as well." "Gonna do wonders for the President's stress level." "Excuse me, Admiral." "I fail to see the relationship." "The Russian submarine fleet is running maneuvers off the Greenland coast," "Colonel Alby." "They got twelve submarines in the water." "It's a Security Council-approved exercise, Admiral." "Exercise, sure." "See the thing is, we don't want 'em backsliding into Communism, so we say, "sure, go ahead, have fun"." "I still don't see what that has to do with the MAV explosion." "If they so much as float a boat even an inch over approved lines," "I want to know about it." " Do you all hear me?" " Yes, sir." "I want to know because the President expects me to know." "Now these exercises aren't "hostile"" "but we have good reason to suspect that three of their subs are carrying nuclear missiles." "Now." "If a Russian-built space vehicle blows up in mid-air." "Colonel, are you going to be the one to trust Russian subs, with onboard nukes?" "I see what you mean about stress levels, Admiral." "Lucas!" "I've been lookin' all over for you!" "You need to see this." "What is it?" "We just started gettin' the feeds from the MAV." "We picked up a methane spike." "It's off the charts." "Sensors must've failed in the explosion." "This can't be." "Yeah, but look at all the other data, it's right on." "This is crazy." "This can't be right." "Joanna, this transmission just came in from Japan." "This is their very latest data." "And this is from the Southern Observatory in Chile." "And this is Anchorage." "The photo you are looking at, is the CME that we believe took out the solar probe." "According to calculations, the mass from this emanation would've hit the earth's atmosphere." "Right about the time that Lucas lost his MAV." "Yes." "These new views show the sun emitting multiple CME's in a short time-span, the sun has never done anything like this before." "Well, not in recorded history, anyway." "How long has this activity been going?" "72 hours." "If these motion calculations are accurate then the CME cluster is on the ecliptic heading towards sector 12." "Which brings the earth directly into its line of fire." "Yes." "Joanna?" "You know, I've been looking all over for you." "Brad, we have a big problem." "How big?" "Where'd you get this?" "Why didn't we have this?" "A friend of mine at the Southern Observatory heard about the MAV and he thought that we might be intrigued is what he said." "These are huge." "It's like... the sun is shedding its skin?" "Yeah." "But why hasn't Joanna... she would have known about this." " Are you sure this is right?" " Well, it's accurate." "Let's run it again." "Lucas." "What are you doing here?" "You scared the hell out of me." "Well, don't worry, I'm about to scare the hell right back into you." "Why didn't you tell me about the CMEs?" "When?" "Every news reporter in town has turned your building into an impenetrable fortress, you're no longer answering your cell phone, and your secretary... oh, excuse me, secretaries, all four of them happen to think that you're out of the country," "even though you're doing a press conference in the same building." "Did you know?" "Tell me you didn't know." "I just found out about it an hour ago." "Look, Lucas." "The power failure in the MAV had to have been caused by this." "The CME was hitting the same area." "It's the only explanation." "The CME didn't just cause the electrical failure, the CME obliterated the MAV." "That's impossible." "These solar events do not just randomly blow things up." "The CME didn't blow it up, it ignited methane in the upper atmosphere." "And that blew up the MAV." "Oh no, no." "You did not come down here just to start in on this again, did you Lucas?" "Joanna, before the MAV blew, it took a Methane reading that was off the charts." "There's been a shift going on in the atmosphere, the likes of which we've never seen." "You mix that in with this solar event, and you have a recipe..." "For destruction, yes." "I know, Lucas." "I lived with your theories for six years." "Joanna, if my theory is right, this event is no recipe for destruction." "This is a recipe for extinction." "Lucas, what happened yesterday was a tragedy." "It was a horrible freak accident, but the MAV was outside of the D-7 belt!" "It was above the ozone, it was vulnerable." "We are not!" "The CMEs that I saw are like nothing we've ever encountered before." "Not only will they take out anything in the outer atmosphere, they're packing enough power to break through the ozone, especially with those cute little holes we keep punching into it." "I am done listening to this." "This is unsubstantiated conjecture." "Of course it's unsubstantiated!" "The MAV was destroyed before I could collect the evidence to prove it!" "Joanna!" "If we don't act now, we won't be around to say I told you so." "Lucas, I have always been intrigued by your theories, but we deal with hard facts and reality here." "That is our business." "You've been working here too long, Joanna." "You sound just like Stamp." "Well, I've gotta run, a bit of a media nightmare on my hands today as you are well aware of." "Oh!" "And about me being tough to reach these days?" "When you called my cell yesterday, right after the MAV was destroyed and I was in total crisis mode?" "I answered on the first ring." " Hi there." " Hi." " Can I have a hot dog all dressed?" " OK." "Lots o' onions." "Lucas!" "It happened again." "What?" "You quoting policy like Stamp?" "Luke, an old weather satellite just crashed in the middle of downtown Detroit." "Its orbit took it directly into the path of a CME." "They're already reporting eight known casualties, seventeen wounded and more missing." "I'm taking your theory to Stamp." "I thought that you should be there." "OK." "We're going to need to go over everything you've got on the CME cluster." "The updated telemetry and tracking from the network." "These CMEs are being tracked by the European solar imaging probe." "Could you show us the closest one, Patel, please?" "Look at the size of that thing." "Yeah, it is by far the biggest CME that we've ever recorded." "Could you highlight the incoming trajectory?" "What's that in its path?" "A Satellite." "A Russian Satellite." "Not just a satellite, Joanna." "That is the primary Russian COM Sat." "All their military communications go through it." "How many more CME's are you picking up now?" "Dozens, more than we've ever recorded." "But the real problem is that the Earth's orbit is bringing us directly into their path." "We're gonna be hit repeatedly over the next 48 hours." "What could possibly be causing this?" "We don't know." "No one does." "My, my, my." "To what do we owe the gift of your presence, Dr. Foster?" "This isn't "Ex-employee appreciation" Day?" "Uh." "No." "I think it's uh," ""Security removes someone who has no clearance to be here" Day." "Not bad." "That' was pretty funny coming from you, Stamp." "Look, uh, Lucas, uh, I..." "I know you've been through a lot in the last few days, so I'm willing to take that into account but uh, please, you're going to have to excuse us." "Actually, I asked him to be here." "I believe he has a theory that we need to explore." "You have no authorization to do that." "I hate to interrupt this fascinating scientific discussion, but the President of the United States is on video-conference." "Shall I patch him through?" "Nah, keep him on hold for a few minutes, he gets such a kick out of that." "Lucas!" "Hang on." "Brad." "I allocate billions of dollars to your agency," "I would hope at least that would buy me some advance notice when satellites come raining from the sky." "Mr. President, I promise you we are onto this." "You have the full breadth and scope of our resources." "Great." "Now let's start with the simple explanation." "There might be some people around here that don't know the difference between a CME and a BLT." "BLT, sir?" " It's a sandwich, Stamp." " Right." "Well uh, the Coronal Mass Ejections, or CMEs, are solar explosions." "During these explosions, highly charged solar particles are hurled into space at colossal speed, Sir!" "And I take it these uh, explosions are quite powerful?" "They can pack up to 100 megatons of TNT, maybe more." "How many of them are there?" "Well, we are tracking several, sir, but uh, we have everything under control, there's really nothing to worry about." "Mr. President." "If you'll excuse me." "Uh, Dr. Parks." "One of these CMEs is currently headed for the primary Russian COMSAT." "And there are many more of these phenomena, all bigger than we have ever seen." "Our updated calculations show that some of them are going to hit the earth." "Doesn't the uh, ozone layer protect us from stuff like that?" "Well, it's hard to say." "Theoretically yes." "But the problem is all of our satellites operate well beyond the ozone barrier." "What's the, uh, potential damage assessment?" "Sir, the potential energy of one of these CME's could cripple every satellite in its path." "We could be looking at major communication disruptions, entire hemispheres could go dark." "Please forgive this." "My associate is blowing this out of proportion." "We may lose some uh, satellite communications, sir and there may be some more crackle in your radio," "But uh, we're going to be OK." "The ozone will hold." "Excuse me." "Lucas?" " Mr. President?" " What are you doin' there?" "I'm trying to avoid more casualties, Sir." "Mr. President, what you haven't been told is that this is a disaster scenario." "Sir!" "As we all know..." "Man-made chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons have infiltrated the upper atmosphere and weakened the ozone." "Put holes into it." "The energy that this bombardment of CME's is carrying can, and will, penetrate the ozone at these weak points." "But that is just the beginning." "Our atmosphere has always been a mix of nitrogen and oxygen and 2% other gasses." "That 2% has gone to 5% in the last 10 years." "And most of that is Methane, highly volatile, highly flammable methane." "Sir, when those CME's break through the ozone, they will ignite pockets of methane, and literally... set the sky on fire." "That fire will consume the world's oxygen supply within a few hours." "All living things will literally suffocate to death." "Mr. President, with all due respect," "Dr. Foster's elaborate claims are entirely based on speculation." "Well, uh... we all agree that these things are coming our way, right?" "Yes, we do." "What's the time frame?" "Well, the first CME's have already begun to hit and it will get increasingly worse over the next 48 hours." "I will take all of this under consideration." "Uh, you'll let me know immediately if you have any further information." "Yes, sir." "Thank you for your time." "Sir." "How dare you use this agency and its good name for your Armageddon propaganda." "Bradley?" "His theory is valid." "I want you out of this building." "Thank you Doctor Foster." " This has gotta be bad." " What do you mean, Admiral?" "Have you ever seen scientists scared before?" "Well, if this is gonna continue for the next two days, then Detroit cannot have been an isolated incident." "I couldn't agree with you more, Sir." "If a single CME brought down that satellite imagine what a storm of them can do." "Exactly." "Let's scramble the F-15's and give us some sky cover." "Where are you going, Sir?" "I'm going to see what those Russian subs are up to." "If we're losing our satellites," "I want to be able to track 'em the old-fashioned way." "Captain, this just came in." " Lieutenant Troiska?" " Yes, sir?" "Set new coordinates:" "Ten degrees south, five degrees west, increase speed five knots, and take us to 300 meters." "Captain, that's going to take us closer to the international boundaries." "That is correct, Lieutenant." "Aye, Sir." "Ten degrees south, five degrees west, increase speed five knots, take us to three hundred meters." "Captain, what is going on?" "Officially?" "Nothing." "Unofficially?" "We're going to show the world that Russia will not be intimidated." "Anyone believe you?" "I don't know." "But at least the President isn't just getting Stamp's version." "Oh yeah, where'd you lose him?" "Right around the part where the sky catches fire." "That's the tough part, all right." "So what do we do now?" "I'm the big-money loud-mouth guy that gets us into trouble, Jim." "I pay you to come up with the answers that get us out of trouble." "Then we're in a lot of trouble." "We can do this, Jim." "Come on." "Yuri, our experts tell us that a huge solar flare is heading directly for your main communications satellite." "Now, when they collide, it's gonna knock your satellite right out of the sky." "Our scientists have not been able to verify these claims." "Well, you've got all the data we have, Yuri, what more do you want?" "Our satellites could also be knocked out." "Do you know what'll happen then?" "We will all be in the dark." "Now I don't have to tell you what'll happen when uh, our two fleets are operating in close proximity with one another without the ability to get direct commands from us?" "I agree." "Call back your fleet and we will do the same." "On the contrary, Yuri, you're the one who's operating with armed submarines near the international border." "It is you who must pull back first." "I have full permission from the other members of the Security Council for these exercises." "If and when we are convinced of the "authenticity" of this "threat", we will join you in taking the appropriate measures." "Authenticity." "Yuri, four hours ago, a satellite dropped in downtown Detroit." "If you want to know about casualties, it's on every major network." "I am deeply sorry for the tragedy in Detroit." "But my first responsibility is to my country." "Yuri, there's an old saying, "after pride, comes a fall"." "Now why don't we both put our pride aside and work together to prevent further casualties, how 'bout that?" "OK, Ryan." "I will order my subs to pull back." "I trust you will do the same with your fleet." "You have my word, Yuri." "It will be done." "Thank you, Yuri." "Colonel?" "Is there any way to prevent that satellite from coming down?" "No, sir." "Its orbit is directly in the path of the CME." "Ah." "Admiral Lawrence, what's your take?" "If we position ourselves in a perimeter in the north Atlantic, our subs can monitor any breach of international waters by their subs." "During the communication blackout." "Then do it." "But alert our commanders that we may also lose communication and that they should keep their cool." "Yes, sir." "I don't want any trigger-happy idiots out there." "No one is going to believe us." " Not a word." " Yep." "No one will ever give me as much as a dime for future projects." "Yep." "You're gonna be working fast food for the rest of your life." "Yep." "You think there could possibly be another way?" "No." "No, once the CMEs clear the ozone, the methane will ignite." "There won't be a lot of time to put it out." "I agree." "Maybe 24 hours before total flashover." "Yup." " Well?" "We better get going." " Where?" "Back to the space agency." "We need to put this matrix through some real simulations." "We don't have the processing power here." "Lucas, they just kicked you out of there." "Jim, it's a space agency." "It ain't the Kremlin." "Come on." "Joanna, we're a team here." "All of us." "We're part of one big team." "If a member of that teams starts screaming like Chicken Little that the sky is falling, then the whole team stands to lose." "And that could mean millions of dollars in funding." "I can't believe that you're talking about funding at a time like this." "Have you seen the data?" "We have an obligation..." "First and foremost to your job, to your co-workers, to the people that pay your salary." "Not to some crazed radical who thinks he's important just because he has some money." "Not to some pseudo-scientist, and not to an ex-husband who you may or may not still have feelings for." "How dare you say that I would let my relationship with Lucas sway my opinions or my actions." " You know what, Brad?" " What?" "You're being blinded by jealousy." "The only one whose judgment is being compromised here is you." " Dr. Parks, you are..." " Excuse me!" "The next of the CMEs has started to hit." "I..." "I think the Russian primary combat is about to be annihilated." "It is not going to stay up there." "It's too much." "We're going to have to get NORAD on the phone." "This satellite's coming down." "NORAD confirms the probable point of impact of the satellite just east of Lake Erie." "Copy that." "We have 2 F-15's on intercept." "This is Delta Patrol." "We've got cloud cover but I have the object on my radar." " We see it." "Can you intercept?" " I think so, Sir." "If you can't, we're going to lose a section of Downtown Buffalo." " Let's do it, Delta Two." " Copy that." "Bogey 10 miles from Buffalo-inbound." "Presently at 18,000 feet and climbing." "Satellite at 40,000 feet." "Satellite at 33,000 feet." "Roger that." "We're at 27,000 feet." "Satellite's coming in hard at 29,000 feet." "Take your shot." "I've got visual!" "Arming." "Missile away." "It's not a clean kill." "We've got debris." "There's still debris?" "Get it Delta Two." "I'm on it." "It's into the clouds but I've got a signal." "Roger that, Delta 2." "Satellite at twenty-five three." "Tracking target." "Missile away." "I don't have impact." "Repeat." "I do not have impact." "Come on, gentlemen." "You can do it!" "You've only got one shot to do this." "Satellite at seven four." "I've got visual." "Missile away." " Yeah!" " He got it!" "Yes!" "This is the second satellite that's been destroyed by a CME, Brad." "Damn!" "There is no way to know how many others will be affected." "As the rest of the CME's hit." "We need to get better- informed." "I want a direct feed from every observatory that you can get a hold of." "And I want them patched in here as soon as possible!" "Anchorage?" "Norikura?" "Las Campanas?" "I don't care if it's my nephew in his back yard with a pair of binoculars." "I want them all online." "I want to know if so much as a bottle rocket goes off." "All right." "Anchorage." "They'll never let us in." "I have an update from Anchorage, they are on line three." "Let's get them on the speakerphone." "You guys are missing one hell of a light show over here." "So I've heard." "How soon can you get us visuals, gentlemen?" "We're still working on it." "We've been trying to patch them through but our satellite connection is down." " Oh my God!" " Anchorage?" "Hello?" "Can you hear me?" "The sky... it's glowing!" "Anchorage." "Anchorage!" "What's this I hear about a glowing sky?" "Hello, uh Lucas." " Sorry sir." "I..." "I couldn't stop him." " You should have shot him." "Get me confirmation on Anchorage." "I need to know what happened there ASAP." "Brad, I don't have to tell you this is bad, and I think you know now it is going to get worse." "The ozone will not hold and we have to prepare for that." "All right." "Thank you." "Now where are we?" "We just lost Anchorage." "The observatory, or the whole city?" "We don't know yet." "Show me that." "Admiral, what is it?" "The Russians promised they were going to downgrade the combat status of their subs." " And they didn't?" " Not quite." "Their COM Sat went down before they could contact the final sub." "So this sub has zero contact with their commander." "It gets worse." "The order to recall our subs to safe water was in transit." "Now our coms are down and not all of them received instructions." "Not all of them?" "How many?" "Two." "The uh, Ocala was just north of the Azores Islands and USS Lansing is off the coast of Greenland monitoring the Russian fleet maneuvers." "So two of our subs are out there somewhere just waiting for a Russian sub to cross the safe water boundary." "I just pray to God those men theirs and ours, show a little judgment." "Anything?" "No, sir." "We're not picking up a thing." "It's not an equipment malfunction?" "No, sir." "Everything seems to be functioning perfectly." "Everything but our satellite." "We have no outside communications, only what we can pick up on shortwaves." "What about sonar and radar?" "Operational, but there is a great deal of interference." "Makes the read difficult to say the least." "Scientists say this massive display of Northern Lights is a visible indication of the bombardment of supercharged solar particles." "These particles are shorting out satellite circuitry and causing energy surges in electrical transmission lines." "Due to mounting satellite losses, global government agencies have taken the unprecedented step of commandeering the use of deep sea communication cables, that are shielded from interference, to allow communications to continue as this world-wide crisis deepens." " Sir." " Yeah." "Mainland China just went dark." "How?" "We're not 100% certain." "It could have been an accident, or it could have been as uh, Lucas predicted." "We're trying to get some hard data but with the satellites down, right now we're running deaf, dumb and blind." "Power of these images is clear in this recent footage from Eastern Europe..." " Mr. President?" " Yeah." "You should see this." "Of super-charged Northern Lights shone on scenes of increasing unrest." "In Berlin, government buildings were set alight by protestors demanding action." "Mass demonstrations of public unease over the solar crisis also drew police or military responses in Poland, Romania." "Captain, there is still no response." "I cannot reach anyone." "There must be equipment malfunction." "I have run full diagnostics twice." "There is nothing wrong with our system." "There must be." "Run them again." "Yes sir." "All stations to full alert." "I do not wish to be caught by surprise." " Lieutenant Troiska?" " Yes, sir." "Take us to 100 meters." "These are not our orders, sir." "I know this." "But perhaps, our communications will clear up at the shallow depth." "Or maybe we will be a sitting duck, captain." "100 meters, Lieutenant." "Yes, sir." "Hundred meters." "Mister president, these CMEs that have overloaded power grids and knocked out our communication satellites, are nothing compared to the last few that are going to hit our northern and southern hemispheres." "I'm certain these CMEs will breach our ozone." "And the after-effects?" "Uh, how disastrous?" "Forward is the disastrous, sir." "The burning methane fires in the stratosphere will increase in intensity and magnitude until they reach a point of Flashover," "We'll have complete and total oxygen depletion." "As we scientists call it, Sir." "An ELE." "An Extinction Level Event." "That's the bad news, sir." "The good news is... we believe there's a way out." "Jim?" "Uh, well, sir, uh..." "Mr. President." "If we're facing the world's biggest fire, then, what we need, is the world's largest fire extinguisher." "Uh, the most probable point of penetration is where the ozone is the weakest, and that would be over the poles." "Now this is a good thing." "We've calculated that a 20 megaton nuclear device detonated closest to the entry point of the CME will bring enough water vapor into the atmosphere to, uh, extinguish the flame." "Wait a minute, are you serious?" "You want-you're asking me to nuke the North Pole?" "!" "Are you outta your mind?" "It's the only scenario which will work, sir." "Dr. Parks?" "What do you think of this theory?" "Sir, if the ozone layer doesn't hold, the solution proposed is..." "a viable one." "Stamp?" "Sir, this is neither my scenario nor uh, my solution, but I feel, in light of what we're dealing with, you should hear it all, sir." "OK." "OK, so let's say I approve this order then I authorize an ICBM strike on the polar ice cap?" "Uh, no, sir." "Uh, because our outer atmosphere is so unstable, an ICBM won't work." "It has to fly too high." "We should launch from a submarine at close distance." "The only subs we have close to the North Pole don't have that payload." "But we know of a Russian sub in that general area." "The Vosnesenk." "And it's loaded." "The Vosnesenk?" "We can make this work, Sir." "We need to get that sub." "Even if we were to act on this elaborate fantasy, we can't contact our own subs, let alone the Russian subs." "As Admiral Lawrence points out, there are difficulties with your proposal, Lucas." "OK, look." "I'm going to have to take all of this into consideration and get back to you." "Mr. President, time is one thing we don't have." "We need to get this plan into action now." "If we wait, it'll be too late, sir." "Lucas." "What you propose is very risky." "I will weigh all these options and I will get back to you." "He's not going to do it." "Do you blame him?" "I will when we all die." "You made your pitch." "The President has all the information." "He doesn't realize we're out of time." "Excuse me." " Lucas, where are you going?" " The "Voznesensk"." "The what?" "Look, I know that Russian sub commander, Joanna." "Before the MAV was airborne, it was tested for splash down in the North Atlantic." "The man in charge of the tests was a Russian sub captain named Gregorovitch." "After the final tests, he was assigned to the Voznesensk to do routine patrols in the Arctic." "If that's him, there's a chance, however slight, that I will be able to board that sub." "Look." "I know you have a relationship there, but they're on high alert, there's no Russian Submarine Commander is gonna let an American on board his sub!" "That's the best shot we've got." "Look, we don't have much time before the largest of the CMEs hits." "The real job is yours." "We can't figure out the coordinates to launch the ordnance until we know exactly where that CME has penetrated, its speed and trajectory." "Jim, you need to run the calcs with Joanna, pinpoint me a location." "We'll only have one chance at this." "You really think they're gonna let you on a Russian sub?" "I'm gonna give it a shot." "Get their last known coordinates, take my jet to Iceland." "And charter a helicopter from there." "All right." "I see." "No, thank you, sir." "We just got a fragmentary communication and I'm not quite sure..." "Brad, what is it?" "I think New Zealand was just obliterated in a fire storm." "There are unconfirmed reports from Sydney, Australia today that the sky to the southeast in the direction of New Zealand was seen to erupt in flames." "Communications from New Zealand, including deep-sea cable have stopped." "And scientists are suggesting a CME may have breached the ozone," " causing unforeseeable damage." " My God." " What is certain is that until now," " This is really happening." "The human component of this solar storm has been the most unpredictable." "Complete civil unrest has broken out in several countries, leading to the imposition of martial law." "But, as events in the Republic of Georgia and South Africa show, even military curfews have been ineffective against the near hysterical spread of panic and violence as people fear the end of the world has arrived." " Mr. President?" " Yeah." "We have absolute confirmation that New Zealand's been destroyed." "Foster was right." "The ozone has been breached." "You know uh, Frank, I've known Lucas Foster for more than twenty years and he's been right more times than I can remember." " Sir?" " Mmm." "Lucas Foster has gone off the reservation." "What are you talking about?" "I've received word that he's trying to link up with a Russian sub." "You don't mean that Russian sub that's off the coast of Greenland." "Yes, sir." "I've also received confirmation that this Russian sub is armed with nukes." "Where is he now?" "Captain, you need to take a look at this." "We've got massive interference on the sonar." "What the hell?" "We're losing power, Sir." "How is that possible?" "Get me a read on that sonar." " Get our damned radio to work." " Yes, Sir." "Get me the engine room." "I need to know what's going on with the power." "Calling Russian Navy Submarine "The Voznesensk"." "This is Lucas Foster." "I'm in a civilian helicopter." "Do you read me?" "Calling "The Voznesensk"." "This is Lucas Foster." "Do you read me?" "Calling Russian Navy submarine." "The Voznesensk." "This is Lucas Foster." "I'm in a civilian helicopter." "Do you read me?" "Captain!" "We have an incoming craft." "I believe it is a helicopter, sir." "A helicopter?" "All the way out here?" "Are you sure?" "Yes." "I can hear it, a helicopter." " It." "Troiska." " Yes, sir." "Take us to periscope depth immediately." "We need visual confirmation." "Calling the Voznesensk." "This is Lucas Foster." "Do you read me, Vosnesensk?" "Captain, this is the radio room." "We have an incoming transmission." "Patch this through speakers." "It's coming in over the short wave, Sir." "Captain, we reached the periscope depth." "Lieutenant Troiska, you must see this." "Do you read me?" "What's happening up there?" "Calling Russian navy submarine." "The Vosnesensk." "Sir, it must be a trap." "The Americans have disabled our communications and this is just a ploy to get us to the surface." "Calling Russian navy submarine." "The Vosnesensk." "It is civilian helicopter." "This is Lucas Foster." "Misha, if you can hear me," "I've got your favorite Cuban, hand-rolled by Castro himself." "Take her up." "Captain." "Please reconsider." "This is against military protocol." "Do you read me Voznesensk?" "You are correct, Lieutenant." "Surface now." "I will not repeat the order again." "Yes, Sir." " Is anyone out there?" " Surfacing." "Can you hear me, Vosnesensk?" "Lucas my friend, we are receiving you." "And I have given the order to surface." "Yes." "Misha?" "You are a lovely sight." " Let's take it down." " Yeah." "Admiral, Intel has been picking up chatter around the globe." "Several regions in the Northern Hemisphere are reporting fires in the sky." "Clouds spontaneously combusting." "Do we know if Foster boarded the Russian sub yet?" "No." "Well, I guess we'd better get ready for hell on Earth." "Ah." "Captain." "Lucas!" "I hope you understand." "I'm in violation of strict orders having you aboard this vessel." "I assure you, Captain, it's for a good reason." "Besides you're not able to communicate with your command operations, are you?" "How do you know this?" "Because your main COMSAT dropped out of the sky." "What is going on out there?" "The communications, the sky..." "We're being assaulted by a massive solar storm." "I don't have time to give you a detailed explanation, but it's bad." "It's real bad." "And I'm gonna need your help and your trust if we're going to stop it." "Joanna Parks." "The clock is ticking." "Have you heard from Lucas?" "Not yet." "Look, don't worry, he'll call." "I hope so." "I just got the final trajectory." "I'll have the launch coordinates soon." "Hang in there." "OK." "Target the polar ice shelf with our nuclear missiles?" "Captain, the sky that you saw was only a glimpse of the worldwide destruction that's been going on." "Why not American sub?" "Yours was the closest armed sub to the target." "You cannot launch from United States?" "No." "An ICBM launched from the states would have to leave our atmosphere." "Once it did, its guidance system would be knocked out by the solar storms." "It must be launched at low altitudes at close range." "That's where you come in, sir." "Captain, this is the only chance we have." "This disaster, it's accelerating moving toward flash point." "If we don't stop it now, sir." "It can't be stopped." "I could not possibly authorize such an act." "Not without approval of my commander." "Captain, how about if you talk to President Ilyushin directly?" "Would that work?" "How?" "Captain?" "We are approximately here." "If we can get to here." "The Trans-Atlantic cables." "We can tap in and call the Kremlin." "I've compiled the data sent by the observatories before they went offline into a simulation of the methane ignition pattern." "Put it on screen." "The cable is somewhere around 800 meters deep." "Approximately twenty-five hundred feet." "That is very deep for a sub of our class." "Captain, that's the closest and shallowest point to the cable." "Captain, if we go below 700 meters, there's a really good chance that the ship's hull will crumble from the pressure." "When the fires in the sky intensify, they will deplete our oxygen?" "All life on this planet will suffocate in a matter of a few hours." "We have to act now." "Lieutenant, set course for those coordinates." "Initiate deep dive precautionary measures." " Now, Lieutenant?" " Yes, sir!" "Initiate deep dive precautions." "Sir, I'm picking up another sub." "It's American." "Captain, if we make contact, there'll be no time for explanations." "Rig for silent running." "Yes, sir." "Rig for silent running!" "Oh my God!" "It's heading for us!" "Aaaahhh!" "450 meters." "Captain, the American sub is getting closer." "8 degrees south, 30 degrees west of our position." "Captain, do we keep with this dive?" "What depth are they at?" "275 meters." "Close enough to shout." "But they have not heard us, have they?" "They're not behaving as if they have." "Stay in the dive." "Keep it smooth and very quiet." "Aye, Sir." "Stay in the dive." "700 meters." "Captain!" "I don't think she can take too much more pressure." "She will have to." "So she will." "Captain we have a leak at level three!" "Torpedo bay 4 is flooded." "Seal it off." "Aye, Sir." "Seal it off." "800 meters." "Mark reached." "Full stop." "Oh, no." "Oh, no, no." "Please, please work!" "Oh thank God." "What the hell just happened up there?" "We got hit." "The programs, they're still running." "Yeah, yeah, it's still running." "Uh, just under eleven minutes." "Thank God." "I'm on my way." "Mr. President?" "I have the Vosnesensk online." "President Ilyushin." "This is Lucas Foster." "I need your help, Sir." "Mr. Foster." "I believe I know why you are calling." "I've spoken with President Gordon." "We will approve your plan." "My submarine is at your disposal." "That's very good news, Mr. President." "May I put you on with Captain Gregorovitch, Commander of the Voznesensk?" "Please." "Thank you, sir." "Captain?" "Whoa, Dr. Parks, you can't go down there." "Ned." "It's not safe." "Walls are collapsing." "Ned." "That's a chance I'm gonna have to take." "Dr. Parks!" "It's Lucas." "He's on the sub." "Thank God." "Lucas?" "Joanna, it's good to hear your voice." "And yours." "You got those launch coordinates?" "Yeah." "Here we go." "Latitude, 86 degrees, 43 minutes. 17 seconds north." "Longitude; 41 degrees 19 minutes, 4 seconds west." "Joanna, good work." "This wasn't supposed to happen." "There's still time to stop it " "I got the coordinates to Lucas on the sub." "Lieutenant, what's the status on our coms?" "The radio's still down, sir." "No satellite guidance to speak of." "I know we're still down, Lieutenant." "I want an ETA of when they'll be restored." "I wish I could give you that, sir but every indication leads us to believe that this is an external problem." "External?" "Sir, I mean, the problem is not with our com equipment, the problem is with the source." "Are you telling me the world's biggest superpower has just lost its SATCOM?" "Maybe it was a test?" "I have advance notification of all maritime scheduled tests." "Either way, we would have had communication." "Which means, the only reason we haven't heard from headquarters is that they went dark themselves." "Are you insinuating we may have been attacked?" "Sir?" "We did experience a power surge and interference consistent with nuclear EMP." "Captain, we may be picking up another sub." "MAY be picking up another sub?" "I want a confirmation on that and I want it now." "Yes sir." "100 meters from missile launch depth, sir." "Input target coordinates, Lieutenant." "(Russian)" "Da." "(Russian)" "(Russian instructions to tech)" "Launch coordinates are set, Captain." "How soon until we reach launch position?" "In fifteen seconds, sir." "Unlock missile launch codes." "Sir, sonar is picking up a Russian sub." " Are you sure?" " Positive, sir." "What's their position?" "Sir, they're over the safe water boundary, inside Icelandic territorial waters." "On my mark." "Three." "Two." "One." "Mark." "Input launch code." "Now missiles are armed, sir." "Prepare to fire." "Captain!" "The Americans." "They have located us." "Sir." "We have an incoming message from the Americans." "On the shortwave." "They say we have drifted off course that we are in violation of Icelandic territorial waters." "And are ordered to surface immediately." "Tell the Americans we are acting under the direct orders of both President Ilyushin and President Gordon." "Sir, they say they're acting under the direct orders of both President Ilyushin and President Gordon." "And that they're running a code black scenario." "What kind of game are they playing?" "They are at missile launch depth, sir." "Tell them we have no way to verify their claims." "They need to surface immediately." "Any failure to comply will be deemed an act of aggression." "Yes sir." "They are giving us one minute to surface and prove the authentication of our orders." "If we surface now, sir, it'll be too late." "The window of opportunity has almost closed." "We must do this now, sir!" "Send another message." "Tell the Americans we are on a time-critical mission and that we pose no threat." "Send this." "Yes, Sir." "American submarine, we are on a time-critical mission and our operation poses no danger to your vessel." "Let them know we mean business." "Yes, sir!" "On my mark." "Captain, they're opening their torpedo bay doors." "Lieutenant Troiska." "I will not fire missile, sir." "Give me your key." "I cannot do that." "This is suicide." "Lieutenant." "Don't!" "Lock Lieutenant Troiska in his quarters!" "Yes, sir." "Lock him up!" "Now Captain." "Firing missiles one through five." "Sir, the Russians just launched five missiles." "What in God's name?" "Sir, awaiting your orders, sir." "Prepare to fire." "We're taking them out." "Sir yes sir." "Prepare to fire!" "Send another message." "Tell them we are surfacing." "Fire when ready." "Fire when ready." "It's too late!" "Torpedoes in the water!" "Prepare counter measures." "Full ahead." "Down right angle 45 degrees." "Fire counter measures." "Fire counter measures!" "Sir, the Russians have launched counter measures and are moving away at full screws." "Prepare to fire again." "Sir, yes sir." "Prepare to fire." "Counter measures successful!" "Fire when ready." "Fire when ready." "Captain, the Americans have fired 2 more torpedoes." "All hands to damage control stations." "Fire counter measures." "On my mark." "And then hard turn ninety degrees starboard." "800 meters." " 700 meters." " Not yet." "600 meters." "500 meters." "Fire counter measures." "Initiate turn." "Harder." "A little more." "There." "God help us." "Sir, the torpedoes have missed their target." "There is no return fire." "Load torpedoes." "Prepare to fire again." "Damage report!" "Sub level one has minor hull breaches in the pump room, sir." " Plug them and evacuate." " Yes, sir." "Get me short wave radio." "American sub commander." "This is Lucas Foster." "I'm on board the Russian submarine Vosnesensk." "Hold your fire!" "Sir, you better hear this." "Hold your fire!" "This is Lucas Foster." "He didn't succeed." "We don't know that yet." "Aw, face it, Joanna." "The calculations must have been off or maybe there was human error." "Maybe he didn't get the missiles off..." "He did." "I know he did." "Mister Foster, your presence does merit the cessation of hostilities." "However you must warn the Russian captain to maintain a neutral posture, to surface immediately, and to surrender." "They're demanding your immediate surrender." "Never!" "Captain." "It's just a formality." "Send message back." "Tell them we will comply." "But sir..." "Someone has to take Mr. Foster home." "Woo hoo!" " He did it." " Yeah!" "He really DID IT!" "Yess!" "Mr. President!" "It worked!" "Lucas has done it!" "Ahh, yes!" "Captain, I owe you one." "If there's anything I can ever do for you..." "Do not be such a stranger, Lucas Foster." "The next time you are in the neighborhood, drop by." "Oh." "And uh..." "I believe this is yours." "Ah, (Russian)" "(Russian)" "Lucas!" "Hey!" "Come on!" "Oh!" "Oh, I'm so glad you're back." " Thank you." "Great job." " Thank you." "Hey." "Welcome back." "Thank you." "Ha, so where's the rest of the welcoming committee?" "We're having lunch with the President, Lucas." "What more do you want?" "I don't know." "A marching band would've been nice." "Yeah." "Let's get outta here."